Mr MOSS (Canterbury - Parliamentary Secretary) [5.35 p.m.]: I sing the praises of two organisations in my electorate - namely Canterbury Boys High School and Canterbury-Hurlstone Park RSL Club - in connection with a six-day heritage camp in Mutawintji National Park conducted by the high school and attended by 41 of its Higher School Certificate [HSC] students. The heritage camp was the brainchild of a teacher at that school, Tony Coggan, who managed to create sufficient interest in Mutawintji among the students. However, one snag in the plan was that insufficient funds were raised to cover the full cost of the trip. I emphasise that the majority of students at Canterbury Boys High School are from low-income families. Whilst the boys had saved enough for accommodation and food they did not have sufficient funds to cover the cost of hiring buses and fuel. In all that amounted to an extra $3,600.

I was approached to seek Government assistance to fund the shortfall. Although the Government funds youth holiday camps through the Department of the Sport and Recreation and through police and community youth clubs, no funding is available for heritage trips to the outback. Having been to Mutawintji I realised the tremendous educational and inspirational value in a trip to the area. I was determined to help the school if I could. I told the students that I would approach local clubs for assistance. I intended to approach six clubs and ask them for $600 each to subsidise the trip. To my surprise the first club I approached, the Canterbury-Hurlstone Park RSL Club, which is renowned for its generosity, told me to go no further; it offered to donate the full amount of $3,600.

It is important that I single out that club, because without it the 41 HSC students from Canterbury may have missed out on a great adventure. To some people a trip to Mutawintji may not be a great adventure, but it was for those boys. Apart from the heritage significance of the trip, a number of the boys had never had a holiday out of Sydney, let alone an outback experience. It was an experience to be remembered for all time. I am told that the boys toured rock engravings and a rock art gallery, they ate bush tucker prepared by their Aboriginal guides, and they were deeply affected by their exposure to the Aboriginal history of Mutawintji. They visited an outback cattle station at Broken Hill, the Royal Flying Doctor Service base and the Pro Hart gallery.

The 41 students came from a huge variety of backgrounds, namely Koori, Chinese, Lebanese, Anglo-Saxon, Fijian, Greek, Vietnamese, Polish, Portuguese and Turkish. The trip was an excellent example of multicultural Australia learning about indigenous Australia. I record my appreciation of Canterbury-Hurlstone Park RSL Club for contributing in no small way to the trip. I particularly thank Tony Coggan and the staff of Canterbury Boys High School for organising the trip, which, of course, was a memorable experience for the students. No doubt the trip provided them with some respite before they undertake their HSC, which they are scheduled to do shortly.