House debates

Monday, 19 August 2024

Statements by Members

Country Women's Association of Western Australia

4:27 pm

Photo of Melissa PriceMelissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

Twenty twenty-four marks 100 years of the Country Women's Association in WA—a fantastic milestone for a fantastic organisation. There are over two dozen CWA branches in my electorate of Durack, which provide a space for women to come together, to share stories, to fight and to advocate for our regional communities and to share the odd recipe. In 2018, after WA Labor made significant cuts to regional education and threatened to close Moora college, the CWA joined the campaign to save the school and to reverse these cuts. This culminated in a rally that inspired a magnificent cartoon by Dean Alston. The cartoon depicted a squadron of the 'CWA militant wing' firing scones and curried egg sandwiches at our state parliament—classic Alston! Later that year, I proudly announced that the coalition would provide $8.7 million to fund a refurbishment that saved the college. This is just one example of CWA's successful advocacy for regional communities. In May I attended the Walkaway CWA Mother's Day morning tea and was gifted a copy of Women of Spirit—a Centenary of CWA Stories. I had the great pleasure of it being gifted to me by Mrs Jean King, who is a CWA champion in my area. I have no doubt that their work will continue for the next 100 years. Happy 100th birthday!