Anthony Byrne (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this morning to talk about and commend a group of very important people who come together under the umbrella of the Casey Pastors Network. This network is led by Pastor Rob Nyhuis and aided by his executive team, which includes Adrian Dennien, Pastor Graeme Cann and Mike Grechko. The Casey Pastors Network have been an important component of what I call the social fabric of my electorate for some period of time in the region. The pastors who form this group do great work and often at great personal expense.

I would like to say that a number of these people are good friends of mine, and what I have observed of these people is that they are there for their communities, their flock, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They bear a great burden being the spiritual leaders of their communities. But, notwithstanding that great burden that they bear on behalf of their communities and their constituencies, they are always there when you need to talk to them, as I do as a political leader, to ask them about the issues that concern them and my constituency. One relates to youth suicide. They have been very strong supporters of my endeavours to get appropriate services for young people in my constituency.

What I like about what Robert Nyhuis is doing, and what the pastors are doing collectively, is that they come together to talk about local issues within the constituency. They come together to offer each other support, guidance and advice. They bring in guest speakers through the aegis of the Casey Pastors Network Breakfast. What they also do collectively is take leadership roles. They are there if there are issues that concern us. Internet pornography is a great issue that seizes us in this area, given that we still have public libraries in my constituency where people can walk in and access internet pornography without any filters. The libraries brazenly say to the people they are allegedly accountable to, the ratepayers of the City of Casey, that this is okay and you do not need filters. The last time I checked, when you walk into a library there is no pornography section you can go in and access.

I strongly support the work of the Casey Pastors Network. They are good men and women who are putting themselves forward to provide spiritual leadership to a community that needs a lot of spiritual leadership. My area is a growth belt area. There are a lot of young people—people who come out and establish their lives and plan a future for their kids. They need the support that the Casey Pastors Network offers. I would like to commend the work they continue to do in this chamber. I will continue to do so as long as I represent the constituency.