I had an opportunity to listen to the Soul Harvest Gospel Choir Vanuatu singing in Parliament House today.
They have been in Australia for several weeks, performing at the Desert Song Festival in Central Australia.
Exchanges of arts and culture like this brings nations together.
It was quite uplifting to hear the combination of songs written specifically about Australia and Vanuatu’s relationship as well as traditional Vanuatu songs.
Today I met with four of UNICEF Australia’s Young Ambassadors – Ash, Lachlan, Steve and Indi.
They’ve spent the last year talking face-to-face to 1,500 young Australians to find out their concerns.
These young Australians have a real passion for shaping the future of Australia and it was fascinating to listen to their experiences.
From their research, they’ve produced the 2019 Young Ambassador Report.
The report outlines 5 key areas of concern young people raised with them: Wellbeing; Safety; Learning; Equality; and The Environment.
If you would like to find out more, you can read a copy of the report here: https://www.unicef.org.au/…/A-Climate-for-Change-Young-Amba…
This R U OK Day I was pleased to show my support for MATES in Construction.
In Australia around 190 people working in the construction industry take their own lives-that’s one every two days.
Construction workers are six times more likely to die from suicide than an accident at work.
This organisation is seeking to reduce the high rates of suicide in the building and construction industries.
More information on MATES is available here: http://matesinconstruction.org.au
One of the nicest parts of being a Senator is talking to students from local Tasmanian schools that visit Parliament House.
Today Year 6 students from St James Catholic College visited Parliament House as part of their trip to the capital. They’ve already visit Questacon, the War Memorial and the Australian Institute of Sport amongst other places.
It is wonderful to speak to young people eager to learn more about how our political system works.
I hope you all enjoy the rest of your time in Canberra before the long trip home.
Just visited the Warrane Mornington Neighbourhood Centre’s community garden to check on the fruit trees that I and various other sponsors have helped to purchase. Pleased to also meet the garden’s friendly co-ordinator Leah and some of the garden’s volunteers.
The community garden is not just a great way to promote healthy eating and provide food security to local residents – it is also helping the prisoners who volunteer here to gain valuable work skills which will assist them in securing employment on release.
This week (12-16 August 2019) is National Scams Awareness Week. Scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, yet many Australians still believe they would never fall victim. Visit https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/…/too-smart-to-be-scammed-nati… for tips and tricks on how to avoid a scam.
When we think about the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia (RFDS), we often think of red dirt and blue skies in the outback.
However, the RFDS has been operating in Tasmania for almost 60 years! And while they make more than 1,200 flights per year between airstrips on King, Flinders and Cape Barren Islands, Queenstown, Wynyard, Burnie, Devonport, Smithton, St Helens, Launceston, Hobart and Melbourne, they also offer a range of ground based services to communities across regional Tasmania.
It was lovely to meet today with John Kirwan, the CEO of the RFDS Tasmania and hear about their emergency and primary health services as well as their award-winning dental outreach program and their mental and physical health programmes that are all provided free of charge.
To find out more about their services, or to make a donation to this fantastic cause, please visit their website.
https://www.flyingdoctor.org.au/tas/
It was fantastic to attend the Ageing Wonderfully Well Expo at the Kingborough Hub today. There was a wide range of stallholders providing important information to help ageing Tasmanian’s get the best out of life. Thanks to Dementia Friendly Tasmania Inc. for hosting this event!
It was wonderful to catch up again with Colleen Johnstone from Palliative Care Tasmania for an update on the work they are doing, and to meet Rahme, who is doing her student prac placement with the organisation.
As the peak body for palliative care in Tasmania, PCT is doing excellent work educating service providers, carers, volunteers and the community about hospice, palliative care, death, dying, grief and bereavement while running a number of other palliative care projects.
Throughout 2016 and 2017 I lobbied successfully to save PCT when they were at risk of being defunded. I am looking forward to working with them to ensure they have a sustainable future and that their excellent work with the palliative care sector, and the wider community, can continue.
The beginning of Homelessness Week (4-10 August 2019) is a timely reminder of the Morrison Government’s failure to take real action to help the thousands of Australians on social housing waiting lists, including 3,300 in Tasmania.
That’s over 3,000 Tasmanians who are couchsurfing or sleeping in crisis accommodation, cars, tents or on the street.
Despite the Liberals stating in early July that they would work on the housing and homelessness crisis in Tasmania over “the next six to eight weeks”, they are yet to detail one new initiative.
Now is the time for REAL ACTION on homelessness.
