Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is a serious case of shed envy happening in the Hawkesbury that I think most of the blokes in this place would identify with. This shed envy is all because of the Tennyson Rural Fire Brigade. The Rural Fire Service yesterday opened its brand-new shed. Tennyson doesn't have a village—the shed is it—and for years the people of Tennyson, which is an agricultural, rural and bushy area, have been making do with very little. They started in a garage, they adapted vehicles and they were thrilled when they got a power point. They have literally pieced it together and, finally yesterday, their $840,000 shed was opened.

More than 200 people, is my guess, were there yesterday—a huge gathering for a small community in the Hawkesbury. They now have three truck bays, two water tanks, a workshop, a meeting room, an office and, as we experienced yesterday, a kitchen. The Hawkesbury catering group from the Rural Fire Service should be congratulated for what they managed to produce for these hordes of people yesterday afternoon in the new kitchen. What's really special about Tennyson is that, because people live on their properties and work on their properties, they turn out in droves when the call comes in. These are the sorts of people who make living in my part of the world a possibility. They deserve congratulations.