David Moncrieff (Hughes, Australian Labor Party) | Hansard source

Homelessness is one of the most urgent social challenges facing our community. No-one should be left without a safe place to call home. Too often we speak about homelessness as an abstract issue, disconnected from the complex and difficult experiences of those sleeping rough. That's why I was grateful to be able to join the Sleeping Rough program hosted by Georges River Life Care last week, to express solidarity with those doing it tough and to raise money to provide more support.

Georges River Life Care does terrific work in my community, in areas like Moorebank, through programs like Cafe Connect. They were able to raise more than $51,000 through this year's event, which will go towards their homelessness support and emergency relief programs. While this sleep-out was nothing compared to the lived experience of those sleeping rough every night, it was an eye-opening experience to gain a little more perspective into what it's like for those doing it tough. Thank you so much to Karen Power, Sabrina and all the team at Georges River Life Care for having me along and to everyone who donated to this very important cause.

This month the Sutherland Pavilion had its 50th birthday. Built in the 1970s to host spectacular local music performances, the old Sutherland Entertainment Centre underwent major refurbishments in 2023 and now boasts a 683-seat auditorium, orchestra pit and stunning timber and glass foyer. The new venue hosts a wide range of musical and theatrical performances and is a much-loved cultural hub in the Sutherland Shire.

I was delighted to attend the 50th anniversary celebration gala. The night included performances by shire based musical and acting talents, including Emma Pask, Alex Baum, Dana Alison, Tyler Carney-Faleatua, Ev & Bow and Ettingshausens, alongside members of the Miranda Musical Theatre Company, Engadine Musical Society, Sutherland Shire Brass band and Sutherland Shire Symphony Orchestra. The night was capped off by the play Toy Symphony by playwright and director Michael Gow with actor Sam O'Sullivan, which was set and written in the Sutherland Shire, followed by a visual exhibition and canapes in the main foyer. It was truly a night to remember, and it is fantastic to be able to celebrate this cultural institution, which brings joy to so many across my electorate and beyond.

It's now been 65 years since the closure of the original tramway network in Sydney, which was once the largest tramway network in Australia and the second largest in the Commonwealth, after London. While we now have a new light-rail network in Sydney, that former network is an important part of Sydney's heritage. Loftus, in my electorate, is home to a unique institution in New South Wales: the Sydney Tramway Museum, which does really important work preserving this heritage and the broader transport heritage of Australia.

It was fantastic to attend the museum for their annual Trams After Dark event during the week of the winter solstice and to see trams lit up in splendour. I want to thank Fay McCabe, secretary of the museum, and her team, including the volunteers, who do so much to keep transport heritage alive in southern Sydney with the preservation of heritage trams, for creating a fun day out for families, with trips into the Royal National Park and to Sutherland entertaining all generations of families.

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