CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS
Mr HUSIC (Chifley) (10:41): Last Friday, I was really pleased to be able to drop into Savannah Pride's celebration of 20 years of operation. Savannah Pride compares itself to the savanna tree—deep roots, strong branches and shade comforting the whole community. It's a great initiative, beginning in 2006, when a handful of South Sudanese basketball coaches and students set out to help young people find their feet in a new country.
Its founder and long-time coach, Mayor Chagai, came to Australia as a refugee, and, for years, the club ran on little formal funding and a lot of heart, with its founders regularly putting in 80-hour weeks, going above and beyond to support young people in our area. It's welcoming young people of every background, boys and girls, from under 12 to adults, and it runs in partnership with the PCYC out of Mount Druitt.
It's much more than basketball. The rules are simple: no study, no play. Players who fall behind at school have got to commit to tutoring alongside mentoring and cultural guidance, and the club works closely with families, schools and local police, and it's made a huge difference in students' lives.
Since 2008, Savannah Pride players have regularly earned basketball scholarships to American colleges, and, in 2020, Mayor's work was recognised with a Harmony Medal at the New South Wales Premier's Multicultural Community Medals. Thank you to the founders, coaches, volunteers and families who have built it over 20 years, and congrats for the next 20 years. I also want to congratulate Dr Michael Malek of Covenant Medical Hub in Mount Druitt.
He was recently named GP of the year for New South Wales and the ACT by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Dr Malek takes the time to listen to patients, builds long-term relationships with them and doesn't rush them out the door, and he's led free flu vaccination programs and initiatives supporting Aboriginal and culturally diverse communities, which is a big deal in our area, and he's also an educator creating resources that help future GPs sharpen their consultation skills.
General practice is the front door to our health system, and Mount Druitt is very lucky, very lucky to have Dr Malek at that door. Congratulations to Dr Malek. Finally, this Sunday, the newly built Penshurst Mosque has its grand opening, a truly special and historic occasion for the Bosnian Muslim community in Sydney.
The Penshurst Mosque was built in 1989 and has been serving worshippers for over 35 years with a vision and mission to inspire all attendees to adopt everlasting attitudes of resilience, optimism and kinship and to be proud of our Muslim identity through times of ease and hardship. The Penshurst Mosque is active in the local community, and I wish them all the very best for this special and historic moment in their history.