Mr MATT KEAN (Hornsby—Parliamentary Secretary) [8.15 p.m.]: I pay tribute to the Westleigh Rural Fire Service [RFS], which reached an important milestone last month in celebrating the unit's fiftieth anniversary. I was fortunate to join Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons, emergency services Minister Stuart Ayres and Mayor of Hornsby Steve Russell to congratulate the hardworking volunteers at the anniversary dinner at Asquith Golf Club. It was a fantastic night and a fitting tribute to a great community organisation.
With summer fast approaching it is important to acknowledge and thank our front-line volunteers for the significant contribution they have made to our community. I commend Westleigh RFS Captain Ray Mychalewycz and President Adam Streichler for their terrific leadership and service to the Westleigh unit. I also acknowledge the significant contributions of Senior Deputy Captain Stephen Townsend, Deputy Captain James Morrison, Deputy Captain Andrew Webster, and Fraser Whitson and Andrew and Daniel Sokolnikoff who make up the leadership team at the Westleigh Rural Fire Service. They do an extraordinary job caring for our community. On behalf of the Hornsby community I place our thanks on record.
The Westleigh Rural Fire Service was established in August 1964 when on a cold winter's night a group of local residents had the vision, foresight and community spirit to form the Elouera Brigade in response to the development of the area. Suburban Westleigh was once farmland dedicated to agriculture. As urbanisation came about so did the need for a Rural Fire Service to protect the communities of Westleigh and Thornleigh.
From the brigade's humble beginnings, which I understand was a hose post in Alan Edwards' Norman Avenue backyard, the Westleigh brigade has become one of the standout brigades in the Rural Fire Service. It has deservedly gained a reputation as a highly trained, professional and dedicated group of volunteers available to assist wherever the need arises. Living in our part of Sydney, that need is ever present. It is not just our community that has been the beneficiary of the dedicated service of the volunteers in the Westleigh brigade; the brigade has responded to many major fires around the State and attended many other natural disasters.
As the local member I celebrate what the Westleigh Rural Fire Service has achieved in the past whilst also looking to the contribution it will continue to make in the future. I thank those in the Westleigh brigade for their ongoing bravery, dedication and community service that will be needed and valued by our local community for the next 50 years and beyond. Each and every volunteer connected with the Westleigh Rural Fire Service can hold their heads up high knowing that they embody what is great about our country. These important qualities including generosity, service and commitment to the community are what make this country great.
The volunteers are prepared to roll up their sleeves and have a go, which is what our nation is internationally renowned and respected for. Every time volunteers put on their uniforms they make an enormous sacrifice. It does not always get much notoriety or attention, but every time they run into a burning building and save lives they are making a huge difference. As I said, in our community of the bushland shire the threat of natural disaster and bushfire is ever present. To have volunteers such as the members of the Westleigh Rural Fire Service who put themselves in harm's way on the frontline to ensure that the rest us do not have to makes an enormous difference to all of us in the Hornsby area and throughout New South Wales.
Each and every person in the Rural Fire Service embodies the Australian spirit of service that is part of what makes this community great and part of what makes our country great. Tonight I take this opportunity to thank from the bottom of my heart the volunteers of the Westleigh Rural Fire Service Brigade. On behalf of the Hornsby community and the people of New South Wales I thank them for the sacrifices they make every day. As I said, they are part of what makes our community great and what makes our country great. It is not just the people who currently serve in the Rural Fire Service but also those who have served over the past 50 years. I take this opportunity to acknowledge one icon in particular, who gives me a bit of a hard time—and it is not the member for Kiama, Gareth Ward. It is Gary Keenan, who has served in the Westleigh Rural Fire Service Brigade for 50 years. He was one of the foundation members and he is still giving young blokes in the community a hard time. I thought it was just young politicians to whom he gives a hard time.
Gary Keenan has served our community with distinction in the RFS and in the RSL club. Gary is the embodiment of what makes our community great. I thank him for it.
Read the full transcript in Hansard here.
