Madeleine King (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Consumer Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, Member for Bruce, they do still have me back! I'm very pleased. While the Safety Bay uniform has changed quite a lot—from green and brown to a lovely blue, a change I very much endorse—a lot hasn't, and the celebrations do remind me of how energetic, engaged and committed the Safety Bay community, and the high school at its heart, are. I want to thank Principal Alen Kursar and the organising committee, particularly Troy. They put on such an excellent event. I can't wait to see what happens at Safety Bay Senior High School over the coming years and months.

It's always a privilege to be able to support deserving community groups through the Stronger Communities grants program. I recently represented Peel Horsepower, which was previously known as the Peel Riding for the Disabled Association, with grant of over $16,000 to help build the facilities for their new clubhouse at the historic Mead Farm Settlement Property. Peel Horsepower run rehabilitative horse-riding programs for disabled and vulnerable people. This funding means they can continue running their services, which are so important for so many people in the community and which give so much joy to so many. Peel Horsepower is just one of the many incredible organisations which will receive funding for their important infrastructure projects through the Stronger Communities program.

I'm also pleased to announce the following organisations have been successful in their funding applications under the Stronger Communities grants program: the City of Kwinana, the City of Rockingham, the Comet Bay Bowling Club, the Frank Konecny Community Centre, and the Rockingham Rams footy and sporting club and the Rockingham Districts Hockey Club—both teams I support through annual donations and sponsorship. I'm a big fan of both hockey and footy, so I'm really glad they were able to get some of this infrastructure through money supplied for their important clubrooms. Other organisations that have been successful in their funding applications include the Southern Communities Advocacy Legal and Education Service, SCALES; the Koorliny Arts Centre; and the Rockingham City & Districts Softball Association. I look forward to seeing what these organisations will achieve over the coming years with the support of the Stronger Communities funding grants.

I recently went along to the Baldivis Country Fair, a fair which has been going for a long time—so long, in fact, I remember it from my childhood. It's changed a bit—it's only got bigger and better—and I was really glad to be able to go there again this year. Like all the fairs I've been to across Rockingham and Kwinana in the spring fete season, it embodies the community spirit that makes Rockingham and Kwinana, and, in this case, Baldivis, such great places to live. It's about bringing families, friends and neighbours together to celebrate and have fun. I congratulate all the organisers, particularly Renae Kaila and the Baldivis Primary School P&C, for putting on such a great event. Thank you to all the volunteers who helped out at my stalls over the past few months across the Rockingham and Kwinana areas.

While I was back in Western Australia over the break before coming back to this place I was also able to go to Jandakot, tour the Royal Flying Doctor Service western operations facility with their very vibrant WA CEO, Rebecca Tomkinson, and meet one of their incredible pilots, Megan. Western Australia is 2.6 million square kilometres, so it's an immense challenge to provide emergency medical services across this vast state. Thanks to the work of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, Australians in some of the remotest parts of the world are able to know they are safe and will be cared for in emergencies. I know I'd feel in very safe hands if Megan were able to rescue me in a Royal Flying Doctor Service plane, and I look forward to seeing their new planes when they arrive. I know that's a very big project for the RFDS and WA.

I also had the great chance to visit the Baldivis Children's Forest in the tuart woodlands and was shown around by Hannah, one of the forest coordinators. A small group of people came together in 1982 to build the Baldivis Children's Forest. That has been the centre point of terrific environmental education for the community of Baldivis. I got one of their great fundraising calendars. People in Baldivis, if you see them in the shops, it's a great Christmas present, and you know it'll go to a good cause, the Baldivis Children's Forest. I thank the community of Rockingham and Kwinana, and all the suburbs within it, and I hope everyone has a merry Christmas.

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