Zenadth Kes Navy Cadets make waves

TS Carpentaria ‘Attack Flotilla’ Australian Navy Cadets presented its largest number of cadet promotions since the program was reinstated in 2021 on Waiben on Tuesday afternoon.

Family members were invited to attend the formalities where 26 cadets were promoted to higher ranks including Seaman, Able Seaman and Leading Seaman.

Kunoi Sagigi was promoted to Leading Seaman and said he was excited to see his family’s reaction.

“I’m nervous every time I get promoted,” he said. “I’m [the] fifth member of the Sagigi family to join the Navy.”

He said he was excited for the new role, which meant he would spent more time on the sea and leading his team in parades.

“I hope to achieve the goal of essentially leading my own squad,” he said.

Commanding Officer, Lieutenant (ANC) Brooke Linsket said running the program for young people aged 18 and under was a community effort.

“There was no one to run it for a number of years,” she said.

“One of the teachers from here [reinstated] the unit in [late 2021].”

Lieutenant Linsket said the cadet program taught the young people valuable life skills including time management, leadership, problem solving, teamwork and communication.

“That will help them in the workforce and beyond, whether or not they choose to take a pathway into the Defence Force.

“It’s such a pleasure watching the kids grow and blossom in their confidence in their skills and their ability to face different challenges in their lives.

“I just find it empowering and really heartwarming.”

Ms Linsket said young people had less opportunities to skill up in remote areas and the program meant a great deal to the region.

She said as the Navy Cadets progress, there were opportunities for them to meet other aspiring young people from across the country.

“A couple of our cadets will probably be chosen to go away to join all the other cadets around Australia, and participate in things on an actual Navy base or on a base where they can go out onto a ship and do training,” she said.

The meetings were held between health workers at the Thursday Island hospital, leaders from Torres Shire Council, Torres Strait Island Regional Council, Northern Peninsula Area Regional Council (NPARC) and the Torres Strait Regional Authority, traditional owners and community members at a community health forum, delegates from health unions and the team at Torres Health Indigenous Corporation.

“It was wonderful to meet with community leaders and hear directly from the community and our really hardworking frontline staff about what more we can be doing in the region,” Ms Fentiman said.

“So it was, I think, really productive discussions.

“I think we have a really good way forward to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to provide culturally safe and appropriate healthcare in the region.”

She said much of the discussion was around how an independent review into the hospital service and health outcomes would work.

“We had the chance to talk to community leaders about what that would look like, to discuss the terms of reference,” she said.