Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We all know, as members of parliament, just how much a little bit of money can do in local communities, particularly when it goes to organisations that rely very heavily on volunteers, so I want to talk about a few in my local electorate today. Dragons Abreast Hobart, in Tasmania, is a support group for survivors of breast cancer who get together to dragon boat. Dragon boating for breast cancer survivors was introduced to Australia, as people would know, in Darwin in 1998 following research from Canada. Now there are over 40 clubs across Tasmania. Hobart is the southernmost based club in Australia and it began in 2003.

It was successful in receiving a stronger communities grant of $8,500 to replace life jackets and purchase a boat trolley to help with transporting the boats. We know that dragon boating is a great way to keep fit and socialise with others who have been through similar experiences of breast cancer. I want to say thank you to Miriam Fletcher and the whole team at Dragons Abreast Hobart for the work they do in our local community in supporting survivors of breast cancer. I look forward to visiting them soon to see how this money is working on the ground.

The second one I want to talk about is Clifton Beach Surf Lifesaving Club. They were successful in receiving a $19,000 grant which is purchasing a new storage shed for equipment, including large inflatable rescue boats and rescue boards. This will go to help meeting the needs of the 350 members of the Clifton Beach Surf Lifesaving Club. I do have to fess up, I am patron of the club. I did recuse myself from the decision of our local committee to award that grant. It is tremendous to see the work that they do in local communities and so many volunteers on weekends, particularly in Tasmania where it's not that warm some weekends in summer, down on our local beaches. I want to particularly congratulate Matthew Clingeleffer, Simon Bailey, the members and the families of the local club for the great work that they do in our local community. I'm hoping to see them at the local dinner this Saturday evening.

The other one I want to talk about is the Dominoes Basketball Club. The Dominoes Basketball Club received $18,500 to upgrade the members area at the Warrane Basketball Stadium. This will include renovations for storage, new flooring and shelving, a new fridge and freezer and other kitchen amenities. The club has a plan to revitalise the whole clubrooms and this grant is a great start. They also received a volunteer grant recently of $3,000. This is a great local club supporting local communities. Again, there are lots of volunteers supporting these organisations. It just could not happen without the amount of volunteers we have in our local community. I want to give a great shout out to the Treasurer, Kristy Stone, who was a finalist of the 2021 Volunteering Tasmania sport recreation and service groups volunteer award. She's done an extraordinary thing there. Congratulations also to Daniel and Angela Ogg, all the volunteers, the members and the players of the Dominoes Basketball Club in my electorate.