“They really are only in it for themselves” was the disparaging remark I overheard recently at a weekend brunch with friends. As it naturally would at this time, the conversation had turned to the elections. So I risked being shot down in flames by openly disagreeing. In various Rotary projects over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of working with members of parliament from both major parties. Really: it’s a 24/7 job. The ridiculous over-exposure of just the major parties’ leaders - particularly on the TV news as well as in the Facebook and Twitter scene - is not helpful. How can so-called ‘Gotcha moments’ and the twisting of an innocent remark to make it sound demeaning help voters reach a sound judgment?Last week, Angie outlined her engagement and leadership in her electorate of Moncrieff. “Rotary changed my life” she declared. Coming from a family of “three generations of factory workers”, the mere thought of international travel seemed impossible. That was until she was offered to spend a year on Rotary Exchange in Denmark.
Eloquent and articulate, she outlined the various facets of her work since her election in 2019. Faced with the major issue of homelessness, she set up the Moncrieff Community Cabinet, comprising various community organisations such as St Johns Crisis Centre, representatives of various religious bodies, media, State Members of Parliament, Rotary and business. She also closely works with Soheil Abedian’s ‘Serving Our People’ charity.
“Do you know we build rockets and satellites on the Gold Coast?” she asked. Setting up the City Heart Taskforce, a cross-industry peak body has the aim of increasing the region’s manufacturing capacity. “Do you know that Griffith Uni has developed world-leading 3D-Printing to generate minuscule bone parts which can be used to restore a broken wrist?”
There is much more [sorry, you should have been there! Ed.] Just one more thing, specifically concerning Surfers Sunrise Rotary and our X-Ray Unit for Vanuatu project: After things had become almost hopelessly bogged down, Angie was instrumental to arrange for the Memorandum of Understanding to be signed by the Vanuatu authorities. Thank you!