John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on Appropriation (No. 3) Bill 2014-15 and related bills and, in doing so, update the House on a number of exciting initiatives from across Bennelong. This will include the latest news on the Hyundai Bennelong Table Tennis Schools Program and Bennelong Cup in the year of the Anzac Centenary, as well as the Bennelong Gardens Initiative and the resumption of the Bennelong Village Business campaign.

As I have informed the House on several occasions, I founded the Bennelong Schools Table Tennis Program in 2011, when, during visits to local schools, I identified cultural divides amongst students in their participation in sport. Through the generosity of Hyundai Australia, and in cooperation with Table Tennis Australia, table tennis tables have been provided to almost all schools in Bennelong. Coaching clinics for the students were organised for each school, and the Bennelong Schools Table Tennis Competition was born and is now held every year.

Bennelong is home to a diverse range of cultures and identities, and table tennis is a great way to get people of all backgrounds active and interacting with each other. It is an excellent exercise in inclusiveness, which is bridging the cultural divide throughout my electorate. I warmly remember a moment from the competition in its first year. I watched a particularly timid child grow before my eyes when his table tennis ability was shown off with a leading Korean champion in front of his school mates. With his sudden popularity came confidence, acceptance and a renewed zest for school life. His table tennis career is progressing well too. If this program can bring this sense of fulfilment to more children, it will continue to grow into a roaring success.

Likewise, the international tournament is this year also taking on a very exciting and topical turn. The Hyundai Bennelong Cup is an official annual sporting event, involving the Australian table tennis team and international competitors. It is held annually, with games played within my electorate and some exhibition matches played in the Great Hall right here in Parliament House. Hyundai Australia has extended its generosity to sponsor these test matches, and over the past four years the tournament has involved high-level competition between four nations: Australia, South Korea, China and Japan. This year, I am very happy to announce that two more countries will be joining us: Malaysia and New Zealand. I am particularly delighted that we will be joined by our friends from across the Tasman.

In this year that commemorates the 100th anniversary of the ANZAC landings, I am happy to declare that this strong relationship of partnership will continue as the Australian and New Zealand teams will be together, competing as one Trans-Tasman team. This sporting collaboration is not a first. In fact, we owe our grand slam status to our friends from across the Tasman. New Zealand and Australia originally competed in the Davis Cup, with great success as Australasia. There are countless other collaborations that could be mentioned from the fields of sport, academia, diplomacy and more. However, it is our 100-year old military alliance which I would like to briefly speak to.

One hundred years ago, when the Australian nation was forged on the Turkish beaches of the Gallipoli peninsula, a special bond was created not only amongst our diggers but also with the allies who shared our trenches. New Zealand celebrates their national baptism on 25 April like we do, yet the creation of the shared bond between us, forged at the same time as our respective national identities, receives less attention. The ordeals were shared between two nation's troops, which were of course no more segregated than those of the Australian states. And 100 years on from this momentous time our troops will once again be working alongside our New Zealand allies in the Middle East. The Anzac spirit of partnership is still alive and well.

Bennelong will, along with the rest of the country, be hosting a plethora of events for the Anzac Centenary. Over $100,000 in Anzac Centenary grants have already been approved to a vast range of organisations across Bennelong. To pull out some highlights: Rydalmere East Public School is putting on a theatrical production entitled 'Do not Forget, Australia'; Gladesville Public School and Denistone East Public School will both be building or upgrading memorials on their grounds; St Alban's Anglican parish in Epping is restoring its World War I memorial; and Epping RSL is providing an exhibition of First World War memorabilia.

I would like to officially congratulate all of the organisations who are contributing to these commemorations and I look forward to visiting each of these projects over the coming months. I also look forward to visiting all of the excellent RSLs within Bennelong for the large number of events that I know are being organised. The celebration and commemoration of this anniversary is being taken up wholeheartedly across Bennelong, and I know that the Anzac spirit will not be forgotten in my electorate.

The centenary will be an important time to reflect on the ideals that have grown out of the trenches. These same ideals have gone on to forge our Australian identity and indomitable spirit. It is right that this centenary of the Gallipoli landings is indeed a celebration of this spirit as well as a memorial to the brave diggers who gave their lives and suffered on the other side of the world.

