Federation Chamber
Wednesday 16 June 2021

Over the past weekend we had the opportunity to celebrate all things Queensland in my electorate of Oxley. Queensland Day is a celebration of our state's birthday and it's official separation from New South Wales—thank goodness!—as an independent colony from 6 June 1859. It's an opportunity to commemorate our culture, heritage, people, places and industry.

I want to recognise and congratulate our local champions who are recognised for their contribution to the local Oxley community and were awarded their recognition by the Premier of Queensland and our local state member, the Honourable Annastacia Palaszczuk, and our local councillor, Councillor Charles Strunk.

I want to recognise Pastor Tim, the winner of the Outstanding Community Service Award; Reverend Russell Reynoldson, winner of the Local Employee Community Champion Award; Angela Nowman, winner of the Jim Hornsville Community Champion Award and Pauline Moran, winner of the Evie, the Evelyn Wolf Community Legend Award.

We're incredibly fortunate in Oxley to have local leaders who serve our community selflessly and tirelessly. One such person is Sue Peacock, a dedicated volunteer to the Westminster Warriors Soccer Club. When the club decided to rename one of its soccer fields, no-one could think of a better person to honour than Sue. Sue is an integral part of the club, having dedicated her free time to supporting the Warriors as a volunteer since the 1990s. She first got involved in the soccer club through her sons who are players, but she's graced the field as a goalkeeper in the senior women's team. She's volunteered over the years as treasurer, as vice-president and, this year, as president. In the lead-up to the announcement, the new name for this field was Redbank Plains' worst kept secret. However, Sue had no idea until we unveiled the new name on Saturday morning. When she found out about the honour, Sue said: 'It's unbelievable. I don't feel like I deserve it.' As the kids, parents and families who have seen Sue's dedication to the club know, this is simply not true. There is absolutely no-one more deserving than Sue. Congratulations to Sue, and well done to the Westminster Warriors for pulling off such a heart-warming surprise for a true community champion. I want to thank the mayor of Ipswich, Teresa Harding, and local councillors, Councillors Sheila Ireland and Jacob Madsen for being part of this and making sure it happens.

I have also recently had the opportunity to honour the next generation of community leaders through the Oxley electorate's Spirit of Anzac awards. Participants were encouraged to submit a short essay, poem or piece of artwork that encapsulates what the spirit of Anzac means to them. The entries were judged by local RSL sub-branch representatives: Judith Van de Pol from the Goodna RSL, Steve Scott from the Redbank Plains RSL and Sharon Ford from the mighty Forest Lake RSL. I want to congratulate and announce to the parliament the winners: Claire from Centenary State High School, and Tasmea from Darra State School, and Lily and Hayley from Woodcrest State College. These young locals submitted outstanding entries alongside all of the local Oxley students who entered.

Finally, today I met with the local Oxley contingent from the Micah Women's Leadership Network, which brings together influential women leaders from across the Australian church network advocating for the poorest and most vulnerable in our world. I want to recognise and publicly thank Pastor Deb Van Bennekom from the Springfield Christian Family, Bek Prosser from the Hope Centre church and Savaen Cameron from the Gateway Baptist Church for taking the time to meet with me, and this is a delegation that was meeting with members right across the political spectrum. We discussed the important issues that their network is fighting for, including the fight to end COVID for all. As the vaccine rolls out across the world, a two-track pandemic is developing: wealthier nations like Australia can buy doses and roll out the vaccination program to protect their citizens while poorer nations simply do not have the resources without the assistance of the global community. Deb, Bek, Savaen and I discussed the importance of responding to the changing needs of our neighbours with further targeted support and recovery packages. Meeting this crisis with generosity is not only the right thing to do but it's the smart thing to do as well. A vaccinated and healthy global community means open international borders and a faster economic recovery. I thank the women leaders for visiting parliament today. I honour the work that they're doing in advocating for the poorest people in the world, and I offer my support to make sure we end COVID for all.