David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Saturday 13 March I attended the start of season kick-off event for the Bankstown District Amateur Football Association, the BDAFA, an incredibly important organisation in our electorate which represents about 6,000 players right across the Bankstown area. In my area we've got clubs like Penania Diggers, Revesby Rovers, Padstow Hornets—just to name a few—and there are several others. BDAFA is an incredibly important organisation. It was difficult year last year for football, obviously, with the disruptions from COVID. This year BDAFA had a great kick-off event at Jensen Park in Regents Park. It was really good to see Dimitri Hursalas, the Chairman; Laurie Warner, the Deputy Chairman; and in particular Leanne Miller, the General Manager, who is doing an absolutely fantastic job in bringing together the many clubs in the Bankstown district for the good of football. It's a great organisation. It was a great event. It was really good to see the clubs there. Thank you to everyone at BDAFA.

On Saturday 13 March I attended the opening of the new netball courts the St George District Netball Association over in Rockdale. It was really great to be there. To be frank, for decades these courts have not got the work that they needed. They weren't level. They were crumbling. They needed to be fixed and they have been fixed. I'm really pleased that the federal government was able to provide $1 million towards this really important project. The headquarters there in Rockdale services the entire St George region. Lucy Smith from the St George netball association has done an incredible job. She is a great advocate for netball. Along with the president of the association, Tairua Ben-Vavia, there are some great people in St George netball doing great things.

I would like to acknowledge the important role of Georges River Life Care in our community. Based in Peakhurst, Georges River Life Care is run by the Georges River Life Church, which is a really important organisation with scores of volunteers doing many great things in the area. It runs a successful community relief centre which collects donated groceries to help people in need in our community. The centre also provides financial assistance to people in difficulty and offers a free legal clinic and domestic violence support service. It's a tremendous organisation. Glenn Power, the CEO, and the pastor, Scott Morrison, both do a fantastic job, as does everyone at Georges River Life Care.