Tuesday, 23 May 2023

Willum Warrain

Paul MERCURIO (Hastings) (19:16): (198) ‘Willum warrain’ in local Boon Wurrung language means ‘home by the sea’. It is a gathering place where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders come together to explore their goals, ideas and identity. I have had the opportunity to visit and spend time at Willum Warrain and found it to be an incredible space of First Nations spirit and place. The action I seek is for the Minister for Treaty and First Peoples to join me on a visit to Willum Warrain to experience the amazing space and to meet with the elders, uncles and aunties and the team that make it such a wonderful place.

The gathering place was established in 2014 in Hastings with support from Mornington Peninsula shire and funding from the Closing the Gap program. Willum Warrain is a whole-of-organisation charity that relies on a combination of volunteers, philanthropic funding and government support to keep its doors open. Over the last few years Willum Warrain has established the only Aboriginal community-owned and run bush nursery specialising in local Indigenous plants from the Mornington Peninsula. They are the only Aboriginal-run retail and wholesale nursery south of Melbourne open to the public.

I would also like to let the community know about Willum Warrain’s reconciliation walk on Sunday 4 June, where you can join the Aboriginal community of Mornington Peninsula for a leisurely stroll in the spirit of reconciliation. Willum Warrain would welcome the opportunity to share their space with the minister as it does with the whole community, and I look forward to welcoming her.