Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I join the member for Bass, my colleague opposite, to celebrate the inaugural National Local Day. It's 12 months today since the national cabinet made the decision to shut our pubs and hotels. Today is all about celebrating our local pubs and encouraging locals to support these businesses that can truly be the heart of local communities in many ways. On Friday I popped into my new local the Bridge Hotel in Werribee to try my hand at pouring a beer and have a chat to the owners and staff. The Bridge has come back online after many years sitting vacant, and locals are loving it. It has been a tough environment for all hospitality businesses, but it has been wonderful to see how quickly the redeveloped Bridge Hotel has become embedded in our community.

Given the political discussion at the start of 2021, I want to share my family's proud connection to our local hotel. The pub can be considered a pretty blokey place but I'm proud to say that, on a Werribee Cup day around 1970, it was my mum Dot who refused to leave the front bar at the Bridge and was the first woman to receive a beer poured for her in that front bar. I encourage everyone in Lalor to support our hospitality industry by having a meal at the Bridge Hotel, a beer at Hotel520 or a wine at the Park Hotel or by heading to the Hoppers Club, the RSL, the Italian Social Club or the bowling club—wherever it is that you meet your friends.

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