Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week was National Volunteer Week. I know that we can never actually quantify just how much value volunteers put into our communities, but we should acknowledge the amount of work that they do across our communities and across our region. Last week I spoke to many of the leaders of our great volunteer organisations to thank them for their work and let them know how our government is supporting them all the way through. These are organisations like Love in Action in Wallan, our Rotary and Lions Club groups, our men's sheds, Probus, SES, the Whittlesea Historical Society, the U3A in Kilmore, as well as the Lancefield Bowling Club, the Macedon Ranges and Mernda football and netball clubs, the Kilmore and Diamond Creek tennis clubs and many others. It's so important that we take the time to acknowledge these volunteers because each and every day they bring the fabric of our communities together by working together and doing the jobs that we need to keep these clubs going and keep our communities and families safe.

I want to say to Shannan and Daniela, thank you for the invite to your wedding. It was such a magnificent evening to go to and see two beautiful young women get married. It was absolutely one of the best weddings we've been to. Their little baby, Charlotte, was the star of the show, let's be honest. She ran through and had a great time. To both Daniela and Shannan I say thank you for that opportunity to be there. It was a wonderful, wonderful evening. Thank you particularly for the candy you gave us at the end of the night—that really went down well. I wish you both happiness forever.