Perin Davey (NSW, National Party, Shadow Minister for Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today, I'd like to acknowledge the great work that the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation does and has been doing for the last 30 years. Established to help promote, guide and encourage leadership in rural and regional Australia, they've done excellent work with both short-course programs and longer term scholarships. I particularly want to talk about a new leadership program that they've developed in conjunction with the Regional Australia Institute: the Leading Australian Resilient Communities program. Just recently, it brought together 20 people from across the rivers-to-plains region of north-eastern Victoria and southern New South Wales for a five-day leadership program. They graduated in Rutherglen, Victoria last month, and I congratulate each and every one of them.

Together they worked on developing leadership skills, building networks to share their knowledge, and sharing expertise and contacts so that they can all go home and make an impact in their regions. The four groups that came together presented their community projects to stakeholders, supporters and media at the graduation, with projects focusing on digital connectivity, addressing mental health concerns amongst youth, youth engagement in life skills, and food security in the event of natural disasters. The benefits of these programs cannot be overstated. They are a win for regional people and they are a win for regional areas. Rural and regional Australia needs strong leaders, and the foundation has over 2,000 alumni members spread right throughout Australia, providing valuable and broad expertise and capacity to lead and inspire into the future.