Anthony Byrne (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I recently had the pleasure of attending the Tooradin Business Association's monthly meeting at the Tooradin & District Sports Club to hear more about the interests of the 1,568 people now living in Tooradin. Led by its president, Marlene Hargreaves, the Tooradin Business Association is regarded as the leading representative organisation for business and industry in Tooradin. It does so by advancing and implementing community based projects that directly enhance the viability of business in this spectacular region in Western Port Bay. Marlene is the co-founder and director of EcoFuture Pty Ltd, which is a boutique formulation company developing nutraceutical and cutting-edge green chemistry products. Marlene has shown tremendous leadership in standing up for the Tooradin community. She's excited to be president of the business association for the year 2018-19 and is looking forward to growing the destination brand for Tooradin and the coastal villages region.

At the Tooradin Business Association meeting, I was delighted to listen to presentations by Jeff Weir, Executive Director of the Dolphin Research Institute, and Dr Pat McWhirter, Chair of the Healesville to Phillip Island Nature Link. In particular, it was fascinating to learn about the local marine life in Western Port Bay, which includes the beautiful weedy sea dragon. You may or may not know that that is a creature that is prevalent in Western Port Bay. It is actually in museums in Lisbon and on buses in New York, but it's something that people in Western Port Bay in Victoria wouldn't even know existed. Yet it's one of the most beautiful creatures in the oceans on the planet.

Honourable Member:

An honourable member interjecting—

Anthony Byrne (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The weedy sea dragon—just remember that. We're claiming it, though. It was wonderful to hear the passion and the commitment of two of these leading experts. Dr Pat McWhirter was talking about the vegetation trail from the Dandenongs leading into Western Port Bay. It's the knowledge of these two experts that we're going to need to protect the environmental integrity of the Western Port Bay region, because surrounding Western Port Bay is one of the fastest growth belts in the country. It's something like 10 kilometres away from Cranbourne East. What does that mean? Cranbourne East is the fastest-growing suburb in Australia. On one hand, you have the fastest-growing area in Australia with all of those young families coming to live and make a life for themselves. On the other hand, you have this absolutely unique marine environment. And getting the mixture right in terms of getting the development but protecting the ecosystems is going to be absolutely essential to the integrity of that Western Port Bay and the Tooradin coastal village region. Thank you, Marlene, for making me feel so welcome at this business association dinner, and I look forward to working with you in the future.