Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker Georganas, I too add my congratulations on your elevation to high office. Later this month the proud community in Geelong will quite literally reclaim ownership of their neighbourhood. Flamefest 2012 will be held in a park, a common, called Whittington Link. Just in the last decade it has been a place of broken glass, illegal motorbikes, crime, drugs and violence, but today it is beautiful. It is a beautiful area with great public art and with increased usage. It will be celebrated through Flamefest.

The emblem for Flamefest is a phoenix, and it is emblematic of what has happened with Whittington Link and also of what has happened with Whittington itself. Whittington is one of Geelong's most disadvantaged suburbs, but it is also a suburb which is setting a new standard in how residents and the agencies that serve those residents can work together to achieve real and sustainable results. The Community Renewal program was launched by the Victorian government in Whittington in 2007—the then Bracks government—and from that we have seen the creation of a community garden, a permanent home for the Men's Shed and the development of the community-planned Whittington Link which, I am proud to say, was federally funded by this Labor government. In addition, the Apollo Drive Kindergarten reopened and its enrolments are growing, as are student numbers of Whittington Primary School. A notable milestone was reached last year when, for the first time ever, every student at Whittington Primary School had been to kindergarten before starting school.

Community Renewal as a formal program completed its work in September, but it is fantastic to see the programs that have sprung up to take its place. One of these is Whittington Works, which aims to get people back into the workforce and create a culture of lifelong learning within the community. Entrenched and generational unemployment is a very real issue in Whittington, but the work being done by community agencies, registered training organisations and Job Services Australia providers is yielding promising results. All up, 17 organisations are involved in Whittington Works. What sets this initiative apart is the extent to which these 17 organisations are working together. They may vie for business in the marketplace but in their work in Whittington they are collaborators first and competitors second.

At the Whittington Flamefest later this month job service providers, training organisations and employers will gather collectively under the banner of Whittington Works at a special jobs expo being planned as a part of that day. I can think of no better way to celebrate a renewed sense of community. The people of Whittington have shown us all what can be achieved when we harness the strength within us and our hopes and dreams for a brighter future, and those hopes are certainly invested in the community of Whittington.