Martha HAYLETT (Ripon) (13:03):

I want to thank the 141 children across the Ripon electorate who recently took part in my school art competition. I wrote to all 54 schools across Ripon last term to ask students to create a piece of artwork based on the theme ‘The natural wonders of our local community’. I was blown away with the results.

We had amazing entrants from Marnoo, Navarre, Inglewood, Tarnagulla, Maryborough, Bealiba, Carisbrook, Clunes, Creswick, Talbot and Lucas. Last week I visited Joseph, Kara, Amelia, Sarah, Sammy, Farrah and Sophia from Navarre Primary School to thank them for participating. Kara said:

I felt fantastic about my artwork because I like the countryside because the countryside is my home.

And Joseph said:

When I completed my artwork, I felt proud.

I also visited Tom, Chloe, Vicente, Memphis, Valeria and Emily from Marnoo Primary School to present them with certificates for their amazing artwork. These six students that make up the school have such bright futures as artists, farmers, doctors and more.

I want to especially congratulate Olivia from Tarnagulla Primary School and Ivy from Creswick Primary School for being named the official winners.

It has been a joy to visit so many of the participating schools across the electorate and meet with students along with their hardworking teachers, support staff and parents. The winning artworks will now be displayed on materials I send out to locals so that even more people can see the talents of our littlest country Victorians.