Mr HARTSUYKER (12:35 PM) —I am sure all members of the House would wish Tracey well in her swimming efforts. She has certainly had some outstanding achievements. I thank the member for bringing Tracey's achievements to our attention. On 7 November I had the honour of attending a dinner to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the running of the first Macksville Gift sprint race. As the name implies, the race is held in the town of Macksville in the Nambucca Valley. This anniversary dinner was extremely well attended with a large roll-up of former winners and community members such as Nambucca Shire Mayor George Hicks, Mrs Mary Hicks and local well-known community identities Michael and Judy Moran.

A highlight of the event was the cutting of the 50th Macksville Gift anniversary cake by Margaret Brickley, the wife of the first gift winner, and the 2002 gift winner, Matthew Newton. The Macksville Gift started from humble beginnings to become one of the longest-running professional sprint races in the country. The first race was held on 19 September 1953 and was run to raise funds for the construction of a Catholic church at nearby Nambucca Heads. Over the years that the race has been held, countless thousands of dollars have been raised for charity. I commend the work of the race committees, who have worked so hard to ensure the success of the race.

I would particularly like to commend the 2003 executive and race committee. It comprises: Greg Wood; Maurie Lonnegan; Ken Capell; Eva Smith; Leslie Smith; Ron Brown; Alison McCullough; Allan Smith; Brian Smith; Bill Richardson; Barry Fuller; and the President of the Macksville Athletic Club, Robyn Marsay. To commemorate the 50th running of the gift, a book has been painstakingly compiled by Brian and Eva Smith, setting out in great detail the history of the event. The book, titled 50 Years and Still Running, provides a wealth of information on the running of an event which is so dear to the people of Macksville. Brian and Eva are to be commended on what is a very extensive piece of work, comprising some 250 pages of text and photographs detailing the history of the event.

In the foreword to the book Mr Smith thanked a number of people from the Nambucca Valley. He thanked Nola Unterrheiner for her assistance with names and information concerning the early years of the race. She provided a great deal of information relating to the ladies gift committee. Special thanks was also given to the Brunsdon family for their permission to research the Elevator newspaper. The foreword to the book details the long association between the Macksville Gift and Dale Brunsdon, which began way back in 1953. Dale has printed almost every gift program over the years. Mr Brunsdon delayed his retirement to print the 2003 program and the history book to which I have referred. Mr Smith praised Mike O'Neil and the staff of the Guardian News for their assistance and also the generous donation by Mr Sam Martin which helped to cover the cost of research.

The book was compiled from information contained in newspaper publications, minute books and interviews with runners, trainers and past officials. That really attests to the value of our local media. The wealth of history that is contained in countless local media offices around the country means we are able to compile valuable history books such as this. The cover of the book features a photograph of Darren Smith in action sprinting down the gift track at Macksville Park.

Life member of the Macksville Athletics Club and local poet of some note, Barry Fuller, composed a poem to celebrate the anniversary. The poem was entitled The Macksville Gift and was read at the anniversary dinner. The 2003 gift was an outstanding success, with the race taken out by Thomas Scott of Newcastle. During a weekend of festivities, Maree Sanger was crowned Macksville Gift Queen, with Danielle Ainsworth the runner-up. Stephanie Spicer was crowned charity queen. All those associated with the 2003 Maxville Gift should be congratulated, particularly Robyn Marsay and her hardworking committee.