Emma McBride (Dobell, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The doors are now open at the new Central Coast Veteran and Family Hub, located in the heart of our community at 31 Hely Street, Wyong. I was proud to join local RSL subbranch members, RSL LifeCare and my friend New South Wales Minister for Veterans and Member for Wyong, David Harris, at the official opening last month.

The hub will support the 8,000 Central Coast veterans and their families, with improved access to specialist services closer to home, offering a range of tailored services to assist with transition, employment, social connection and advocacy services, along with important mental and physical health support and care. Recently, I joined the veterans walking group from the hub, led through Wyong by Peter. The walk was followed by morning tea back at the hub, where veterans expressed the meaningful difference the hub is already making to them, their families and fellow veterans. A highlight was the date scone versus plain scone bake-off between manager Kristin and Jamie, who currently holds the trophy spatula.

Our government has delivered $1.7 million in funding through the Veteran Wellbeing Grants program, to establish the hub in Wyong. Thank you to the local RSL LifeCare team for the that work you're already doing for veterans in our community, and I look forward to continuing to work closely with you for our veterans and their families.

Since I was elected eight years ago, I've hosted seniors' forums across my community, to keep local seniors up to date with important local and national information. Over the last few months, I've held forums in Kanwal, Wyoming, Long Jetty and Toukley. Locals at each forum have heard from representatives of Services Australia, My Aged Care, seniors rights Australia, providing up-to-date and relevant information to them and their families. I've been able to update seniors on our government's work to help ease the cost of living for older Australians, including tax cuts for every taxpayer, energy bill relief and important changes in health services. At every forum, attendees have raised with me the real and significant difference that freezing the cost of PBS medicines and increasing accessibility to bulk-billing local doctors have made for them and their families, so critical at that time of your life.

Whether it is meaningful cost-of-living relief or repairing aged care, our Labor government is focused on delivering for local seniors in regional communities like mine on the Central Coast. I'd like to personally thank the hundreds of local seniors who've enjoyed my forums across the coast. I'm delighted to continue to provide every one of them with our local seniors kit, which is still available from my office, if seniors would like the most recent copy.