Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, it is that time of year when we all draw breath and say, 'Where has this year gone?' and, 'Good grief, it is almost Christmas.' I rise to speak about the importance of giving at this time of year, the importance of celebration and the importance of recognising a wonderful tradition in our community—the actual celebration of Christmas. I reject the comments of those individuals out there who say we cannot celebrate Christmas and we must call it a 'season'. Nobody in my electorate, school, kindergarten or community, rejects Christmas. All of them embrace it. Forty seven per cent of my electorate was born overseas, so I have an enormous amount of diversity and an enormous number of religions, but they all come together and recognise this wonderful time—four weeks of Advent leading up to Christmas and then that wonderful celebration. My schools embrace Chinese New Year, they embrace the moon festival and they embrace Deepavali, but they also embrace and celebrate Christmas, as we all should. If you come from a Christian faith or Catholic background, as I do, you will be at mass; you will be doing all the things that I hold near and dear as my tradition.

But it is also a time for remembering others, particularly those who are less well off. It is time that brings it home very succinctly to some individuals that they are truly alone or have nothing. So I call upon those in our community who can to give at this time of year—to remember there are families out there doing it tough; to remember their friends who are alone. Call them out; embrace them; have them come over. Have the orphan's Christmas. Many community organisations at this time of year get together and do that. In my electorate, I am blessed with a myriad of organisations who will be doing that this year. There are many, including UnitingCare, the St Vincent de Paul Society, the various citizens advice bureaus, the Waverley Benevolent Society—and on and on it goes. I want to recognise two superb organisations in my electorate who will be helping those in need this Christmas: Dixon House in Clayton and Ronald McDonald House in Clayton. Dixon House is a wonderful centre, run for many years by Anglicare Victoria to support children, young people and families from all ethnic diversities and religions.

Many local children are at risk of going without presents or, indeed, food this festive season. Parents and caregivers simply may not have enough money left over from buying necessities to be able to afford presents. I can distinctly remember asking my mother why our neighbours got more presents than us. Why was Santa more generous to them? Mum said, 'There's five of us and there's only two of them. Santa can't carry as many presents into our house.' At this time of year it is really tough. As my child said at kindergarten, 'Why am I taking presents for poor kids? Isn't Santa or their mum and dad doing it for them?' I said, 'Santa can't get round to everybody, but people who can should.' That is what I am asking you all to do this year.

I have put out a call for people to donate to Dixon House and have made it available so that they can drop their gifts and perishable foods up to my office. If they could do that before Thursday, 10 December that would be great, and then we will take all those donations down. We already have a huge array of presents. This year, sadly, our local Father Christmas, Bill Thackray, will not be there. He passed away during the year. He used to make us magnificent wooden toys that made everyone smile. This year, people are asking for food, in particular.

Ronald McDonald House is another great organisation that serves our community. In my electorate, it is next door to Monash Medical Centre, one of the largest hospitals in Victoria and, indeed, Australia. They provide around-the-year care for families whose seriously ill children are at Monash Medical Centre, coming from all parts of Australia but particularly from rural Victoria. I have had the privilege of witnessing the welcoming and caring support provided in this environment. It has been operating since 1993, and since that time they have helped over 9,000 families who have needed to travel for their sick children. This year, two of their inspirational volunteers, Terrie and Peter Littlejohn, were recognised as Caroline Chisholm Awards recipients.

Clare O'Neill, the member for Hotham, and I are going down, on 8 December, to cook up a storm for all the residents who will be, tragically, spending their Christmas at Ronald McDonald House, looking after their seriously ill children. People think that because it is Ronald McDonald House they are completely sponsored by the McDonald's foundation. Whilst McDonald's are incredibly generous in their sponsorship of the house, it does not cover everything. Monash Medical Centre is building a new children's hospital and we will see an increase in people needing to attend Ronald McDonald House. So if you can find some ways of giving to or volunteering with this great organisation that would be magnificent.

On a final note, Bernard Brell came into my office. He could not give much: he gave $100. He is a symbol of what we all need this Christmas.