Member for Davidson, Jonathan O'Dea has paid tribute in Parliament to the work of the St Ives Lions Club in staging its Youth of the Year competition and to its participants.
"I was privileged to hear the public speaking component of this year's quest and the six year 12 students performed at a very high standard as they spoke on a subject of their choice and responded to impromptu questions," Mr O'Dea said.
"Five of the six youths are from schools in my Davidson electorate and all demonstrated extensive involvement in their school community and as volunteers in our wider society," he said.
Curtis Chan from Killara High School spoke about why Australia does not value language learning enough. Daniel Coppel from Masada College spoke about the Lance Armstrong saga and the impacts it has on youth in sport today.
Ramona Iranzadi from St Ives High School spoke on the topic that Australia should be a republic. Katherine Kendall from Roseville College, who won Youth of the Year, spoke on the many impacts of modern media.
Alexandra McInnes from Brigidine College spoke on the topic that we all want our stories told, while Jessica Orchard from Loreto Normanhurst spoke about Australia's asylum seeker and refugee policies. Jessica was the runner up for the public speaker component of the Youth of the Year competition.
"I particularly congratulate Katherine Kendall from Roseville College, who will now compete in the zone final and potentially progress to state and national finals within the Lions Club movement's for Youth of the Year competition," Mr O'Dea said.
The first Lions Club in Australia was established at Lismore in 1947. There are now more than 1,400 clubs across Australia with over 30,000 active members, including members of the St Ives Lions Club.
Lions Clubs have a total membership of 1.3 million people in more than 200 countries, making it the largest and most active service organisation worldwide.
