I thank my friend the member for Griffith for bringing this motion, as well as thanking the members for Riverina, Whitlam and Curtin for their contributions. We can all agree that volunteers, charities and not-for-profits are an absolutely vital part of all of our communities. I think, this week especially, it's great that we can find things that we can all agree upon.

Sometimes, when I'm out at schools, or reflecting on this job, I think about what the best part of it is, and I think absolutely the best part of this job is getting the opportunity to know our communities even better and getting to meet some of the wonderful volunteers and getting to know some of the wonderful organisations that do incredible work in our community, and seeing the kindness and the generosity with which people give up their time, and, often, give up their hard-earned money, to support causes that they believe in, whether it's the local rotary or a food bank or a community organisation that helps newly arrived migrants. There's so much good that we see day to day. Sometimes, when we read the news, there's nothing but war and conflict and acts of cruelty, and I think seeing the goodness that's out there in everyday Australia is the perfect antidote for that.

I'd like to tell you about three experiences that I've had recently with some of our local community organisations and some of our local volunteers that really struck me. I was out at Warrandyte IGA on the weekend, standing outside with one of our candidates for the upcoming Victorian state election. It was a pretty drizzly day, and we were standing there for a couple of hours giving voters the opportunity to meet their local candidate. But, while we were standing there, some members of the local Warrandyte Cricket Club—in particular, Greg Warren, the Secretary—came past; they were carrying pallets of Gatorade and were heading to the bakery to pick up some pies and some sausage rolls; and a few minutes later I saw his son Luke Warren and a few other members of the cricket club head in to the IGA as well. Of course—as they do every week, multiple times a week—they were just supporting some of the players who were having a game on the weekend. Unfortunately, the game got rained out, and it was a pretty steep hill they were trying to climb—they were chasing 270—but they were nonetheless making sure that their volunteers were well hydrated and well fed. When I popped over there later, the game had been rained out and suspended for a while, though I think they were able to get back on a bit later. But I had a chat to Greg about the cricket club, and it was clear how much pride and how much passion he had about the important work that they do, supporting the players and the community. He was able to talk about every single team that was taking the field that season. I met the new captain, Bailey, and he talked about how it's a multigenerational game. He had grandparents playing with their grandchildren—and there are not many sports you could name where people are able to provide that opportunity for different generations to play together.

But there's also the community that a local sports club provides. It's such a valuable service that people like Greg provide to their community. But it's not just a sport. His son Luke was up here in parliament to receive one of our good sports awards, because, through the Warrandyte Cricket Club, they also provide mental health education and mental health support for their players, and I think sports clubs in particular can play a really important role in de-stigmatising seeking help around mental health issues.

I also got along to the Clota Cottage AGM recently. It was very capably chaired by Trevor Eddy, with a healthy amount of ribbing for the different members! Trevor's also involved in a number of other local organisations: Greenland Indigenous plant nursery and Burke and Beyond disability services. Like a lot of people in our community, once they get started volunteering in one area, they end up volunteering across a lot of different organisations. His wife, Emi Luppino, is also a very active member of the Box Hill RSL, and I know that she's received a number of awards this year for her volunteering, including one of the volunteering awards that our office provides. At the Clota Cottage AGM, they spoke very proudly about the gardening program that they have and also how they've increased the number of English classes that they're providing to new migrants by 2½ times just this year. So thank you to Clota Cottage for everything that you do—for the wide range of programs that you provide to our community.

As I said, thank you to all the volunteers across my community in Menzies, but to those across everyone's communities, right across Australia, for everything you do. You make our communities and Australia a better place.