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Today I speak about an inspiring international Christian organisation, Prison Fellowship International, which was founded by Watergate identity Chuck Colson. Prison Fellowship New South Wales is our State branch, which seeks to transform the lives of all those in our State who are caught up in the criminal lifestyle, to help restore relationships with their families, and to reconcile them to their communities.

Today I pay tribute to Marjorie Somerville, founder of the Methodist Nursing Service, who died on 30 September 2009 at the age of 89 years. Marjorie Wilkinson was born in 1920 to Cecelia and George Wilkinson.

The ever-vexed issues of the fluoridation of our water supplies and immunisation of our children have returned with great force in the past few weeks due to the waging of some online campaigns.

Tonight I inform the House of the important and innovative work being done at the Macquarie Centre for Cognitive Science at Macquarie University. The centre is conducting a number of research projects into dyslexia and other reading difficulties that are of vital international significance.

Today I speak about a wonderful Australian-based women’s organisation that I have admired and supported for many years, and which has just celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. Formerly known as Christian Women Communicating International, it now goes just by the initials CWCI.

I rise today to give tribute to the Reverend Frank McInnes, founder of Southern Cross Crusades, who died in Sydney on the 9th of August 2009, at the age of 89.

I wish to tell the House about a fine, local Christian ministry that I have known about and supported for many years called the Jesus Cares Refuge. Several supporters of the Wesley Mission founded this refuge in 1987, during my time as superintendent. Jesus Cares reaches out to the homeless, the poor, those recently released from prison, the drug and alcohol addicted, sex workers and the other marginalised people living on the dangerous streets of inner Sydney, particularly in the Kings Cross and Darlinghurst areas.

I rise to offer comments about the factory farming of meat chickens, which I learned more about while reading the publication From Nest to Nugget: the Expose of Australia’s Chicken Factories published by Voiceless, an organisation working for farm animal welfare.

Many honourable members will be familiar with the work of English parliamentarian William Wilberforce, especially since the release last year of the film about his work against the slave trade called Amazing Grace. But many honourable members might not realise that another great social reform that Wilberforce championed was the founding of the first Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

About a year ago the year 10 students of Redeemer Baptist School in North Parramatta, a school that has been trenchantly criticised in the House, started to raise money for Aboriginal communities in need after I advised their headmaster, at his request, that the school readiness program, known as HIPPY La Perouse, would be one project very worthy of their assistance.