Madeleine King (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

With fire season approaching, I would like to acknowledge the firefighters of the Rockingham, Baldivis, Kwinana, Karnup and Secret Harbour volunteer fire and emergency services for their continued efforts to keep the community safe from the bushfires that can spring up across the electorate of Brand. I want to also thank the volunteers of the Rockingham-Kwinana State Emergency Service for all they do across the year to help members of the community in need.

As it starts to heat up, more people will be visiting our beautiful beaches and will be taking to deeper water in their boats. I'd like to thank the efforts of the Secret Harbour Surf Life Saving Club and also Marine Rescue Rockingham for serving our coastal areas. I know all the volunteers of both these organisations will have a busy summer helping swimmers and boaties that run into trouble while out in the beautiful Indian Ocean.

While Christmas is a joyous time for most, we cannot forget those less fortunate than us. For some, Christmas is a very difficult period. Thankfully, my electorate of Brand—like electorates right across this great country—is full of passionate and caring people who work over the holidays to help those in need. This includes the remarkable team at the Coastal District Care Centre who organise an annual Christmas appeal. Last year, the appeal ensured 150 Christmas hampers were delivered to those in need, and it is likely that this year Coastal District Care Centre will help support another 150 families across the district enjoy a better Christmas. I'm really pleased to take part in this annual appeal. Donations in the form of non-perishable food goods and unwrapped gifts can be dropped off at my Rockingham electorate office and also the electorate office of my local state parliamentary colleagues Roger Cook in Kwinana, Paul Papalia in Warnbro and Reece Whitby in Baldivis until this Friday 3 December. Unfortunately, the electorate office of Premier Mark McGowan remains closed due to the shocking threats of extreme violence made against him and his staff.

At this point, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all of the staff in my office and in the offices of those state MPs who have had to endure much over the course of this year. The recent threats and harassment from only a few individuals take a toll on their lives and their wellbeing. Nonetheless, these community minded people keep on with their great work helping people right across the electorate of Brand. Usually, at this time of year, I would name the staff and the officers, including mine, but I realise that, in this terrible climate of violence driven by extreme antivaxxer movements, naming them in the Hansard may put them at greater risk and that is truly a dreadful situation. But to all of the electorate officers across the state offices and my Brand electorate office: you all know who you are, and many of the kind community of Brand know who you are too, and I want to thank you all and thank you for your commitment to the local community.

I'll take this brief opportunity to say Merry Christmas to all the MPs here today and those in the Senate as well. I hope you all have a really restful break after a pretty tough year.