Hundreds of locals turned up for the official opening of the Kingborough Community Hub, an exciting milestone in the Kingston Park development.

Kingston Park, a $6.4 million master planning exercise, was started by Kingborough Council on the former site of Kingston High School, with the support of State and Federal Labor governments, and has had bipartisan support. It is creating a new commercial Centre for Kingston with the potential to attract hundreds of new jobs to the area.

A big thanks to everyone involved in the opening including Aunty Brenda, who delivered a wonderful welcome to country.

I would like to congratulate all the Rosny College students who received awards at last night’s 2019 Achievers Ceremony. It was my privilege to sponsor The Playgroup Award and present it to Jessica Allen.

Thank you to Principal Anthony Coe for inviting me and giving me a chance to see the extraordinary depth and breadth of talent among Rosny College students. I wish all the students will with their future career and study plans.

It was lovely to chat to Elizabeth Cooper from Lifeline Tasmania about their ongoing work helping people at risk in the community.

Lifeline is currently looking for new volunteers to provide companionship to recipients of home care packages and people living in residential aged care.

If you think this would interest you please contact Elizabeth on 6282 1515 or email lib.cooper@lifelinetasmania.org.au. If you think someone else would be interested, tag them in the comments below.

Congratulations to the Multicultural Women’s Council of Tasmania for a great International Women’s Day event, featuring lots of entertainment and a delicious afternoon tea.

It was also lovely to catch up with Fran Bladel.

While International Women’s Day has been recognised for over 100 years, we still have a long way to go to achieve gender equality – even in Australia where women have lower pay, retire with lower superannuation balances, and are far more likely to be victims of domestic violence.

I was proud to join my Labor colleagues Julie Collins MP and Alison Standen MP, the CPSU Tasmania – PSU and the Huon Valley community rallying to oppose cuts to Centrelink services in Huonville.

The CPSU called today’s rally in response to plans to merge the Huonville Centrelink office with Service Tasmania – a move that will lead to a further reduction in services.

It is outrageous that the Morrison Government would seek to impose cuts to services on a community that is continuing to suffer the economic, emotional and psychological impacts of the recent fires, especially when many local residents will need help accessing disaster relief payments.

It was a pleasure to celebrate Female Football Week at a breakfast this morning with Football Tasmania, State and Federal Labor colleagues and many other invited guests.

Interesting speeches from Julie Collins MP, former Matilda and Canberra United FC Head Coach Heather Garriock covering the need for development of women’s changerooms, encouraging female participation in sport and equality for women in sport.

I met today with Rick Perrin and Paul Fulton, from Joule Logic, along with John Titchen, from Goldwind Australia, to talk about Tasmania’s renewable energy potential.

Goldwind’s Cattle Hill Wind Farm, currently under construction, will provide enough clean power to supply approximately 63,500 Tasmanian homes.

Labor is serious about tackling climate change and supporting the transition to a clean, affordable energy sector, driven by our commitment to 50% renewable energy, and a 45% reduction in emissions by 2030.