Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week I had the opportunity to go out to the beautiful Lions Youth Haven in Kambah, a suburb in my electorate. It is quite an open area and its views of the Brindabellas are just breathtaking. I went there twice in 24 hours, the first time to go and visit the new youth accommodation Lions have developed for students who come up here under the Parliamentary Education Office program for year 6 students. It was wonderful to see the accommodation they have developed. It has changed a lot since I went to youth camp. Gone are the days of sleeping bags. Apparently it is now all fluffy white doonas in fabulous white doona covers and wonderful starchy linen. It was a bit like the Hilton Hotel—very different from the camps I used to go on.

I also had the opportunity the next day to go to the Galilee School, which is a school for high-risk youth. They were unveiling a beautiful mural that the students had painted over the course of the last few months. Thanks very much to Geoff Filmer for guiding the creative work of those kids at risk. Giving them the opportunity to release some of their anger and their passion about issues through visual arts is incredibly useful. The piece was wonderful and compelling. Thank you, Galilee School, particularly to Priscilla and her team.