Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to congratulate the Tullamarine Men's Shed in my electorate of Calwell on the opening of their new and upgraded facilities, which have been hailed as palatial and state-of-the-art. The shed received funding from multiple partnerships. I want to thank the Hume City Council. I also want to thank Josh Bull, the state member for Sunbury, with assistance from the Victorian Labor government and, of course, the federal government, for making this long-sought upgrade possible. The Tullamarine Men's Shed is a hub for local men to share ideas and skills with each other to build and contribute to community related projects. The men's shed is also vital for bringing together men who may have experienced difficult circumstances to allow them to engage socially in a safe space.

The now-upgraded men's shed offers improved rooms and facilities to ensure all members can make use of the space for projects, work and social gatherings. It's a fantastic facility and a benchmark for building stronger community cohesion in the years to come. I want to thank Cheryl Hildebrandt, the manager of the Tullamarine Community House and Tullamarine Men's Shed; Robert Stephenson, the president of the men's shed advisory group; and their team for their hard work in ensuring that the Tullamarine Men's Shed received these essential upgrades. I congratulate them all.