Thursday, 29 August 2024

 Sarah CONNOLLY (Laverton) (17:14): (814) My adjournment is for the Minister for Carers and Volunteers, and the action I seek is that the minister come and join me in my electorate of Laverton to visit some of the fantastic food relief services that we have running in our local community. As the minister knows, food relief services and charities play an important role in supporting some of our most vulnerable members in the community, making sure that they do not go hungry. Services like those run at Duke Street Community House in Sunshine and the Braybrook and Maidstone Neighbourhood House provide fantastic support to folks in the Sunshine and Braybrook areas. I have had the privilege of visiting these sites on many occasions, and I can tell you the people that work and volunteer there and their passion and dedication for helping those that are doing it really tough at the moment is nothing short of admirable. Further out west we have got the Laverton Community Integrated Services hub, and this also provides food relief and community lunches on Wednesdays for Laverton and Hobsons Bay residents. We know that at times like this, when we are in a cost-of-living crisis, that a lot of folks are doing it tough. One of the most important questions that they are dealing with is how they put food on the table for themselves and their family. It means that the role of these support services has never been more important, and it is something that I hear from one end of my electorate to the other.

Thankfully our government is supporting local community relief in this space. The new community food relief program supports local food relief activities and food security initiatives delivered by neighbourhood houses, community and volunteer-led organisations right across Victoria. Applications are currently open for the local grants. That is why I would absolutely love the minister to come and see firsthand the truly life-saving work that some of these community houses and services are doing with some of the most vulnerable in my local community.