Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This week the National Rural Women's Coalition have been here for their Canberra Muster. It was a great honour to meet with them and hear firsthand about the remarkable work they're undertaking throughout their communities. The National Rural Women's Coalition represents a broad range of women from our rural, regional and remote towns right across the country. They also take a leading role in ensuring they help as many women as possible to help achieve their goals. This week they brought 12 amazing women to Canberra for a four-day leadership experience. These women have been selected due to their commitment to the areas in which they live and work. They're delivering projects which they've designed and which will, in turn, assist locals in their areas. These volunteer projects included providing assistance to small business owners and delivering financial literacy programs, and, very interestingly, there is a group that helps young people get involved in beekeeping. These projects are based on the theme of 'strengthening communities through rural, regional and remote women's leadership and innovation'.

As part of the leadership experience, the women spent a day in Parliament House and met a variety of MPs from all parties. It was inspirational to hear about how they are improving their own communities. I commend the National Rural Women's Coalition for their important role in strengthening our regional communities through women's leadership. I also note that yesterday was the UN International Day of Rural Women.