Thursday, 19 March 2026

 Nick STAIKOS (Bentleigh – Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Local Government) (10:11): I rise to congratulate Julie Walker on finishing up after 37 years as co-manager of Moongala Women’s Community House. Moongala is now located at Moorleigh Community Village, but for most of its existence it was located in a house next door to St Peter’s Primary School, owned by the parish. While I have got to know Jules over the last 20 years, she has been a familiar face to me for a lot longer because I was in the same year level at St Peter’s with her daughter Laurie. I remember Jules as a very recognisable face due to her work at Moongala and her voluntary work at the parish and the school. While St Peter’s and Moongala no longer have an official connection, the friendships forged over a generation last to this day. Indeed, when I walked into Jules’s farewell function, the room was full of fellow St Peter’s folk. Nobody knows more about neighbourhood houses than Jules. She spent decades at Moongala, and she even spent some years at Godfrey Street Community House in the early days. That is a good 40 years in the community house sector. Jules is known most for her compassion. Her long-time co-manager, the wonderful Jude Rangitaawa, said at the farewell function, ‘I struggled to find the right word for it, but perhaps the best way to describe it is that Jules is simply available to people.’ Congratulations, Jules. You have left a huge impact on our community, and I cannot wait to see what you do next.