Clare O'Neil (Hotham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

A fortnight ago, my community in Hotham joined the nation to celebrate National Volunteer Week. This is such an important opportunity for so many reasons, but one of those reasons is that it gives people like me the chance to say thank you for the incredible work that volunteers do right across the country and in my electorate in particular. There are six million volunteers who undertake this critical work that affects all our areas of life, and this is a great opportunity for us to just say, 'Thank you.' It is also a great time for us to talk about some of the benefits of volunteering. The theme for National Volunteer Week this year was 'Give happy, live happy', and I think it is important for us in the chamber today to note that volunteering is great for volunteers too. We know that they are generally happier in their lives, and a big part of that is the fact that they do this important work of helping other Australians.

I want to talk a little about some of the volunteers who do really important work in my community of Hotham. In Hotham, we are blessed by a very rich community of volunteers of all ages and all cultural backgrounds, who are doing work in things as varied as health organisations, childcare centres, community houses, animal shelters and environment groups. We have some of the same groups across many of our electorates, with Rotary, Lions clubs and the important work done in hospitals. I am lucky to have a Ronald McDonald House very close to my electorate, and the work that volunteers do supporting that organisation is truly extraordinary. It is important too not to forget our volunteers who are out there protecting the natural environment. A lot of people would not know this about Hotham, but we have a lot of very rich nature reserves and, importantly, a green ridge that is protected by local volunteers. I want to salute the work they do in protecting that local environment for us.

Like many of us in the chamber, the councils in my local area do a great job in recognising volunteers, year in and year out. I will speak about some of the important work that the people in my electorate who have been named Citizen of the Year have done in this last year. Glen Eira City Council gave their Citizen of the Year award to Marjorie Lochhead. Marjorie is an incredible woman, a Bentleigh East resident and founding member of the Moorabbin Hospital Ladies Auxiliary. She is 86 years of age—I do not think she would mind me saying—but is still today an active part of the ladies auxiliary and is the current treasurer. She has been working for 39 years—longer than I have been alive—to help raise much needed funds for the hospital and has been weekly volunteering in the canteen and running the monthly trading tables. Thank you, on behalf of the people of Hotham, to Marjorie.

I acknowledge Beverley Douglas, Citizen of the Year, this year, for Greater Dandenong. Beverley Douglas is one of my constituents of Springvale and has been volunteering in her local community for 30 years. Her involvement has been instrumental to the changing needs of her community, including driving new program development and service-delivery models. She has been a long-term volunteer at the Springvale Learning and Activity Centre. Living out in Springvale, I can tell you, over the last 30 years we have seen so much change in that local area. I know Beverley has been right on the money in trying to make sure the services that we provide locally are adapting to that local community. Beverly, thank you so much, on behalf of all the people of Hotham, for the work you do.

Saving one of my favourite constituents till last, Charlie Mizzi is one of the most dedicated volunteers in my whole electorate. He was this year named Kingston Citizen of the Year. He has been a tireless volunteer for decades. Charlie is an active member of more community organisations than I have time to go through here, but they include Ronald McDonald House, the Oakleigh and Clarinda Village Committee, the Neighbourhood Watch, the Avicultural Society of Australia and many local senior citizens groups.

I have the great privilege of benefiting directly from Charlie's incredible efforts from his years as a long-term volunteer in my office. He and his wife, Gail, are regularly popping in to see and helping us out. They are an incredible part of the work that we do in Hotham. Charlie, on behalf of the people of Hotham, congratulations. We are so proud of the work that you do.

Active citizens are so important to us. As members of parliament we are in a unique position in getting to see so much of what goes on in our community. I think I speak for all the members in the House when I say that our work as members of parliament is so enriched by having networks of volunteers across our communities. National Volunteer Week is a wonderful opportunity for us to say, on behalf of the people of Australia, thank you to all of you who are doing this great work.

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