Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Even the member for Aston would agree with me that one of the great things about being a member of parliament is being visited in this place by your local schools. For the kids, it is an excellent opportunity to see what happens in this place as we try to make our communities better right around the country. And for us, because we spend so much here, it is terrific to have friends from home come and visit us.

Today I wanted to talk about the Calamvale Special School. I have joined them over the last couple of years at their Anzac Day ceremonies, their Bunnings sausage sizzles and their tree-planting ceremonies. It is a terrific group of young people and teachers, and they are here today visiting the House of Representatives. As you can imagine, there are extra costs and organisation involved bringing this special group to Canberra, and I know they have been planning and fundraising for this trip for more than 12 months. I want to congratulate and acknowledge and thank all of the teachers and parents who are here today, including Mandy, Tom and Kevin. I also want to thank everyone in my community who donated so that the group could come here and experience our parliamentary democracy, including the Australian Workers Union and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, who donated substantially.

Most importantly, to Ricky, Joshua, Kylie, Tayla, Laura, Hamdiya, Leticia, Jamie, Rhyce, Jed, Morgan, Trent, Taylah, Daniel, Miracle, Jack, Joseph, Aiden, Tony, Raymond and Elysha—welcome to the people's house and thank you for the privilege of representing you here.