Cathy McGowan (Indi, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Recently, I had the real privilege of celebrating 10 years of friendship between communities in Indi and East Timor. Today, in this place, I would like to particularly acknowledge the work of Friends of Lacluta. In September 2005, a delegation from the rural city of Wangaratta visited of Lacluta, a subdistrict in Timor to sign a friendship agreement. A section 86 special committee was formed and it has been in action ever since. On 26 September, we celebrated in Wangaratta with a wonderful dinner with the Timor-Leste ambassador, Abel Guterres, and Rae Kingsbury from the council for East Timor in Victoria and her husband Damien Kingsbury, who was the guest speaker. Friends of Lacluta do fantastic work. They provide scholarships—tertiary, vocational and school assistance—school supplies and they help mothers and babies. They provide tools, equipment and seeds for gardens. Of course, they provide the most important thing of all: friendship. Today, I would like to offer warm congratulations to all three of Indi's friendship groups, particularly the Wangaratta Lacluta group. To Heather Redmond and your team with Andy Kimber, thank you for a lovely night and thank you for everything you do.