Ms SPENCE (Yuroke) — Congratulations to all the new citizens and award recipients who participated in the City of Hume’s Australia Day ceremony, which I had the pleasure of attending, in Craigieburn. Award winners included Young Citizen of the Year and St John Ambulance volunteer Coby Elyse McTaggart and the organiser of Sunbury’s Christmas on the Green event, which was recognised as Community Event of the Year. Two local residents received the Citizen of the Year award this year: Sunbury’s Mercedes Ramirez and Craigieburn’s Nayana Bhandari.

Nayana is an extremely active member of the Craigieburn community, having moved to the area in recent years after arriving in Australia in 2008. In particular I wish to note Nayana’s work in establishing the Oorja Foundation, a fantastic local organisation that aims to prevent family violence in culturally diverse families and help connect young multicultural families. Nayana has a passion for assisting newly settled families to build strong community connections through education, communication and emotional support. She is a women’s rights advocate and committed to bridging the gap of gender equality and addressing the issue of violence against women.

I also wish to congratulate the family and colleagues of my late constituent, local icon Sebastiano Pitruzzello, who was awarded a posthumous Member of the Order of Australia as part of this year’s Australia Day honours. Sebastiano migrated to Australia in 1963. Through hard work, passion and dedication he founded the hugely successful Pantalica Cheese Company and, later, Pitruzzello Estate in Sunbury. He is greatly missed by his family and friends, but he has been acknowledged in a very fitting way.