Page 5083 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 26 October 2010

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On Saturday, I was part of a rally organised by the Refugee Action Committee by the merry-go-round. About 50 people gathered to mark this tragic event, the loss of so many lives. Bearing in mind the MPI discussion that we had earlier today, I point out that a lot of refugees are fleeing the effects of war. The effects of war are not just on the combatants; they are also on the non-combatants. The refugees of the world have disproportionately suffered from the appalling effects of war.

The thing that we have to remember about refugees in all of our dealings with them is a very simple, straightforward fact: refugees are people too. They are human beings, just like the rest of us. If anyone has not visited the memorial to SIEV X in Weston Park, I would urge you to go and have a look at it and pay tribute to the victims and their families.

Australian National University—Medical School ball

Korean War—60th anniversary

MR HANSON (Molonglo) (6.04): I rise tonight to talk about the ANU Medical School graduation ball, which I attended on Friday, 22 October, at the Great Hall of Parliament House. The minister was also in attendance. It was a fantastic night. I was very impressed with the young men and women—some not so young, but predominantly young men and women—who showed such talent and joie de vive and who were clearly excited about graduating and what lay before them as doctors. It was a fantastic night.

There were some highlights. There was a singing duet by a couple of the students. There was a solo by one of the students. There were some video productions highlighting the year in a most humorous fashion. It was a very well-conducted night. I would like to congratulate the dean. Unfortunately, he was not there. We were hosted by the deputy dean, David Elwood. I would like to thank them for a most enjoyable night.

On the evening, a number of awards were presented. I would like to highlight those awards and pass on my congratulations to the recipients. The winner of the Australian Medical Students Association national student award 2010 was David Corbet. The winner of the Louis Szabo silver probe award was Caroline Bissex. There were three winners of the ACT Division of GP excellence in GP prize, Sumit Chadha, Leanne Currie and Bosco Wu. The joint winners of the Southern General Practice Network rural health prize were Daniel MacKay and Luke Manestar. The winner of the rural health prize was David Corbet. The joint winners of the Indigenous health prize were Monica Mylek and Peter Sturgess. The winner of the leadership prize was Stephen Peterson. The winner of the Mary Potter award for excellence was Leanne Currie. The winner of the Guan Chong prize in surgery was Julia Hoy. The winner of the Gareth Long prize in orthopaedic surgery was Melissa Craft. The winner of the Graham Wilkinson prize was Alicia Paul.

There is no doubt in my mind that as the doctors in question move through the system—many of them are going to be working in our hospital system, thankfully—we will find ourselves in very good hands and treated by a wonderful bunch of young professionals.


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