Zoe McKenzie (Flinders, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This Valentine's Day I want to talk about one of my true loves: my mate Chris and his colleagues at the beautiful Sages Cottage Farm in Baxter. Sages Cottage Farm in my electorate of Flinders is a brilliant, innovative and unquestionably hardworking property that is owned and managed by Wallara, a leading disability support provider and a social change agency. Since 2016, Wallara has provided life-changing pathways to employment for people with a disability in the heritage-listed Sages Cottage Farm and Cafe. The farm caters for varied needs and provides a safe space for the development of skills that sit outside conventional employment pathways, including horticulture and hospitality.

The cottage has been seeking state and federal government funding for their proposed inclusive jobs hub; however, this proposal and Wallara's multifaceted services continue to fall outside of a particular portfolio, resulting in repeated unsuccessful funding requests. I was proud to have committed $750,000 in the lead-up to the last election, but with the change of government this commitment was unable to be followed through. The inclusive jobs hub will double the training capacity of Sages Cottage Farm, which will also provide meeting rooms, activity rooms and administrative space that will allow staff to vacate the heritage-listed cottage itself. The cottage will then be used to house a gift shop, staffed by clients with disabilities, which will diversify the skills that can be taught at the farm.

The upgrade will double the farm's training capacity from 50 clients to 100 clients. It will also create a highly flexible space for our partner organisations, which in turn would create more engagement between those organisations, the Mornington Peninsula community and Wallara itself. Wallara has already invested or committed $2 million of their own modest reserves to purchase the farm outright and to upgrade the facilities to their present state. They've done a torrent of work recently to raise funds from friends, family and philanthropists. They have taken in-house their food and beverage offerings at their beautiful cafe so that the proceeds go to benefitting their future plans. But they need our help. I have sought the assistance of the Albanese government, asking the member for Maribyrnong, the Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, to come and visit the beautiful Sages Cottage with me and see the magic that is happening there. I do hope that at some point in the future he will accept my invitation. Equally, I encourage the new state member for Hastings to use his seat at the table in Spring Street to support Sages Cottage.

There are few organisations as worthy as this one. I shout out my thanks to the great Phil Hayes-Brown, the CEO, for his endless and inspiring advocacy for Wallara and Sages Cottage. Funding from state and federal governments would allow this magical place to grow and provide invaluable resources for disability employment on the Mornington Peninsula and in Greater Melbourne more broadly.