Page 962 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 20 March 2012
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discuss organ donation and make their wishes known. As a result of the generosity of eight organ donors and their families, in 2011 in the ACT 26 people received lifesaving organ transplants. In addition, more than 55 people received the gift of sight from eye tissue donors.
I would like to acknowledge the recipients of this year’s awards, including the Annette Taylor award for community service which went to Rick McQualter; the Matthew Reynolds award for community service which went to Laurie and Marguerite Wiseman; the Jenny Deck award for community support which went to Pat Siciliano; the Ben Wiseman award for health care which went to Dhale Brown; the Angus Fairbairn-Cody award for media support which went to Greg Bayliss; and the Terry Connolly award for community awareness raising which went to David Gough.
Nationally in 2011, 1,001 Australians and their families benefited from the legacy of 337 of their fellow Australians who became organ donors. This is a significant milestone, the first time that over 1,000 Australians in a single year have received an organ transplant from a deceased organ donor. More Australians are discussing organ donation with family members and 72 per cent believe that their family knows their donation wishes. At the same time, only 57 per cent of Australians know the donation wishes of their loved ones.
The role of raising community awareness about organ and tissue donation is crucial to ensure we can continue to build on and sustain the increase in organ and tissue donation to guarantee that more Australians can benefit through organ transplants. I encourage everyone to find out more about organ and tissue donation by going to www.donatelife.gov.au.
I would like to pay tribute this evening to the wonderful community spirit which I witnessed in action at the St John the Apostle primary school fete in Florey, which was held last Saturday, 17 March. I would like to especially acknowledge the tireless efforts of the principal, Mrs Helen Curry, the fete convenor, Mrs Bronwyn Ward, and all the stall convenors, the teachers, support staff, parents, carers, grandparents and local community who contributed cakes, crafts, plants, household goods, toys and clothes to make the fete such a huge success.
It truly was a wonderful example of what can be achieved when a community works together. It was also pleasing to see many local businesses and organisations supporting one of our local schools. As I have said before, parents of children at non-government schools make real sacrifices to send their kids to schools such as St John the Apostle. I thank them and all parents for the sacrifices they make for their children. I would also like to acknowledge the last-minute efforts of the teachers whose classrooms were dismantled, with very little notice, in order to accommodate the dreary weather that was expected on Saturday.
I was particularly impressed with the performances, and I acknowledge the time and effort put in by teachers which enabled all the students to perform so confidently. St John the Apostle school should be very proud of its wonderful community spirit, which was proudly on display on Saturday.
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