David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week, on Thursday, 3 November, I visited the East Hills district Men's Shed. It was good to visit the shed, which is under development at the moment and is expected to open during December. Of course, the southern Bankstown region has not had a Men's Shed until now, and so it is particularly good news that this is getting underway. It is a terrific facility, formally operated by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. It is on a large site with great potential, situated in the beautiful Georges River National Park. I would like to thank Bob Bishop for his hospitality in showing me around the shed and talking about the plans for the development of it. When fully operational, the shed will provide a safe, friendly and fun environment for men to come together to work on meaningful community projects. To Bob Bishop and everyone at East Hills Men's Shed, thank you again for having me and I look forward to working with you on the future activities of the shed.

Recently, I attended the Bankstown City Netball Association annual presentation. It was a great event—it has been running for many decades—and it was good to be there at the Revesby Workers' Club and present some awards on the evening. Awards went to a number of people, particularly for lengthy service to the association. Fiona Hobbs, Kate McKendrick and Mary Di Pasqua were all awarded trophies for 20 years of service to the association; Jenny Avramides was awarded an award for 35 years of service; and Lisa Saunders from Condell Park Wattles received an award for 40 years of player service to the association. It was a great night and I would like to thank Wayne Chesterton, the club president, for having me on the evening and for our discussions about the association. I would also like to thank Leah Lewis, the administration officer, for the great work that she does for the netball community in our area.

I recently visited the Nexgen Foodcare service located on Coleridge Street in Riverwood, and it was good to meet the many volunteers who contribute to this program, which originally arose from a local church community. I would like to thank Susie Atkins, the director, for all the work that she does and also the groups that support the mission of Nexgen Foodcare, including Foodbank, Aldi and Bakers Delight, all of whom provide food to the food bank for distribution to the local community in Riverwood. It is a great service that is provided there. It was a very good visit, and I do look forward to continuing to work with Nexgen Foodcare.