Ms JODIE HARRISON (Charlestown—Minister for Women, Minister for Seniors, and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault)—The Lake Mac Awards celebrate the best and brightest of Lake Macquarie, and I was so pleased to see that many of the 2025 winners and runners-up are Charlestown residents. Shaun Swadling, an athlete who has competed in trampoline sports at the state, national and international level, was named Lake Mac Sports Star, while sprint star Jemma Pollard was highly commended in the category. The 2024 Orange Ride 4 Child Protection Awareness, an initiative of Hearts and Hands in the fight against child abuse, was runner-up for the Lake Mac Community Event of the Year. The Groundswell Collective, an organisation dedicated to building a connected, thriving and sustainable Lake Macquarie, led a program to plant Tiny Forests, including one at St Paul's Primary School, Gateshead, was named Lake Mac Environmental Leader. The Lake Mac Artist Creator Award was won by Luca Romeo, a fifteen-year‑old drumming prodigy known as LUCA B DRUMS on social media. My congratulations to all the winners and nominees from the Charlestown electorate and across Lake Macquarie, and my thanks for all the work they do for our local community. It was such a joy to get to celebrate your achievements with you!

A Community Recognition Notice is an opportunity for an MP to submit a short statement praising the work of an individual or group in the local community. If you have any ideas about people I can recognise with a Community Recognition Notice, please email and let me know!