Tuesday, 18 June 2024

 Ella GEORGE (Lara) (15:37): Last Tuesday was an incredibly fun day for me as I hosted the remarkable grade 5 and 6 students from Lara Primary School for a visit to Parliament House. The students had a guided tour of Parliament and were incredibly impressed with being allowed to spend some time in both chambers and sit in the seats usually occupied by the Premier, Deputy Premier and other leaders in the Parliament. We spoke a lot about government and the role of a local MP in advocating for their communities. During the visit I asked students about what local issues were most important to them. Their number one response was Serendip Sanctuary, which has been much loved by students of Lara Primary over the years, with students spending a week there each year in the classrooms learning about the natural environment on their doorstep. In particular, students are disappointed that there are no longer any breeding programs run from Serendip. They miss their excursions and classroom programs there greatly.

We spoke about the $11 million commitment that the state Labor government has made to upgrade the facilities and improve the visitor experience at Serendip Sanctuary and the You Yangs Regional Park. We discussed how that funding is allowing Parks Victoria to improve the facilities on offer and also work towards actively looking for community partnerships to support conservation and breeding programs at the site. I had such a great time meeting with all the students, and I especially loved how passionate they were about local issues that affect them. Special thanks to Lara Primary School principal Toni Scott, the teachers involved in the visit, especially Fiona Grills, and of course all the students who came along and were such a wonderful example of their school. I thoroughly enjoyed their visit and I look forward to visiting Lara Primary soon.