Ms SPENCE (Yuroke) — Congratulations to all those who participated in the Melbourne Marathon on Sunday, in particular all those participants from Yuroke electorate, including Craigieburn local Julie Dobbie, who has taken part in 16 charity events for the cancer charity Can Too. Over the past six years Julie has raised more than $16 000 for the charity and covered hundreds of kilometres to help combat cancer. Julie is looking forward to completing 20 events for Can Too, and hopes to raise over $20 000 for cancer research. She is closer to that goal thanks to her terrific effort at the Melbourne Marathon, where she ran in the gruelling 41.2‑kilometre event and is well on her way to raising her goal of $1000 for that event alone.

All of us here will know somebody whose life has forever been changed because of cancer. Julie lost her own mother and father to cancer, and while any loss of your parents is tragic, it is inspiring to see that act as the catalyst for Julie wanting to make a real difference. Because of the work that people like Julie do, it is our sincere hope that one day we can look forward to a cancer‑free future. Well done, Julie, on all your hard work, and all the best for your continued efforts.

I also congratulate another participant in the Melbourne Marathon, the member for Sunbury, who ran a personal best of 3 hours and 5 minutes, a great achievement after launching the Rock N Roll Exchange band the night before. No doubt that time can be improved upon next year with an earlier night and a fresher start.