Tuesday, 29 October 2024

 Sarah CONNOLLY (Laverton) (15:06): I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone in Wyndham who came down last weekend to our Welcoming the Babies event, which I hosted alongside the fabulous member for Point Cook, the member for Tarneit and our federal member for Lalor. It was great to see so many new parents – young mums and dads – proud grandparents even and uncles and aunties. They came along with newborns or their young children to be officially welcomed into our growing community.

Being such a fast-growing population, more than 120 babies are born in Wyndham each and every single week, and whilst these stats are often used – sometimes in a negative light – it also highlights that so many families choose to call our suburban community home and that Wyndham is a great place to raise a family. Those were the sentiments we heard last Sunday when meeting with all of these new families. When we were not handing out certificates for our newest bubs we were linking these families up with some of the wonderful child and maternal care services that are available in our community.

I want to acknowledge and thank some of the awesome organisations that came to our event, including Services Australia and Tweddle. Even Kidsafe Victoria were down there doing car seat safety testing even after the event ended. This was an unbelievably successful event. I know that the member for Point Cook, the member for Tarneit and the federal member for Lalor share in my enthusiasm to host this event once again next year, in 2025.