Mr. Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition Mr. Bill Shorten, Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Members of the House and Senate, ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank you for this opportunity and taking the time to listen to the nomination of my candidate for the 2015 Australian of the Year Award.
Mr. De Marco I feel is a very strong candidate for Australian for the year. He had been studying in the 1970’s and 1980’s, Which is where he had been molested in a store room at the college he was attending. Mr. De Marco had not told anyone about this information until he was in his last year of schooling and was concerned that Brother Kostka Chute may have been molesting a fellow student. Mr. De Marco tried to prevent children from having to go through
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De Marco decided to express about what had happened to him. “Damian bravely appeared before the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.” ( AOTY, 2015) The proof that Mr. De Marco had uncovered proved that both the Law Enforcement Authorities and the school that he was attending did not acknowledge what had happened. That caused a new understanding of the fundamental mistakes of the past and how to prevent them from happening again. “With great strength of character and resilience, Damian stood tall for others to right the dreadful wrongs of the past.” ( AOTY, 2015)
Mr. De Marco “is a symbol of courage for child abuse victims and their families”. ( AOTY, 2015) He had the courage to stand up in front of the Royal Commission, and express what he went through. He is a truly courageous, compassionate, honest man who displays these great Australian qualities, and represents the true Australian identity by displaying these assets and deserves to be Australian of the year. I believe that all the things that Mr. De Marco stands for is what Australia should be standing for as is it an important issue. Mr. De Marco truly believes in standing up for what’s right and just in the