Pat Conroy (Charlton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Last month I had the pleasure of visiting the Cardiff Early Education and Care Centre. It was a special day for the centre, because they were taking delivery of some new toys. These were not just any toys; they were large wooden modules that had been hand made and purpose built for the children at the centre by the members of the Blue Gum Hills Mens Shed. It was really great to be there with the teachers and members of the shed to watch as the children unpacked their new wooden ramps and cubes with excitement and quickly put them to good use as roads, houses, tunnels and whatever other objects they saw in their imagination. The idea for this project came from the centre's director, Kathryn Russell, who I am told approached the men's shed to get them involved in making timber toys for the children. This is the very essence of what makes a community great. I thank Kathryn for reaching out and making the connection because, from what I saw that day, the joy is shared equally between the kids and the men who made their toys. I also thank the Blue Gum Hills Mens Shed for their work in our community and for inviting me to be part of this special handover. Theirs is a particularly busy men's shed, with other projects such as the little free library at the Maryland Neighbourhood Centre and the decking and sandpit project at Lambton Public School, built in conjunction with the Elermore Vale Men's Shed, also to their credit. Even more impressive is that they do this without a physical shed to work from, though we eagerly await the construction of what will no doubt be a well-used space.

Men's sheds make a valuable contribution to the social cohesion of our area. I strongly support the movement because I see firsthand the impact that they have on the wellbeing of both men and women who are associated with them. There is a saying in the men's shed community that men do not talk face to face; they talk shoulder to shoulder. That is why men's sheds are so important to improving the mental health and participation in society of our community. Charlton is home to a number of men's sheds, and it is always a good day when I get to drop in on one of them. I had one such experience a couple of weeks ago when I visited the Lake Macquarie Classic Boatshed at Rathmines. This is a beautiful repurposing of space whereby the former substation and shower block of the old Catalina flying boat air base has been converted into two boatsheds which are now used by the group to build and restore historic boats. The former Labor government provided a funding grant to help get the shed up and running. I am particularly pleased to see this come to fruition. I congratulate the members of the boatshed for their hard work in building this great asset for our community. I thank all members of all the men's sheds in my area. Men's sheds have been headquartered in the Hunter region—their national administration—and they are growing day by day in my area. As I travel up and down the lake and around Newcastle I see many men's sheds run by committed volunteers who are purely doing it to improve our community. I thank them very much.

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