Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Werriwa for this very important motion. I was reminded again of how important volunteering is when I was in a mobile office at the Wheelers Hill Shopping Centre in my electorate of Chisolm and I ran into friends from the Lions Club of Wheelers Hill, who were doing an amazing job raising money for the people suffering in Turkiye and Syria as a result of the earthquakes. I had a very good conversation with them about the contribution that they make to the community. They had a full day of activities planned right around the electorate, giving back to a community that they and I love.

Volunteers, I think it's safe to say, are the heart of our community. They keep so many organisations going, whether they be sporting clubs, civic organisations, neighbourhood watches or emergency service groups. I was brought up in a family most members of which volunteered in various organisations, so the importance of volunteering and giving back to the community was instilled in me from a very young age. Volunteering at the local op shop, at the hospital kiosk, in music groups, by tutoring asylum seekers and with food rescue charities—these are different organisations that I and members of my family have participated in. Personally, I found it very enriching.

One of the very first announcements that I was able to make as a candidate during the election campaign was to reinstate an initiative that had been implemented by the wonderful former member for Chisolm Anna Burke—the Caroline Chisolm awards.

My electorate is named for one of Australia's most famous volunteers, Caroline Chisholm, who dedicated her life to civic service and to looking after the people around her in all of the communities that she lived in throughout her life. We held the Caroline Chisolm Awards last year around International Volunteers Day in December. It was my absolute honour to give a platform in our community to the people who give so much to the people around them. I want to name the Caroline Chisolm Award recipients here today because I can't acknowledge them enough, so at every opportunity that I have to name them I will take it!

I want to acknowledge Lingling Zan; John Elliott; Wendy Hui Jiang and Polly Feng; Janice Heeley; Ling Wang; Lei Zhao, Don Cheyne; Sandra Robertson; Binyu Wang and Huiliang Ji; Ken Calder; Rongzong Lin; Johnny Hung Kwong Yu; Tess McBaron; Martika Lu; Bing Du; and Cheryl Webster. All of these people do work in so many different kinds of organisations: sporting groups, musical groups and through churches and neighbourhood houses, and with people of all different ages and from all walks of life. Particularly after the last few years of the pandemic, which was very challenging for communities, the fact that the people who had volunteered in the past jumped straight back into action and revived a lot of groups that may not have been able to meet during the very worst parts of the pandemic has been extraordinary. A lot of these groups are really roaring back to life. In December I was able to enjoy many Christmas events with a lot of these organisations, and this gave me another opportunity to say thank you for everything they do.

I think there's always a role for governments to do more to support the people in our communities who give so much of their time. That's why I'm really delighted that we have announced an inquiry into philanthropy and into ways that we can make it easier for people to give money and resources to people who set up the community groups that we would be lost without right across Australia. I'm looking forward to doing whatever I can in my local community to support the community groups and volunteers that enrich Chisholm, and I look forward to being part of a government that will do what it can to support the people who support our communities.

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