Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak about an issue that is of great importance to us all: the value of community organisations and volunteers.

One of the great joys in being the federal member for Higgins is being able to meet with inspirational people who donate their time for the benefit of others. These remarkable people recognise the importance of community spirit and know that government is not the font of all knowledge nor the answer to every question, concern or difficulty. They recognise that on many occasions the best solutions lie with local communities banding together to provide the support, services or facilities that are required.

Over the past few weeks, I have had the opportunity to visit some of these wonderful organisations. The first I would like to mention is Very Special Kids. On 23 November, Very Special Kids held their annual fair. VSK provides support and services to families with terminally ill children, free of charge. I can think of no greater tragedy in life than having to deal with the death of a child. Very Special Kids, led by Chairman, Peter Polson, and CEO, Sarah Hosking, and their wonderful team, provide much-needed relief and respite to families going through their own personal agony. Being a free community service VSK relies heavily on donations from the community, and I urge everyone to donate what they can to the VSK Piggy Bank Appeal.

I recently also had the great pleasure of enjoying the festivities of the Carnegie Street fair, as a guest of the Carnegie Traders Association. Traders associations play an important part in local business districts. Most of these associations are made up of small business operators who donate their time, above and beyond their regular business activities, in order to better the local shopping strip and improve the local business environment. I would like to acknowledge the immense work of outgoing president, Gerald Galatis, and wish him every success for his future endeavours.

Finally, I would like to recognise the hard work of the Ashburton Support Services. Ashburton Support Services provide much-needed assistance to the elderly and people with disabilities in the local Ashburton area, as well as operate the meals-on-wheels program. The ASS is a not-for-profit volunteer based organisation. In order to raise the much-needed funds the ASS operates the op shop on High Street, also known as the 'Ashy'. Last month I was honoured to be included in the opening of the new and improved 'Ashy' after a $300,000 renovation. I would also like to praise the Ashburton Support Services' president, Brian Bergin, for the tireless work that he engages in, and wish him all the best for the future of the 'Ashy' and the entire Ashburton Support Services.

However, sometimes organisations face difficulties of their own, and not of their own making.

Recently, a small but very significant kindergarten in my electorate, the Ewing Memorial Kindergarten, faced a real challenge to secure its future. This kindergarten first opened its doors to the young residents of Higgins in 1954, some 68 years ago, and has been providing pivotal early learning experiences ever since. It has been the setting of many games of tag and several hundred adventures through the dangerous jungles, and the cubby house was the place du jour for many a prince and princess. The kindergarten is also an important place within the community for mothers and fathers to catch up, as they walk to school with their older children who attend one of the three local primary schools that fall within a one-kilometre radius of Ewing Memorial Kindergarten.

My constituents, though, had to rally together to mount a strong campaign when they learnt that the Uniting Church synod planned to sell the land on which the kindergarten was situated. I must praise the Uniting Church synod, because today it announced that it would not be selling that land. I praise it for listening to the community campaign that was raised in the local area, for listening to people's concerns about the importance of this kindergarten to the local residents in the area and for listening to the demands that were made by those parents about the need to have in close proximity to their home a kindergarten that would provide educational opportunities for their children.

It is great news that the synod has listened to our local community and, in doing so, has secured the future of this kindergarten that educates at least 65 children each year, providing excellent, affordable, local care to children that exceeds in all areas the standards set under the federal government's national quality standards scheme that was announced just this year. I congratulate Suzie Rogers and Rachelle Nicholas, the president and vice-president of Ewing kinder, for achieving such an outstanding result.

In working together, communities can achieve such amazing things. Today I have listed just a couple of examples of the great work that is done in my electorate of Higgins.