Book 8 - Parliament of Victoria

MEMBERS STATEMENTS
1600 COUNCIL Wednesday, 1 June 2011
programs costing $5 million and an investment of
$16.6 million in languages education.
For Clayton students, who come from a very
multicultural community, this will mean that various
community language schools will be able to continue
because they will be getting $16.3 million of additional
funding in order to continue their programs. There will
also be a range of other boosts to education, such as
$82.3 million in funding for special and autism schools,
programs costing $156 million for students with a
disability, a pilot program to address disengaged
students and the restarting of the School Start bonus at a
cost of $50.9 million. These students have a bright
future in education.
West Gate punt: service
Ms HARTLAND (Western Metropolitan) — Last
Monday there was a party, which I organised, to
celebrate the return of the punt service from
Scienceworks to Fishermans Bend. I have been
involved in the punt campaign since I was elected in
2006, but others have worked on it for much longer,
such as the punters, Rob Horner, who runs the bicycle
punt, and bicycle groups from across the region. This
year it was fantastic to see funding secured from the
Baillieu government to operate a seven-day-a-week
West Gate punt service — —
Hon. D. M. Davis — Hear, hear, Mr Mulder!
Ms HARTLAND — Yes, it is good that we got one
small thing in the western suburbs; we would like trains
as well.
This greatly opens up cycling opportunities for the
west — for the people of Yarraville, Williamstown,
Spotswood, Newport and Altona and even further
afield if they are keen cyclists. This will help people to
choose to leave their cars at home and ride to the city
for recreation or as a daily commute. The West Gate
punt will make cycling a realistic option for a lot more
people. More people will be able to leave their cars at
home and avoid congestion, petrol prices and carbon
emissions. Cyclists will be able to avoid problematic
roads in the west, many of which are major trucking
routes. More people will be able to choose not to take
the Metro train risk, and more people will be able to
reap the great health and wellbeing benefits that come
from cycling. If members of the community had not
gotten together over many years, this would not have
been possible.
Aunty Melva Johnson
Ms DARVENIZA (Northern Victoria) — I rise to
congratulate Yorta Yorta-Wemba Wemba elder Aunty
Melva Johnson on becoming the first indigenous leader
to receive the prestigious Bishop Noel Daly award for
outstanding service to leadership in Catholic education.
Aunty Melva has contributed to Catholic education
across the Sandhurst diocese and the broader
community for the past 36 years. She became involved
in Koori education in 1974 as a member of the Echuca
Aboriginal Co-operative before taking up the position
of administrator, which she held for eight years. Aunty
Melva is passionate about education and employment
for young people as she received no formal education
as a child.
Michelle Bootes
Ms DARVENIZA — On another matter, Euroa
teacher Michelle Bootes is travelling to New York to
study after being awarded the Lindsay Thompson
fellowship at the Victorian education excellence
awards. The Euroa Secondary College maths teacher
developed a new teaching method for struggling
students from low socioeconomic backgrounds. The
system involves 10 minutes of fluency time at the start
of each year 7 and year 8 maths lesson. She will use the
fellowship funds to investigate inequity in the
classroom as well as the language of mathematics and
how students interpret it. I wish Ms Bootes well in her
research and study tour, and I congratulate her on being
awarded the Lindsay Thompson fellowship.
Bob Davis
Mr KOCH (Western Victoria) — Only a week ago
I was privileged to attend Bob Davis’s funeral — what
a champion! The Geelong Cats have had many
remarkable players and supporters, be it Cargi Greaves
on field, Alex Popescu off field or Bobby Davis in both
arenas. Blokes like Bob come along but rarely. His
greatest success and devotion was playing football.
Bobby was a natural, a giant among men. He played in
Geelong’s 1951 and 1952 premiership teams, winning
the Cargi Greaves best and fairest medal in 1957 and
coaching the Cats 1963 premiership team. In business
he succeeded in both the motor industry and hospitality.
Always a club stalwart, Bobby travelled the country as
a talent scout in his early days, and in his later years he
was a great club promoter and ambassador. None of
this should have been a surprise to anyone after his
success on radio and television with the legendary Lou
Richards and Jack Dyer’s groundbreaking World of
Sport program.