Sam Rae (Hawke, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week, I was delighted to have the Minister for Early Childhood Education and Minister for Youth, Anne Aly, join me at Hawke's very own Yaluk Burron Early Learning Centre in Ballan. This remarkable centre was established with $600,000 of federal funding and opened its doors earlier this year. Investing in early learning is crucial, as it lays the foundations for children's lifelong learning, social skills and overall development. I want to say a big thank you to Natalie, Casey and all the dedicated staff at Yaluk Burron Early Learning Centre for all your hard work. What you do makes a significant difference to the lives of our children and our community.

While Minister Aly was in town, we also visited Djerriwarrh Community and Education Services, a local training organisation that does so much for our community in Melton. There, we chatted to a class of students studying early childhood education and care. It was inspiring to hear their insights, and what inspired them to pursue this career and how the government can best continue to support them. Thank you to Trish and Roma for welcoming us, as well as all the students for giving us some time out of their busy schedule. Congratulations on graduating, and thank you to all of the early learning educators across our community.

It was great to join Staughton College's Homework Club again last week on 979FM Melton Community Radio. This time, the hosts grilled me about my favourite songs. I threw out Taylor Swift's very upbeat 'Shake It Off', and I embarrassed myself a bit by dropping back into the Red Hot Chili Peppers classic, 'Can't Stop'. Much to my horror, it turned out that absolutely none of the hosts themselves were even born when my extensive choices were released, and they made that very clear to me as we worked our way through my top 20. Despite this confronting reminder of my age, I was very honoured to hear that they no longer consider me just a regular guest and I am now marked as one of their besties. Thanks so much to the gang for having me as a guest on the show once again. Will and his team do an amazing job. It's always a pleasure. Thank you to Will and, indeed, the school and the radio station for their hard work and the amazing show they put on. I can't wait to get back again.

The Friends of Werribee Gorge & Long Forest Mallee Inc. are a great local group who do a power of work in revegetation, conservation, research, education and so much more in our community. Their immense effort does so much for our local environment. Last week, I joined them, alongside 50 grade 3 and 4 students from Myrniong Primary School, after a long day of tree-planting, to check out their impressive work and to pop a sausage away as well. I was delighted to see their brand-new water tank and trailer, purchased with assistance from the federal government's 2023 Volunteer Grants, helping the day to run smoothly and make sure that those new plants were freshly watered. It was especially great to catch up with Bob, one of the founding members from 1984, to hear his stories of many years of hard work with the group. A massive thanks also to Gordon, Mary-Beth, Kirsty, Michael and the whole team.

I recently had the pleasure of touring some amazing local businesses in my hometown of Ballan with the wonderful Laura Sims from Ballan Builders in her newly-minted role leading the Ballan and District Chamber of Commerce. Our local businesses do such a stellar job serving our community, so it was great to see what they are up to nice and close.

I say a huge thankyou to all the businesses who hosted us, including Community Bank Ballan & District, Crossroads Trading, McGrath Ballan, Springfields Garage Ballan, and Ballan and Bacchus Marsh Local Butcher. A personal highlight was joining in on the all-abilities disco, hosted by the fantastic team at T and K Support Services. Your passion and commitment truly make our community of Ballan a wonderful place to live.

Every year, the Rotary Club of Bacchus Marsh puts on an amazing art show. This remarkable event not only showcases the incredible depth and diversity of local artistic talent but also provides a platform for our local artists to share their creations with a wider audience. Each year, I am consistently amazed by the creativity, passion and skill on display. It's always a pleasure to attend, and I was delighted to see the well-deserved recognition of Mara Hayler, whose impressive artwork was awarded the prize that I had the privilege of sponsoring this year. I give great thanks Phil McBean and the entire committee for another successful show. I look forward to next year's.