International Women’s Day
Chris COUZENS (Geelong) (09:59): Today we celebrate International Women’s Day, and I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge some of the amazing, strong and resilient women across the Geelong region. Many of these women are in important leadership roles, others are trailblazers and there are those that work hard supporting others with little recognition – women like Corrina Eccles, a Wadawurrung woman who shares Wadawurrung culture, mentors young Aboriginal people and spends time supporting the Aboriginal community, including Wadawurrung elders. Adele Welsh volunteers her time working tirelessly for the Geelong Trades Hall women unionists network, ensuring working women have a voice. Helen Bolton, CEO of the Sexual Assault and Family Violence Centre, is advocating for an end to violence against women. Jen Cromarty has been a great champion for creatives across the Geelong region. Diana Taylor is a well-known trailblazer who strongly supports and mentors others and has just published The Playbook, a highly recommended read. Fiona Threlfall is a strong advocate for women in sport and female-friendly facilities, who actively works to ensure women have access to sanitary and wellbeing products. Our new women MPs for the electorates of Lara and Bellarine are fierce advocates for their constituents. Renee Owen heads up the Aboriginal health unit at Barwon Health, ensuring that community members have access to culturally safe health care. Marsha Uppill, an Adnyamathanha woman, has established her own business aimed at applying a First Nations lens to the strategic operations of business.