Tim Wilson (Goldstein, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

One of the grievances that I always have is that there isn’t proper and full recognition of different parts of my community for the incredible amount of work that they do in supporting each other and contributing to building better lives for the tens of thousands of people who live within the Goldstein electorate and across the cities of Bayside and Glen Eira. You only need to look at some of the activities that have recently been conducted by many community-minded organisations, and their efforts to voluntarily bring people together to build a better community. That deserves full recognition and celebration.

In fact, only last Friday night I was at the Bayside night market at Sacred Heart Parish School in Sandringham, a local Catholic school, not far from where I live. Unlike last year when they suffered under a deluge of rain for their important night market, this year it was a beautiful sunny evening, which enabled parents to come together with children, family members and friends to celebrate the school and, of course, participate in a bit of commerce and relaxation. The night market had many stalls, with lots of different artisans and parents who had small businesses selling their goods. There were three different stalls that sold candles, although only one sold candles that were made in the wonderful Goldstein electorate, so I have to give deference and support to them. There were also the usual things like barbecues and the opportunity for drinking and relaxation in a very pleasant environment.

I want to thank and congratulate everybody who was a participant in the Sacred Heart Parish School community fair and Bayside night market, and, in particular, thank the Principal, Erin Macdonald, who has never been afraid to come forward and raise her concerns to me about many community issues. She is particularly concerned about making sure that there is proper and equitable funding for her school. It is something that we have worked upon. She has been provided with the opportunity to raise it directly with the minister to make sure that schools in our community are still affordable for all people, regardless of their walk of life. And I share her concern.

Similarly, on Friday night we were fortunate enough to have the Beaumaris art and craft show at the Beaumaris Primary School. We were very fortunate to have the participation of the Minister for the Arts, Senator the Hon. Mitch Fifield, who came along to open this wonderful art and craft exhibition. Talented local artists came along to show their latest works. It was a great pleasure to be able to spend so much time with local artists and art enthusiasts from the Bayside community. It was the inaugural art and craft show. Lots of art and craft works were created specifically for the show.

I particularly want to thank the efforts of Jenny Dumont, who was the newly appointed coordinator of the first annual Beaumaris art and craft show. All I can say is that I'm looking forward to next year. I also want to thank Sheryl Skewes, the Principal of Beaumaris Primary School, where it was hosted, for being so supportive and providing the opportunity for the minister and me to come down last Friday evening and enjoy their important works.

That was followed, by the way, as part of a weekend of the Day on Dalgetty at Beaumaris Primary School, where they had their fete the following Sunday morning, with rides and things that excite people perhaps slightly shorter and younger than me. It also gave an opportunity for many local small businesses and parents who have stalls to be able to show their wares. I was particularly appreciative of the fact that you could walk around with a mug of coffee, rather than having to use a disposable cup, because one of the great things about Beaumaris is that it is a community of people who are conservation minded. I sometimes describe them as Liberal conservationists, and I say that with affection, because they care about their local community and their local amenity and make sure that they take care of their natural environment, which is absolutely stunning.

Similarly, over the weekend St Paul's Primary School fete was held on Sunday morning. The principal, Catherine Tammesild, was very kind in greeting me before she went off to mass. Catherine showed me around the fete. We saw the efforts of parents who are directly contributing to raise important money and resources for their school. It wasn't just the rides, of course. As with the Beaumaris Primary School fete, one of the critical things on offer was a cake stall. Some might say my waistline shows the fact that it was a very successful cake stall. But in fact the purchase of a gluten-free cake enabled me to take something to my in-laws later in the day.

This has all continued as part of a large pattern of unacknowledged work by the Goldstein community. Only a few months ago I was in attendance at Gardenvale Primary School, where local school leaders had raised concerns that their flag had deteriorated to the point where they were no longer to fly it. I think everybody in this place would understand the importance of having a fully working, functioning Australian flag that you can be proud of. They hoist the flag at their assembly at the start of every school week while they sing the national anthem. I'm particularly appreciative of Assistant Principal Janine Hall and Principal Mr Chris Chant, who I had the pleasure of being dunked with in a dunking machine at their fete, only 12 months ago. The children were presented with a new flag and educated about the importance of the Australian flag and why it's so critical to preserving the integrity and understanding of our nation and its enduring importance.

Similarly, the efforts of Brighton Grammar School and local parents, particularly Eveline Jona, who, as part of the Victorian Parents Council, recently hosted a Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Digital Age Seminar at Brighton Grammar School's new health and wellbeing centre, which is a converted church, on the Brighton Grammar campus. The school provided the opportunity to bring people together, particularly parents, to educate them about how they can help their children by making sure they have wellbeing in the digital age, particularly around issues of online bullying and ensuring they can take care of themselves. Brighton Grammar has been consistently supportive of bringing people together to address exactly these types of issues. It's why they developed the wellbeing centre. It was to make sure that particularly young boys, who are often at different, or unique risks, get the support and assistance they need to be able to grow up as mature adults who show respect to others. I would particularly like to acknowledge the leadership of Headmaster Ross Featherstone and Ray Swann, both of whom have made an important contribution as part of a broader package of doing good work to bring the Goldstein community together.

Finally, I acknowledge the contribution of Yeshivah Beth Rivkah Trades Skills Centre, in the Goldstein electorate, which I was very fortunate to open only a few weeks ago, where students from around Melbourne will realise the tremendous benefits through this terrific new facility, which provides the opportunity for young people to be trained and skilled, particularly in catering and cooking, to provide services and to help them as part of their integration into the job market. This program is supported by the Australian government. It is committed to ensuring vocational training meets the needs of industry employers and it provides students with this training, particularly in the areas where there are skills shortages. The $1.4 billion the Australian government provided to the program overall has been approved to establish trade skills training facilities and has revitalised 1,289 secondary schools across the country, of which Yeshivah Beth Rivkah is one. It was incredibly rewarding to see the hard work of my parliamentary colleague the Assistant Minister for Vocational Education and Skills, the Hon. Karen Andrews, who became the key advancer of this important program. The generation of skills among students that will develop as a consequence of the Yeshivah-Beth Rivkah trade skills centre will benefit not only the local community but of course the Australian community at large. Students will be equipped with real-life experience to meet skills shortages that are the reality in cities, communities and regions throughout our great nation.

As the workforce becomes increasingly competitive, innovative and creative forms of education become the new currency of employment. The Australian government is dedicated to investing in these pathways, for obvious reasons, because the Yeshivah-Beth Rivkah trade skills centre would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of many community-minded people and people around the colleges. I'd like to particularly acknowledge Principal Rabbi Yehoshua Smukler's enthusiasm for the project, which for this school includes a commercial kitchen, a teaching restaurant, preparation and food storage areas, and equipment. I'd also like to express my sincere gratitude to Mr Albert Dadon AM and the Herzog family for their incredible work for this project, and of course the work of the leader of the opposition in Victoria, Matthew Guy, and the state member for Caulfield, David Southwick. Each of them has been very supportive of this very important program. The only danger, I warn, is that if you go down to Yeshivah-Beth Rivkah, to the trade skills centre, you might have the problem that they offer you some beautiful baked goods!