Fiona Scott (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Saturday, together with Paul Stonebridge from Westfield Penrith and a local Darug woman Erin from Muru Mittigar, we had the great privilege to welcome many babies into our local community. The birth of a baby is a special time and the welcoming ceremony allows neighbours, friends and the extended family to share in the joy and celebration, not to mention publicly thank parents and grandparents for their role in raising the newest members of our local community. I would like to thank the Kitty Kats Cheer Squad and the team from Bernardos, Ruby Roo, the Paint Penrith Read Kangaroo for all their help and support. Information stands were also on display to help new parents by providing details and information that will help them with their coming new babies.

Each baby received a sapling, and the saplings are really special because they were grown by local Aboriginal people and, like the new babies, they were also native to our Cumberland Plain woodland. The parents can now take the saplings home and watch the trees grow as the babies do. Paul Stonebridge from Westfield described the event as an 'exciting opportunity for Westfield Penrith to connect with young families across the local community'. Further, he and I were pleased to see so many local families attend the day. I would like to thank the Penrith community for having this event and, likewise, I would like to thank Westfield Penrith for their participation and all the local people that got involved not to mention all the beautiful babies that we met on the day.