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Monday, 27 March 2023
Page: 126

Mr COLEMAN (Banks) (10:51): Penshurst West Football Club is a tremendous community with a long and proud tradition of playing football down at Olds Park in Penshurst. It was really good to visit Neil Pittams recently. Neil was the president of the club. He has been involved in the club for a number of years and has recently stepped up to the role of leading the club. Olds Park has a terrific quality surface, and credit to the Georges River Council for the work that has been done over the years. With football, little athletics, AFL and netball all in the one place, there's a lot that happens at Olds Park. There is more to be done, in terms of fixing up the walking trail that goes around the park, but it is a great place. Neil told me that more than 300 players have registered for Penshurst West this year and I just want to thank him and everyone at Penshurst West Football Club for all the great work they do in our community.

CASS, or Chinese Australian Social Services, is an organisation with a long and proud history dating back to the 1980s, when Mr Henry Pan first established the organisation with a childcare centre in Campsie. In the four decades since, CASS has grown to be one of the very largest multicultural groups anywhere in Australia. On 2 February, I joined CASS in Hurstville, at one of many seniors groups that CASS organises, to celebrate Chinese New Year. It was great to see Kitty Leong there, the senior executive. I want to acknowledge Henry Pan for his remarkable vision and foresight in establishing CASS all those years ago, and still playing a key role in it. I also acknowledge Tony Pang, the executive director, who is such a huge part of the CASS story. To everyone who welcomed me on that day, I thank you very much for your hospitality.

In Hurstville, we have many small businesses focused on education. Education is so fundamental to our lives, not just the lives of kids but the lives of adults as well. Our futures, our success and our outlook on life is so influenced by education. It is so good that we have such a strong educational community in Hurstville. On 2 March, I visited Fiona Education. It was really good to see Fiona Park and Helena, who works with Fiona, to present awards to a number of the kids who have done particularly well in their exams recently and have a chat with the parents. It was great to see those kids aspiring to academic success, because that is a very good thing to aspire to, and we should celebrate the successes of those kids at Fiona Education. It was great to visit on that day.