Tuesday, 7 February 2023

 Tom McINTOSH (Eastern Victoria) (14:30): I rise to speak on this first sitting day of 2023 and what is my first opportunity to speak in the 60th Parliament about the not-for-profit Wallara Australia, who operate the terrific Sages Cottage farm in Baxter on the Mornington Peninsula. Wallara provide life and work pathways for 70 people with intellectual disabilities on a beautiful historic site set on 38 acres with a heritage homestead that is an incredible building to walk through.

I would like to acknowledge all the hard work that Phil, Zara and the team have done to create this unique space that offers such innovative opportunities for members of our community. Those I met have access to supported employment and further education via accredited courses and hands-on training to become incredible cooks – whose food, I can tell you, is delicious – baristas and gardeners. Wallara also offers retail training with Wallara Shop and media production with WallaraTV, and it has a busy logistics division working with supportive partners like the St Kilda Football Club and Visy to provide warehousing, packing, land management and corporate volunteering opportunities. I met Maddy, Chris and Terry. They told me about how they much they love their jobs, and the smiles on their faces were truly testament to that.

Wallara’s vision with Sages Cottage is to normalise disability, to set a new benchmark for inclusive tourism on the Mornington Peninsula and to create paid jobs for people on and off the farm with its growing list of supporters. I look forward to my next visit and to continuing to support their great work.