Jodie Belyea (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Sunday 29 September I had the absolute pleasure of attending the opening of Sikh Volunteers Australia's brand-new kitchen and community centre in Langwarrin in my electorate. I was joined by my colleagues the member for Holt and the Assistant Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, along with a number of state colleagues—

Julian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And Woody!

Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Community Safety, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was there!

Jodie Belyea (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And Woody. This project was funded jointly by the Australian government, the Victorian government and Sikh Volunteers Australia, with the Australian government investing $700,000 into the project. This was a particularly important project for my predecessor Peta Murphy, who supported the investment by the federal government for Sikh Volunteers. I was honoured to be at the celebration for the opening of the new project with the community.

Sikh Volunteers Australia live by the principle of sewa: service above self. The principle has resulted in significant contributions to the community. Since 2014, Sikh Volunteers Australia have supported thousands of people experiencing disadvantage or impacted by natural disasters through the delivery of free hot meals. Their work was instrumental during COVID, with many of my friends from the Dunkley community volunteering to support them.

The objective of the project was to upgrade Sikh Volunteers' Langwarrin facility so that it could serve as a community hub and provide commercial kitchen facilities to increase the volume of meals it could prepare for the community and for emergency service workers as required during natural disasters. To achieve this, major renovations were undertaken on their current facility in Langwarrin, including upgrading the electricity supply, upgrading cooking equipment to large, commercial-grade appliances and constructing a food packaging area. The improved kitchen facilities mean that volunteers are able to produce 8,000 meals in one shift. At its maximum capacity, the kitchen can produce 24,000 meals across 24 hours. That is a colossal number of meals for those in need in our communities. The facility will improve the organisational capacity to provide relief in emergency situations in the region and more expansive area.

To be at the event to celebrate the opening with my federal and state colleagues and the Sikh community was a momentous cultural celebration. Thank you to Jaswinder and the Sikh Volunteers Australia community. Your exceptional contribution to Australian society is immeasurable.

Last month it was a pleasure to welcome the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Milton Dick, to the Dunkley electorate to visit three fantastic schools as part of his Parliament in Schools program. We visited Banyan Fields Primary School in Carrum Downs, Woodlands Primary School in Langwarrin and Kingsley Park Primary School in Frankston. The Speaker brought a replica of the mace, elected students into the Speaker role and provided them with appropriate costumes for their role. The students also heard firsthand from the Speaker about what a typical day looks like for an MP in their electorate and when they are in Parliament House for sitting weeks. Students from years 5 and 6 were engaged in lively presentations on federation, democracy and the Australian parliament. The students from each school were involved in making a very important decision: whether to make it a law to have or not have pineapple on your pizza. Most of the students decided not to legislate pineapple on pizza, which I was very happy about.

Teaching our young people, through activities like this, about Australia's democracy and decision-making and our federation is so important. We need more Australians to understand the structure and role of government, both young and old. Thank you for visiting Dunkley, Mr Speaker. The students and the teachers loved you. I cannot wait to bring the parliamentary flag to Dunkley and visit some more schools with you soon.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well said by the member for Dunkley.