Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Statistically, the Gold Coast has some of the highest negative national social indicators for child abuse and neglect, domestic violence and drug and alcohol abuse and has an acute abundance of families and individuals who suffer from extreme hardship and are socially disconnected from any form of family and friends. C4C has undoubtedly improved the social network and infrastructure of the northern Gold Coast. The program, its community development workers and the families whose lives it has enriched need assurance that this government cares about the social fabric that links the community and that this government sees the invaluable benefits to the community and will continue to fund the program. I take my hat off to Margaret Spriggs and her team of development workers, who go into the community every day. Margaret, I thank you, and the over 1,500 families you touch every week thank you. I implore the Rudd government to show that it understands by reinvesting in the program.

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