House debates

Thursday, 14 February 2019

Statements by Members

Canberra Electorate: Operation School Supplies

1:30 pm

Photo of Gai BrodtmannGai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Cyber Security and Defence) Share this | | Hansard source

Canberran students went back to school last week, and in anticipation I made a call to action to my community—a call to action to take part in my Operation School Supplies campaign; a call to action to help families doing it tough, particularly after Christmas; a call to action to ease the pressure on those families through donations of stationery, drink bottles, lunch boxes, backpacks and calculators; a call to action in response to the real need identified by the Gordon Community Centre and the YWCA Mura Lanyon Youth and Community Centre.

A few days after I dropped off a mountain of supplies, I received this beautiful letter from Gordon Community Centre:

We have been able to give out so many of the items already. In particular we were able to help a mother of a large family with one child in hospital. She's struggling with the expense of getting back and forth from the hospital and hadn't bought any school supplies.

We were also able to help a single dad who has just got housing for himself and his three children—he's sleeping on the couch so each of his children has their own room. Their faces lit up when I let them know we had a supply of brand new, back to school items.

I also sent off a backpack with one of my colleagues which will be given to a young carer who is supporting a member of their family.

I want to share my thanks with the people of Canberra. Thank you for taking part in this campaign. A big shout-out goes to Georgina Warren, who interned in our office and helped me and my team coordinate it. (Time expired)