David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 21 August, I attended the South West Bankstown Chamber of Commerce's Women in Leadership function at the Bankstown Sports Club. It was a great evening which brought together many local small business operators. There were a couple of hundred people in attendance, and it was a great testament to the efforts of Wally Mehanna, the CEO of the South West Bankstown Chamber of Commerce. I'd like in particular to note the contribution of the keynote speaker, Ms Lee de Winton, who is the new CEO of Bankstown Airport. Bankstown Airport is, in fact, the second busiest airport in Australia, with a large number of flight schools and smaller aircrafts making use of that facility, which, of course, dates back to the Second World War. Congratulations to Wally for organising the event and Ms de Winton for her very thoughtful reflections on her career in the military and in the private sector. I look forward to continuing to work with the South West Bankstown Chamber of Commerce in the future.

The VIEW Clubs of Australia are a great institution which do tremendous work in our community. On 21 August, I attended the Lugarno Evening VIEW Club's 45th anniversary celebration. The strong Lugarno Evening VIEW Club in my electorate and, also, the East Hills VIEW Club do great work and fundraising, particularly to help students with their educational costs. The VIEW Club has been around for 45 years in Lugarno and does a wonderful job. I would also like to acknowledge the efforts of Sheryl Sharkie, the guest entertainer on the night, who did lots of great numbers for the crowd. Thanks to Jenny Smith and Adele Persi for their efforts in organising the celebrations, and also to Ellen Grey, with whom I recently met to discuss the upcoming biannual VIEW Clubs national conference and some policy motions that may come from that event.

On 22 August, I met with the St George Zone of Playgroups to discuss the needs of the playgroup community in the Banks electorate. The playgroups are very important organisations where families with young kids come together to play, as the name suggests. They also provide social support for parents. The groups meet in community spaces in Oatley, Blakehurst, Penshurst, Carss Park and a range of other places around the St George region. They also operate a toy library at Oatley, which has been in operation for some time and helps to provide toys to kids without the financial burden for parents of needing to buy those toys. I encourage Georges River Council to support the playgroup in all their efforts. Thank you to Annette Ruhotas Morgan, the coordinator, and everyone else involved.