Mr REPACHOLI (Hunter) (13:31) 

The Hunter has another sporting success story. Harris WC Walker has been selected to play in the Australian men's gridiron team that competed against New Zealand earlier this month. Harris is a Cessnock local. His love of gridiron started in year 7, but, because it was hard to find a comp to play in near home, his parents would drive him hours and hours just to get to training. As an Olympian, I know how much hard work, stress, training and dedication it takes to get to the top. Harris played for the Central Coast Sharks Gridiron, Sydney, New South Wales and then went off to play in America in the division 2 college competition before coming home to wrap up his 2025 season with an MVP for both the UTS Gators and the Newcastle Marauders. Selection in the national team is well deserved recognition for you. It means that the countless hours that you and your family have put in to make this happen, the hundreds of kilometres and the endless support have all paid off.

Harris is an absolute superstar wide receiver, and I know that he didn't look the slightest bit out of place in the national team. It's a bloody great honour to be selected to represent your country. But all good things, unfortunately, come at a bit of a cost, and Harris had to raise $8,000 towards travel, uniforms, training and accommodation. Thank you to everyone that helped Harris with this support, and thank you for raising the cash that he needed to be able to go and play for Australia and represent the country. Thank you very much, Harris. Keep up the great work. I'm looking forward to seeing what else you can do in the future.