Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Well, I am pretty famous in my electorate! And that is what I want to talk about—my electorate of Page and some of the wonderful events that have taken place there recently. Last Saturday, I attended, along with the local mayor, the state member and Kay Cottee, who is a resident in Page, in Yamba, and was a guest speaker—and she is definitely famous!—a Lions convention at district 201N1. There were over 300 people there and over 64 branches represented. It was just wonderful to have the convention taking place in Yamba. The theme was to do with the sun and surf and seafood, but they did some serious work as well. It was very pleasing to be with local groups who do such wonderful work locally and quietly but who are connected to a whole international network. They do great work internationally, particularly in areas to do with eyes—the Eye Bank and helping to restore sight. You may not know this, Mr Speaker, but the first Lions Club in Australia was actually formed in Lismore, my home town. That is something that I am quite proud of and that all the people in my area are quite proud of too. We get to talk about that a bit up my way.

I also attended the launch of a Broadband for Seniors Kiosk that is helping connect seniors to the internet. It is part of the $15 million three-year program being rolled out across Australia. I have quite a few of these kiosks set up in my area. This one was with Ballina District Community Services Association. What was novel about it was that they set it up at their services association, utilising Southern Cross High School students. It was called ‘reverse mentoring’. We know that young people are pretty IT savvy and technically aware, and they actually thought I was not bad for an older woman, in that I could teach them about Twitter. I told them the whole history of it, so they thought that was pretty cool. But it was really a great project, using the young people and their skills and putting them with the older people. I was also able to plant a few things pre-empting Social Inclusion Week, which will open in November with Ballina District Community Services Association—a great local community services association.

I also went to the Ballina High School Marine Discovery and Resource Centre. I would like to pay tribute to Mick O’Connor and Lynda Hourigan, two teachers there who have spent years developing it and building it from scratch. The marine discovery centre is utilised by students from across the region and all over Australia. People look at it to link in with them, work with them. I was there to see the centre get honoured with a cheque for $50,000 from NAB, the National Australia Bank, under its philanthropy program, to help the centre along a bit. It is the only place I have ridden in a LARC. I helped the centre to acquire some LARCs, which are amphibious vehicles—they go into the water. They come from America and it was a bit complicated getting them, but I have now been for a ride in the centre’s LARCs, and I would like to pay real tribute to them.

Another event I attended was the Changing the Tune project for Lismore youth. I want to thank the Minister for Justice, Brendan O’Connor, and his department. The project received a $150,000 grant and will use the plaza at Goonellabah as a hub. There is a sort of skate park there. Changing the Tune will provide programs and activities focused on local Indigenous young people. It is to help them feel more connected to their culture, provide life skills and better prepare them to return to school, training or employment. It builds on the Safer Suburbs project and will help that particular project.

I also attended Paws in the Park. I commend the local vets for this event. They wanted me to take one of my dogs, but she was in heat so I could not take her. I would have won the race, because I would have had every dog behind me! But I borrowed somebody else’s dog and attended that event. It was a great day out in the park with all the dogs. There are so many dog lovers in our community. It was a great initiative from the Keen Street Vet Clinic— (Time expired)

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