Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

International Volunteer Day is on 5 December, and in Chisholm we will celebrate some of our hardworking, wonderful volunteers with the reinstatement of the Caroline Chisholm Awards, which had been initiated by the excellent former member for Chisholm and much-respected Speaker Anna Burke. I announced last year that I would reinstate these awards if I were elected, and I'm delighted that I'm now able to celebrate the fantastic volunteers who give so much at these awards. All of our volunteers right across our community do such an amazing job. I want to acknowledge how much work they've had to do over the last two years to support people during the worst parts of the pandemic, through lockdowns and social isolation.

Caroline Chisholm, for whom my electorate was named, lived a life of service to others and a life of care and of compassion, and her spirit absolutely lives on in my community. All of our volunteers, whether they're in sporting groups, charities, neighbourhood houses, crisis centres or emergency services, do so much. Our community could not function without them, and I thank them most sincerely for everything that they do.

We recently had the opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate some of our hardworking organisations through the volunteer grants program. I do want to thank the community panel that assisted with this round of grants. They diligently assessed expressions of interest received from our community and were well placed to do so because they themselves give so much as volunteers in our community. I want to thank Jordan Liang, Margaret Clausen and Nandini Sengupta for their hard work. They are pillars of our community, and I can't wait to work with them again.

I also want to acknowledge my community. As I come into my first Christmas experiencing the great honour of being the member for Chisholm, we have had a really difficult few years. I have been so privileged to meet so many different organisations across this wonderful electorate. I want to wish everybody in my community a safe, happy Christmas. I hope people are able to spend time with loved ones. I know lots of families are doing it tough and, when I get back home sometime in the next few days, I will be spending some time with our Neighbourhood Houses and other community groups doing what I can to support those who are going to struggle this Christmas. I hope that we are all able to enjoy a wonderful New Year and I look forward to being back in this place working hard for my community in 2023.

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