Alice Jordan-Baird (Gorton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There have been some great contributions this afternoon about our Lions clubs across Australia, and I'm excited to speak to you today about one of my local Lions clubs as well. With sizzling barbecues; raffles; paintings; performers, including the band The Beatlez with a Z; and even a jumping castle, the Lions Club of Taylors Lakes' annual Community Music and Picnic Day last Sunday went off. I had some great chats with local families at my market stall, including how the Albanese Labor government is supporting locals with cheaper child care, a boost to Medicare and shoring up fuel supply here in Australia.

The Lions Club of Taylors Lakes is a wonderful volunteer-run organisation bringing so much to our local community. They can put on a banging picnic, but that's not all they do. They have a subbranch called Greening Taylors Lakes, which does fantastic work alongside our Friends of Taylors Creek environment group. I recently visited the Lions Club of Taylors Lakes' community garden, located next door to one of our local preschools, where I got to pick some vegies and spend some time with the dedicated volunteers in their beautiful garden. A huge shoutout to Phil Clinkaberry and all the volunteers at the Taylors Lakes Lions club.

I was recently in the INCommunity Care pantry's official opening in Ravenhall. Let me tell you, this important service was able to open in our community thanks to the tireless dedication of Pastor Carly Alexander and pastors Craig and Melissa Mar from INChurch Melbourne, three people who had a vision, a vision to make life easier for families in our community who need support with groceries. They saw a gap in the Caroline Springs corridor when it came to food relief and they decided to open their own community pantry. These incredible individuals stand as a testament to the dedication and strength of our community, our community who looks after each other.

I was privileged to visit their facility last year. It was just a shell back then, and it was so wonderful to come back and see it filled out, full of food available for our community. Thank you to INCommunity Care pantry and INChurch Melbourne for all the work you do in our community.

Riding his bike in sun, heavy winds and rain through Perth, Broome and Adelaide on highways and gravel dirt roads, Tommy Quick achieved a massive feat in his bike ride across Australia. Tommy is a local to Melbourne's western suburbs, living in my friend the member for Maribyrnong's electorate. He's ridden over 11,000 kilometres across Australia to raise awareness of stroke in young people and to fund childhood stroke research. He's done just that, with his fundraising campaign now sitting at over $160,000. It was truly an honour to catch up with him in Caroline Springs and hear his story as a stroke survivor. I'd like to thank Tommy for his incredible advocacy and all the work he continues to do in this space. I look forward to seeing his documentary soon.

Tania Lawrence (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In accordance with standing order 103, the time for members' constituency statements has concluded.