Fiona Phillips (Gilmore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week was Anti-Poverty Week. I want to take the opportunity to tell the House about a wonderful local antipoverty event in the Shoalhaven. Prosperity in the Park is held every year at Parramatta Park in East Nowra. Even the rain could not keep people away from this year's event. A huge banner at the festival read: 'From poverty to prosperity—it's our future, let's do it right'. That pretty much sums it up. Community organisations, too many to name here—including Shoalcoast Community Legal Centre, Disability Services Australia, the Rural Adversity Mental Health Program, Unions Shoalhaven and Shoalhaven Neighbourhood Services—came together to let the community know how they could help. Government services like Service NSW; Roads and Maritime Services; and the local police were also there to lend a hand. We were entertained by the Basin Bowlers in their Hawaiian shirts, and there were fun games and a jumping castle for the kids. There were even hand massages and a free community barbecue, with a sausage sizzle, bacon and egg rolls as well as fruit salad and cereal.

One of my favourite things about the beautiful South Coast of New South Wales is our ability to come together in the name of a good cause, and what better cause can there be than ending poverty? Well done to the Shoalhaven Anti-Poverty Committee and Shoalhaven City Council for organising this event. (Time expired)