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Thursday, 22 March 2012
Page: 4076

Mr TONY SMITH (Casey) (09:35): On Saturday I had the pleasure of attending the Manchester Primary School fete in the suburban part of the Casey electorate. I want to pay tribute to the teachers and the dedicated group of parents who volunteered so much of their time in the weeks leading up to that, and of course on the day, to make that such a successful community event and fundraising event for the school. I pay tribute to the principal, Peter Jenkins, and to the assistant principal and one of the main organisers of the fete, Phillippa Adgemis, along with, as I said, a group of parents on the organising committee. The school raised around $5,000. There was a raffle and a silent auction. I was happy to donate some items and also to draw the silent auction. It was a wonderful day at the Manchester Primary School, with a number of stalls of produce and plants. It was great to see so many of the parents manning the stalls and doing everything they could to raise some money in a fine community spirit at Manchester Primary School.

The next day, in the rural part of Casey, I had the pleasure of attending the Wandin North Primary School harvest market. The principal, Hetty Thomas, and organisers Rachael Edwards and Megan Gibbons, plus a very dedicated committee of many other individuals, too many to mention, organised this annual harvest market. It has been a major fundraiser for the school. It raised over $18,000 this year at what was their 11th annual harvest market in the last decade. The school community through this harvest market has raised in excess of $100,000, and that money has been used to purchase air conditioners, gas heaters, library books, playground equipment, interactive whiteboards and desktop computers. The market attracts visitors from right around the Yarra Valley.

I was very pleased to drop in with my family during the day and have a chance to meet many of the parents while they had chance to do the same and also buy many of the items from the stalls that were there. My young sons, Thomas and Angus, had an enjoyable time and—as you will understand, Madam Deputy Speaker—insisted that we leave with not one but two inflatable Nemo balloons.