I rise to join my colleagues from Thomastown and Broadmeadows in expressing my deep concern about the failure of the Baillieu government and its Minister for Community Services to renew $150 000 in funding for the Victorian Arabic Social Services intake and referral service. VASS..

I am pleased to follow the member for Mornington on the matter I wish to raise, which is for the attention of the Minister for Public Transport. The action I seek from the minister is that he make a clear commitment in relation to funding..

 I rise to make my contribution to the debate on the Parliamentary Salaries and Superannuation Amendment Bill 2011. There has been a lot of talk — a lot of hot air, if I may say so — from those opposite about the merits of this..

It was a pleasure to attend Brunswick South-West Primary School last week for the official opening of its refurbished buildings, made possible by the Building the Education Revolution funding, with my colleague and friend the federal member for Wills, Kelvin Thomson. It was a lovely..

It is a pleasure to rise and speak on the Statute Law Revision Bill 2011. I would like to thank the many speakers who have made outstanding contributions on this important bill, not least the previous speaker, who talked quite extensively about the fact that..

Let us in this house be absolutely clear: while this particular motion is taking us through uncharted territory, there is absolute precedent for what happened on Thursday. On three previous occasions in this house a vote on a bill has been lost by the government..

21 May 2011 Thank you I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which meet, the Wurundjeri People, and pay my respects to Elders past and present. I also acknowledge and warmly thank everyone for attending, including: Mayor, Oscar Yildisz Crs. Kariofyllidis, Helou and..

29 Apr 2011 Thank you Principal Hall, and thank you to Brunswick south primary school for inviting me to attend this special event. Firstly I’d like to congratulate Ms Sheryl Hall on her recent appoint to Principal of Brunswick South Primary School. I’d also like..

Today is a celebration of the Launch of the Australian Pensioners Voice. Great things can be achieved when we stand together, as many of us know from our experiences as members of unions. I am sure that APV will be an effective and united group..

6 Apr 2011 Thank you for this great opportunity to officially open and launch the click to connect exhibition here in Brunswick. The click to connect program works with newly arrived migrant and refugee youth who attend the Brunswick English Language Centre. The aims of..

It is an extraordinary honour to be standing here today in this house as the newly elected member for Brunswick. The seat of Brunswick in many ways is home to and reflects the essential foundations upon which Melbourne was built, and I believe it captures some of the best our community has to offer. It is a place of great multicultural diversity where the contributions of generations of migrant families from across the globe have helped create a fascinating and dynamic area.