Page 3319 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 21 August 2019
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This evening celebrated a lifetime of dedication and discipline for the 2019 inductees, as well as those who have gone before them for the previous 26 years that AMAHOF has been running. Having built a greater understanding of and relationship with the local martial arts in Canberra through my consultation on the Controlled Sports Bill, it was great to meet more members of the community, from a national and international perspective, on Saturday night.
Martial arts truly is the best of both worlds in terms of crossing both sport and recreation. It requires athleticism, training, strength and fitness, but it also requires adherence to a particular set of values and a shared culture. The awards evening was a real demonstration of that. Every hall of fame inductee gave thanks to their mentors, their sensei, their dojo members and, of course, their family. All sport requires some level of sacrifice and, in this case, to become a grandmaster and champion like the members of AMAHOF requires a person to dedicate so much time and energy to their respective martial arts.
One of the local inductees I mention is Travis Faure, who was inducted by AMAHOF as instructor of the year. Travis is the chief instructor at the Australian Self Defence Academy, with over 30 years training and study in martial arts. The Australian Self Defence Academy commenced operating in Canberra in 2003, teaching adults and children hapkido self-defence programs. Originally operating in Downer, and then in 2008 moving to Mitchell, the Australian Self Defence Academy is a martial arts centre of excellence. They offer students training in Brazilian jujitsu and floro fighting systems and run specialised self-defence courses for children, teens and females. The mission of the Australian Self Defence Academy is to facilitate positive change and self-development in students’ lives, to help them be the best that they can be.
Travis’s dedication to his students and his martial arts practice was recognised on Saturday night. I congratulate him, his wife, Liz, and their children, who also train and teach at the Australian Self Defence Academy. I also thank grandmaster Ramon Lawrence OAM, Chairman of AMAHOF; Jimmy Whipp OA, outgoing President of AMAHOF; Edward Sharrer, head of the Canberra event organising committee and now new President of AMAHOF; and other board members of AMAHOF, Frank Hussey and Les Elliott, for hosting me on Saturday and sharing a bit of their story.
As members of the AMAHOF board, they each have reached the height of excellence in their sport. They are also leaders in their community, both in martial arts but also in other pursuits like Rotary, volunteering and Defence Force services. They put on a great event on the weekend, with displays here in Canberra. I wish them every success for the AMAHOF awards in 2020, which are set to be held in Perth in WA.
Canberra Sexual Health Centre
MS CHEYNE (Ginninderra) (6.00): I take this opportunity to put on the record my congratulations and my thanks to the Canberra Sexual Health Centre, which celebrates 40 years of operation today. The Sexual Health Centre began in 1979, before HIV and at a time when the term was STDs not STIs. It began in a corner of the Canberra Hospital’s emergency department, led by Dr Gordon White.
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