CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS
Mr TIM WILSON (Goldstein) (10:54): The King's Birthday honours remind us of the incredible contributors in our community and the wonderful work that they do each year. Goldstein is the home of many recipients, including Associate Professor Miron Goldwasser AM for significant service to orthopaedic surgery and to clinical education and training; to Michael Kennedy AM for significant service to snow sport development and advancement in Australia; and Professor Andrew Stripp AM for significant service to medical administration.
Other significant, notable contributors have been Dr Dov Degen OAM for service to medicine and mental health support, Stephen Laffan OAM for service to the community through voluntary roles with sporting associations, Prudence Molnar OAM for service to the community, Andrew Mullett OAM for service to Aussie Rules football, David O'Brien OAM for service to the community through the not-for-profit sector, Barry Sneddon OAM for service to sports administration, Cornelis Van den Dungen OAM for service to motor sports and Rodney Watson OAM for service to secondary education and to the community.
Each has made an enormous contribution to our community, and we want to thank them not just for the work they've done but for the work they continue to do. I also want to acknowledge the important work that's being done by local residents to ensure young Australians with a disability have a pathway to employment. Every young person deserves the chance to participate, contribute and thrive within their community.
Recently, we had a Bayside young persons with disabilities roundtable hosted in the Goldstein office that brought together the Bayside City Council and local employers—such as the All Things Equal cafe, AusPV, Sports Conscious, Brighton Paper, Joe Tea, Buxton Brighton, MATCH and DFP Recruitment—along with the disability advocates and community organisations, and Sandy Village Traders Association, to focus on one question: how do we remove barriers and expand opportunity for young Australians with a disability to improve employment opportunities?
I want to particularly thank Emily Higgins for her leadership in spearheading this initiative and bringing people together to share experiences, challenge assumptions and identify practical solutions. The roundtable reinforced that inclusion requires employers, governments, advocates and communities to work together to create pathways to employment, participation and independence, and I really want to stress that last point: independence.
The future belongs to young people who are empowered to pursue their goals with confidence. Our job is to ensure every person has that opportunity by giving them a pathway to be able to secure employment, to be able to go on and live an independent life and to be able to go on and live their best life. It's not just what we want for people with a disability; it's what we want for every Australian, and this important step by Emily Higgins and all those who participated is part of it.
We wish Bayside council well, in particular, for continuing to lead it.