Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It was an honour on Saturday night to attend the Chirnside Park CFA annual dinner to say thank you to those volunteers who give so much to keep our community safe. I want to congratulate the captain, Ben, on six years of service to our community. We were celebrating the 10th birthday of the Chirnside Park CFA. Six years is a significant impact, and I want to wish Paul Simpson all the best. I know the brigade is in good hands.

I recently had the opportunity to attend the Mooroolbark CFA annual dinner. It was a great event. Again, it was to celebrate those that volunteer to give so much to keep us safe. Unfortunately, I could not attend the Lilydale CFA annual dinner. It was on 3 May, so we were all quite busy. But it was lucky that their dinner was at the same location as my after-election event, so I could drop in and say hello to the team there and congratulate them on a wonderful year. We have so many volunteers in the CFA, who will, at the drop of a hat, leave their families, their loved ones and their businesses to keep our community safe. They volunteer; they do it for free. In the Yarra Valley and the Dandenong Ranges, we know how important the CFA are. We thank them today; we thank them every day. I'm looking forward to visiting many other CFA annual dinners, including Wonga Park, Montrose and many others, to say thank you for keeping our community safe.

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