And it will be all the more symbolic for 300 families following this month's announcement that once again our troops will be returning to the Middle East—and, again, we will be alongside our trans-Tasman neighbours. I wish all our troops well on this new mission and hope they all return safely and soon.

To return to electorate matters, alongside the revamped and expanded Hyundai Bennelong Cup, there are a number of big initiatives that are continuing this year that I would like to update the House on. I have spoken in the past about the Bennelong Gardens initiative which I am promoting, and now it is coming along at a rapid pace.

Bennelong Gardens is a large-scale, commercially viable community gardens project, utilising unused public lands across Bennelong. It provides rewarding work for people with disabilities as well as volunteer opportunities for local retirees and others who will benefit greatly from social interaction and physical activity.

This initiative has been hugely popular across the electorate and is being supported by a large and varied number of other groups. These include Achieve Australia; Royal Rehab; Harris Farm Markets; Ryde city council, the New South Wales state government; Australian Native Landscapes; TAFE New South Wales; NOVA Employment; and Social Ventures Australia. In addition, a number of businesses and individuals have pledged money, expertise and materials to ensure that Bennelong Gardens are a success.

The aim is to establish commercial gardens across approximately 100 acres of unused land throughout the electorate. Fresh fruit and vegetables grown in the Bennelong Gardens will be sold on site to local greengrocers and members of the public. Harris Farm Markets has agreed to allocate shelf space to Bennelong Gardens, with all sales going directly to our social enterprise.

As beneficiaries of the Bennelong Gardens social enterprise, the people with disabilities will gain economic benefit from the sale of produce. Achieve Australia have agreed to administer the project. Their expertise in the field of disability employment has been invaluable. They will be essential to the ultimate success of the garden's main goal, which is of course providing social and physical activity for those who need it—from people with disabilities to retirees.

Seed funding for Bennelong Gardens comes from the establishment of the Granny Smith apple Heritage Orchard—in honour of Bennelong being the home of Grandma Maria Smith and her famous apple variety. Each tree will be sponsored by a company or individual for $1,000, and I was delighted to purchase the first tree.

Royal Rehab in Putney is housing the first of the apple trees. Royal Rehab is another fantastic local facility that helps get people back on their feet after tragedy strikes. Like Achieve Australia, they fully appreciate the necessity of movement and social interaction in the rehabilitation process.

Towards the end of last year, I visited Royal Rehab to turn the first sod in our silver spade event. The first of the trees in the Granny Smith Heritage Orchard were planted, and the event was a huge success. Subsequent to this, more donations have come in and the trees will continue to be planted, highlighting the huge popularity of the scheme and the real desire to see it succeed.

Ryde city council has also been consulted with extensively, and I addressed the council in the last month. The support was unanimous from all sides of the political divide, and my office is currently working with all of the partner organisations to get the paperwork approved so we can get plants in the ground as soon as possible.

This project represents direct action to support those that need it most in our community, to empower them to achieve independence and an increased sense of personal pride. It will have fantastic outcomes, and I look forward to it becoming a reality very shortly.

Finally, I would like to update the House on my ongoing local campaign known as the Bennelong Village Businesses. In conversation with a number of local businesses, I heard that there is real concern within Bennelong—and indeed across the country—with local businesses being forced out by the larger supermarkets and chain stores.

The BVB program is designed to reinvigorate community shopping villages through a combination of strategic business initiatives. To promote the enormous benefits to shopping locally, each month I will be celebrating a new

Bennelong village—22 shopping precincts have been identified across Bennelong which will take turns for the honour. They will be publicised widely and even have access to cheaper advertising rates in one of the local papers.

The 22 villages are made up of over 200 small and local businesses. Small businesses are the lifeblood of our communities; yet they are often overlooked for the apparent convenience of the larger shopping centres. The allure of bigger shops is plain to see but denies some real local benefits.

The benefits of shopping local are wide and varied, including supporting the local economy, the convenience of staying close to home and, of course, the social benefits to elderly or less mobile local residents. A core group of 10 reasons to shop local has been set out by my office and forms the cornerstone of the campaign.

This campaign will resume in the middle of April with a fantastic little line of shops that have been a part of the local community for as long as it has existed. The exact location will be announced in a matter of weeks and will be the first in a long line of local shopping districts that will receive the benefit of their local community's support. These are just a few of the exciting developments in the suburbs of Bennelong.

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