Ms BYRNES (Cunningham) (13:53): Thank you, Deputy Speaker, and congratulations.

100 years ago, Cunningham looked very different but one thing that hasn't changed is the courage of the men and women that have served at Balgownie Fire Station. Today, Station 210 is led by Captain Luke Rowles, one of only seven captains to hold that role in the station's remarkable century-long history.

I was truly honoured to join Captain Rowles and his team, on Saturday June 28, to celebrate their centenary with the community. We began the day with a welcome to country and smoking ceremony from local elder, Uncle Peter, and some wonderful students from Balgownie Public School, who sang the national anthem.

Balgownie Fire Station first began as a substation of the North Illawarra Fire District, with Corrimal Fire Station as the head station. There’sa lot of jokes that Corrimal does the promotion in the media while Balgownie actually puts out the fires.

Over the years, the Balgownie crew have become a dependable and trusted part of our community. They respond to hundreds of incidents every year, and providing vital fire safety education to local schools and families. Balgownie is a strong family based station, with so many family connections, with brothers, fathers and sons, fathers and daughters, husbands and wives—all proudly serving the community together over many years. To every firefighter at Balgownie Fire Station and your families who give you up to go out and keep our community safe: thank you so much for keeping us safe over 100 years. (Time expired)

ENDS