Julia Banks (Chisholm, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The best part of my job as the member for Chisholm is that I get to meet so many wonderful people in Chisholm who create such warmth and generosity of spirit. It is these people in Chisholm who create the warm community ambience. Their hard work is often unpaid, as many work in community centres and sporting groups as volunteers. The volunteers in these centres and sporting groups can be from all walks of life. The hard work to support the sporting pursuits of the many children in Chisholm does not stop at the end of the game. Many mums and dads and grandparents work to set up the rooms, the courts, to start up the sausage sizzle after the game, cut the oranges, make sure there is ice in the ice bucket to keep the drinks cold or just roll up their sleeves and pitch in for whatever needs to get done. Every contribution, be it large or small, helps to make these community and sporting groups work better and grow and develop for our children and our children's children.

That is why I am proud to be part of the Turnbull government, which has delivered on funding for several projects for the many and various sporting and community centres in my electorate. The coalition government is delivering on its promises. For example, it was great to meet Rob Nash, manager of the junior team, and David Cowell, club president, at the Nunawading Cricket Club, where the coalition government provided funds for portable cricket pitches for junior cricketers. They are two great, dedicated, passionate people who are supporting the great summer sport of cricket with all their hard work and also building and developing a girls team.

At the Ceres Calisthenics Club, again we provided funding for the centre's development, which is due to be finished in March. While completion of the building is highly anticipated, the teachers and parents and friends of the Ceres Calisthenics Club are so committed to enabling their children to partake in this great activity, in the context of creating wonderful costumes and making exciting preparations. On the other side of the centre at Elektra Avenue, a wonderful bridge club and the Monash Croquet Club are also run out of there—a veritable hub of people of goodwill and spirit.

The Turnbull government also provided funding for a mobile vehicle, so that the pursuit of gymnastics at the Eastern Gymnastics Club, as run by the lovely Alison Dunn, can be extended and used more efficiently outside the centre's permanent place. The Whitehorse Club was founded and built over the years particularly by the local community of Italian heritage and is currently led by the warm and very friendly Pasquale, who is very appreciative of the new billiard table and refurbishment for the enjoyment of its members. Angelo Sticca, from the Mount Waverley City Soccer Club, is also very appreciative that the government provided $20,000 for an upgrade relating to the club rooms, storage and equipment. The purchase of a new hammer and discus cage at the Hagenauer Reserve in Box Hill was made possible by the Turnbull government. What a great centre this reserve offers for the people of Chisholm, for Box Hill Little Athletics.

Bernard Tanner, from the Surrey Park Senior Football Club, and Rowan Sutherland, from the Surrey Park Junior Football Club, and many of the others on the committee have been associated with the clubs and their families for years and years. The government support in the form of cricket net upgrades and floodlighting will undoubtedly help the club. The Waverley Blues Football Club received $20,000 for their new electronic video scoreboard, which will no doubt make life easier for the many parents and friends of the club.

Happy memories of being at the Box Hill Miniature Steam Railway Station flooded back when I went and toured the site with Bill Hanks and Bruce Gilpin. I took my children there when they were young. It was an absolute joy to be there and so heart warming that this fantastic venue continues to be run and managed by volunteers. I am so delighted that the Turnbull government recently contributed $17,000 for further development of a storage shed to help the railway station's operations.

Support for the Waverley District Netball Association in Ashwood for new netball courts and for the extension of the Waverley Gymnastics Centre in Mount Waverley is a testament to the Turnbull government delivering for the community of Chisholm. These clubs are more than bricks and mortar; they are about the people of Chisholm, who are using their time, effort, passion and commitment to support these community based organisations for generations to come.

Representing the good people of Chisholm makes me very proud and it makes me very happy that I get the opportunity to meet with and support these wonderful organisations, underpinned by our government's commitment to support local communities, such as these in Chisholm, to prosper and grow, which will make a genuine and lasting difference.