Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I want to recognise a number of churches and community groups in my electorate. It was my privilege to attend a number of events held in my local area last weekend, and I want to publicly acknowledge all of them. My first event was at the Scarborough Church of Christ, with Senior Pastor Paul Sanders and Wendy Stanford. I attended their community gala fete, which was held as part of the National Day of Thanksgiving but in particular to celebrate Stirling Seniors Day Out. This was a day that was to honour seniors, volunteers and service clubs.

There are a number of Churches of Christ throughout my electorate, and I want to commend them all on the work that they do in our local community. Today I want to particularly mention Scarborough. I wish to congratulate them on the community work that they carry out through their food bank, which enables low-income earners to secure various groceries for a nominal cost and also frozen meals, which are prepared by the members of the church and kept in stock to help families or individuals during difficult periods of their life. The church also provides family food packs, which consist of long-life foods which help feed a family in crisis for three or four days. All of these things are carried out selflessly by the church members, and I thank them for their commitment to our community.

Later on Saturday afternoon I attended the Stirling Panthers 2007 senior soccer carnival held at Yuluma Reserve in Innaloo. This was organised by Maria Iacieri of the Italo-Australian Welfare Organisation. Even though the weather was not so kind in the west on Saturday, it was great to see so many young people participating in this growing event.

On Sunday I had the privilege of attending a service at the Victory Life Centre in Osborne Park, at the kind invitation of Pastor Margaret Court, a person who is well known throughout the nation not only for her unrivalled record in tennis but also for the good deeds she performs as part of one of the most active church groups within the electorate of Stirling. Again, the service was part of the National Day of Thanksgiving celebrations. The Victory Life Centre also has a welfare arm, which was established nearly six years ago by Pastor Margaret as a mercy ship to provide for the needy people of Perth. They provide a wide range of assistance, such as furniture, clothing, accommodation and food items, which are distributed to families throughout the metropolitan area. This is another fine example of the tireless community work that is carried out by local members of the church.

My final function on the weekend was to deliver the closing address at the expo held at the Herb Graham Recreation Centre in Mirrabooka as part of Bringing Communities Together: Symposiums on Australian Muslims. It was pleasing to see such a large number of Muslim and non-Muslim members of the local community together at this expo, all celebrating the diversity of Australia through experiencing music, dance and food from across the globe. The expo was held as part of the initiative introduced by the Australian government Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. I congratulate the President of the Islamic Council of WA, Mrs Ahdielah Edries, who is also the first woman in Australia to be appointed a principal of an Islamic school. (Time expired)