HANSARD EXTRACT
| Statements
by Members: Mr Harry Hunt |
| 16 June 2005 |
Mr HAYES
(Werriwa) (9.48 a.m.)—I
rise today to acknowledge and congratulate the 2005 Liverpool
Citizen of the Year, Mr Harry Hunt. Being named your community’s
citizen of the year is a great honour and, in this case, a very
fitting tribute to the many years that Harry has put into the
Liverpool Chamber of Commerce and to the community of south-western
Sydney. Harry’s achievements and contributions are too extensive to
list here today, so I will only touch on a few of them.
I would like to draw the attention of members
to some of his more recent efforts aimed at building the community,
or at least building community spirit. In addition to operating a
successful motel and conference venue,
Harry
is the President of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, Chair of the
Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal for the south-west of
Sydney
and Regional Ambassador to the Red Cross—and we all know what a
great organisation that is. But these are merely titles.
Harry’s
contribution is better measured in the hours and effort he puts in
and his overall generosity to his community.
Harry
is not afraid to roll his sleeves up and get involved to help those
less fortunate in society. After the Boxing Day tsunami,
Harry’s
was one of the first businesses to hold a function to raise money to
help the victims. Later, he hosted a benefit night when approached
by Father Chris Riley to organise money for the tsunami orphans in
Aceh,
Indonesia.
Harry’s
efforts are not always directed to raising funds for victims of
disasters or assisting local charities. Recently I attended a
benefit night he organised to raise money for a 13-year-old girl
afflicted with a rare and particularly aggressive form of leukaemia.
On his own initiative, Harry gathered together a number of people
and along with the family’s support network nearly 300 people in all
came together to support young Samantha Armour and her family.
Having not only donated his venue and his staff, he also prepared
most of the food himself. Everyone who attended that night could see
in the faces of the family members, when they struggled through the
tears to thank Harry, how much it really meant to them and how much
they appreciated his support and generosity. Being named
Liverpool citizen of the year is the most fitting public
acknowledgement of
Harry
Hunt’s efforts for his community.
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