Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

On Saturday I had the honour and privilege of opening the new $1.5 million e-recycling facility at Kurrajong-Waratah's new plant in Chaston Street, Wagga Wagga. Hundreds of people turned up for the event, which is testimony to the fantastic work that Kurrajong-Waratah does for the community of Wagga Wagga and, indeed, the region. The whole of the Riverina will benefit from this new e-recycling facility, as will the city of Wagga Wagga, certainly, and the environment, our future, and most of all, the hard workers Kurrajong-Waratah employs.

The recycling plant will be home to 90 employees, of whom 60 have disabilities. Kurrajong-Waratah has been providing support, training and opportunities to people with an intellectual disability or developmental delay and their families and carers through its targeted services since 1957. It has an aim of meeting the needs of people with a disability and their families. The aim continues today with more than 700 babies, children and adults receiving daily help from Kurrajong-Waratah.

As a part of its aims, Kurrajong-Waratah continues to ensure that its programs are designed to create an awareness in the community of the needs and abilities of people with disabilities and, indeed, their families. I pay tribute to Michael Kennedy, Steve Jaques, and certainly to Cathie Smith who help run Kurrajong-Waratah, and I pay tribute to the hard workers. Their camaraderie is to be commended. These people have a wonderful outlook on life. The thing you notice when you go to any one of Kurrajong-Waratah's many services is that the people who are working there have a great love and respect for the people beside them working away diligently on all sorts of things—and I have to say it is much more than I have seen in a lot of other workplaces which I have been to. Mr Kennedy agreed that the new facility would provide 'more light and more space' for the disabled workers. It was locally built and I commend everybody involved in this project.

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