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Media Release - Flemings Nurseries - 22 May 2013
OUR LOCAL HEROES ARE WORLD BEATERS
Congratulations to Wes Fleming of Fleming’s Nurseries in Monbulk, local garden designer Phillip Johnson and all of the Trailfinders Australian Garden Team who yesterday won the best-in-show medal at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show.
It is a fantastic achievement that demonstrates the quality, capacity, ingenuity and skill of our local agribusiness industry.
Fleming’s have represented Australia nine out of the past 10 years and won 5 gold medals over that time.
To win the biggest and best award is another fantastic achievement from a team whose excellence has consistently been recognized internationally.
Wes will have to extend the pool room to house all the awards!
The Yarra Valley is proud of everyone involved.
22 May 2013
Media Contact – Jill Hutchison 9727 0799
click here for a pdf version of the media release
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2013 Casey Apprentice/Trainee of the Year Award Winners Announced - 2 May 2013
Tony with Blake Collings (L) and Jayden Battaglene (R)
Blake Collings and Jayden Battaglene are the joint winners of the 4th Annual Casey Apprentice/Trainee of the Year Awards held in Montrose last night.
In 2009 I initiated the Awards to recognise and reward excellence and achievement and to encourage careers in local trades and small business.
Four local prominent business leaders again kindly volunteered their time to sift through the nominations and select those they thought most deserving.
Phil Munday of Phil Munday’s Panel Works chaired the independent judging panel, that included Sue O’Brien of Chateau Yering, Nick Fraraccio of Stevens Glass and Clive Larkman of Larkman Nurseries.
Industries represented this year included horticulture, landscaping, carpentry, electrical, glazing and hairdressing.
From the applications received, the judging panel decided upon 10 finalists.
From the ten finalists, the panel chose two Overall Winners of the 2013 Award - 18 year old Blake Collings from Wesburn, who is a Horticulture apprentice at Oz Watergardens in Monbulk, and 17 year old Jayden Battaglene, from Chirnside Park, who is a Landscape Construction apprentice at Coolabah Landscaping in Rowville.
The Runner-up Award was won by 20 year old David Graham from Monbulk who is an apprentice electrician with Everyday Air & Electrical Solutions in Seville.
The panel chose 21 year old Ryan Adams from Mooroolbark, who is an apprentice carpenter with MN Constructions in Warrandyte to receive the Encouragement Award.
Congratulations again to all finalists, the award winners, and the panel who gave generously of their time to choose some young locals who are excelling in their chosen field and deserve the recognition and encouragement the Awards provide.
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Speech in Parliament - Casey Electorate: Country Fire Authority - 14 February 2013
Mr TONY SMITH (Casey) (16:57): The role that local CFAs play in our community is absolutely vital. I want to pay tribute to three of them in my electorate—Olinda, Kalorama-Mount Dandenong and Sassafras-Ferny Creek. I had the pleasure of attending, with my family, their Ridge Top Brigades Family Fun and Information Day on Sunday, 3 February. It was a great event that many hundreds of people attended to learn about better fire preparation for themselves and for the properties. I want to pay tribute to Elissa Jans, who did so much to organise the event. A lot of information was conveyed. All of the emergency services were there to give demonstrations and very practical advice on what each resident in the Dandenong Ranges in those areas that I mentioned can and should be doing to prepare in case of fire. It was also a fun day for many of the young children who turned up, including mine. They had lots of fire trucks—new ones, older ones and a few historic ones. There were fire truck rides and a bit of squirting of the hoses. It was great that they hosted this event, and I know that they do it annually. They do so much for the community. To all the volunteers in Olinda, Kalorama-Mount Dandenong and Sassafras-Ferny Creek, thank you for organising the event. More importantly, thank you for all of the time you give up and for your commitment on a daily and weekly basis in those communities in the Dandenong Ranges.
(House adjourned at 16:59)
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Speech in Parliament - Swinburne University - 23 August 2012
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Mr TONY SMITH (Casey) (16:49): The decision by Swinburne University to close its Lilydale campus is a decision that they should not have made. Recently Swinburne, which has a number of campuses, announced it would close its Lilydale campus. It said that the decision for this closure was largely to do with a refocusing of funding by the state government with respect to TAFE courses. A close examination of Swinburne's recent history demonstrates some other very significant factors and I would say at the outset that a refocusing of funding by the state government that focuses funding on courses where students have a greater chance of getting a job, as opposed to courses where that is not the case, is something anyone with an interest in sensible public policy would support.
