MS TIERNEY (Western Victoria—Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education) (13:08:53): Last night I had the privilege of attending the formal opening of the Geelong Arts Centre, the revitalised and redeveloped facility that was funded by the Andrews Labor government to the tune of $37 million, and it certainly is a great facility.…
MS TIERNEY (Western Victoria—Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education) (09:55:00): Today I rise to inform the house of fantastic programs being put into practice in Western Victoria. Congratulations to the recently announced finalists in the Victorian Early Years Awards; seven of the 20 are located in my electorate. They are Delkaia Aboriginal…
MS TIERNEY: In the south-west, four colleges—Apollo Bay P–12 College, Lavers Hill K–12 College, Lorne P–12 College and Colac Secondary College—are leading the way in supporting the mental health needs of regional Victorians. Recruitment is already underway to appoint mental health practitioners to work with students in each school every week starting in term 4.…
MS TIERNEY (Western Victoria—Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education) (09:55:28): It is with great pleasure that I rise today to congratulate the members of Find Your Voice all-abilities choir from Warrnambool on their recent successes. The choir, led by inspiring Warrnambool musician Tom Richardson and facilitator Kylie Thulborn, was recently awarded the…
MS TIERNEY (Western Victoria—Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education) (09:43:47): Today I congratulate Lorne P–12 College for its outstanding achievement in engaging students in the Victorian certificate of applied learning (VCAL). Principal Shane Elevato and his staff deliver a program that is an exemplar to educators and schools in Western Victoria. Their…
MS TIERNEY: That same emphasis on supporting students is reflected in a really significant initiative that will see schools having dedicated mental health practitioners on site. The Andrews Labor government understands the challenges faced by regional communities, especially young people living in farming areas. All schools aim to support students’ health and wellbeing, but welfare…
MS TIERNEY (Western Victoria—Minister for Training and Skills, Minister for Higher Education) (09:49:12): Last weekend I was very pleased to join the Bannockburn community in opening the Bannockburn Victoria Park netball courts. The completion of two competition-standard netball courts with new lighting plus undercover seating and fencing was made possible by a $100 000 grant…
MS TIERNEY (Minister for Training and Skills) (12:38:57) — I rise today to inform the house of a great project focused on early intervention to assist young people in Geelong. The Geelong Project — TGP — is a fantastic example of a homegrown, innovative strategy to deal with a very serious problem on a local scale. It has…
MS TIERNEY (Minister for Training and Skills) (09:49:16) — Anzac Day this year had a special focus on the centenary of the Battle of Villers-Bretonneux, which is of particular significance for Australians. In April 1918 in a battle to reclaim lost ground on the Western Front in France there were over 2400 casualties out of 3900 Australians who…
Ms TIERNEY (Minister for Training and Skills) (09:49:00) — Ms Lovell raised concerns yesterday by pronouncing that Auslan funding will cease at the end of this year. Let me be clear: there is no basis to this statement. What is true is that the current qualifications are being reviewed for re-accreditation in 2018, a process that is…
Ms TIERNEY (Minister for Training and Skills) (13:06:39) — I rise to congratulate my constituents for the work they do in fundraising for excellent causes. Last week I was very pleased to take part in the Pink Ribbon Breakfast organised by the Bellarine Women’s Network in support of research into breast cancer. This very well attended…
MS TIERNEY (Minister for Training and Skills) — Last week many Western Victoria Region constituents received Victorian Disability Awards. The emerging leader award went to Warrnambool’s Bryce Pace, a year 12 Brauer College student. His outstanding effort in advocating for young people with autism makes Bryce, at 18, the youngest award winner. Bryce uses personal experience to…
MS TIERNEY (Minister for Training and Skills) — This week I attended my 11th Sheepvention in Hamilton, a fantastic western Victoria agricultural show and a cultural institution celebrating its 39th year. As ever, it was a great opportunity to meet constituents. Sheepvention incorporates the Hamilton and Western District Sheep Show, Suffolk being this year’s feature breed. Diversity — around…
MS TIERNEY (Minister for Training and Skills) — I rise to congratulate the 26 residents of Western Victoria Region whose achievements and contributions to their communities have been recognised in the Queen’s Birthday honours recently. Three were awarded AMs, 22 received OAMs and one was awarded the Australian Fire Service Medal. These western Victorians cover the full…
MS TIERNEY (Minister for Training and Skills) — On Saturday, 29 April, I had the opportunity to visit a really impressive example of revegetation and rehabilitation in my electorate of Western Victoria. The Basalt to Bay Landcare Network and the Green Line conservation and revegetation project from Koroit to Minhamite represents over five years of work under the…
MS TIERNEY (Minister for Training and Skills) — One of the best features of the two Anzac Day services I attended was the engagement of young people and children in the ceremonies and the dignity and respect they brought to the events. This was especially so at Portarlington, where school students and sporting team members attended,…
MS TIERNEY (Minister for Training and Skills) — I rise to draw attention to the contribution of two women working at a local level and making a significant difference to other women within very different communities. Catherine Jenkins of South Purrumbete is a western Victoria dairy farmer who is switched on to issues confronting the industry…
MS TIERNEY (Minister for Training and Skills) — Last month the excitement of the Timboon P–12 School community past and present was absolutely clear as we turned the first sod of the long-awaited $5.2 million rebuild. This school community has laboured for years, never giving up, to realise a project beset by promises only to end in…
MS TIERNEY — On another note, this government’s $15 million emergency services volunteer sustainability grants program is boosting volunteer organisations statewide. Last week I announced 34 grants in my electorate for groups working hard to keep Victorians safe. These range from the Wye River Country Fire Authority (CFA) station extension to purchases of operational equipment and training for…
MS TIERNEY (Minister for Training and Skills) — Today is International Women’s Day. How distressing that we should be contemplating the impact of the Fair Work Commission’s decision to cut weekend and public holiday penalty rates in industries that have a high proportion of women. Many women in my electorate work weekends in hospitality, retail, pharmacy,…
MS TIERNEY (Minister for Training and Skills) — I rise to speak about the enthusiastic response of western Victorian residents and industries to the Andrews Labor government’s funding for roads in the south-west — a response to calls for road upgrades and maintenance for well over a decade. In the past month the Andrews Labor…
MS TIERNEY (Minister for Training and Skills) — I rise to congratulate two very different high achievers in my electorate of Western Victoria Region. Henty’s Daniel Lutz, just 24 years old, is one of 12 young farmers from across Victoria to receive a government scholarship of up to $10 000. These scholarships go towards agricultural…
MS TIERNEY (Western Victoria) — I rise to congratulate two outstanding educational institutions — Warrnambool Primary School and Maryborough Education Centre — and their exceptional staff, most notably Warrnambool’s Jacqui Gore and Maryborough’s education support staff team. Both schools and Jacqui were recipients of 2016 Victorian Education Excellence Awards. The student bodies in these schools are very different,…
MS TIERNEY (Western Victoria) — I rise to speak about the exciting work of an innovative group in my electorate, Geelong Sustainability, whose efforts culminated in Sustainable House Day Geelong on 16 October. This open house gave an opportunity to see inside 14 houses and gardens designed, built, renovated or retrofitted with sustainability in mind across Geelong, the…
MS TIERNEY (Western Victoria) — On Sunday I had the pleasure of attending the official opening of the Warrnambool fire station along with Rohan Luke, acting assistant chief officer of the south-west region; Paul Marshall, Warrnambool Country Fire Authority station officer; Richard Bourke, operations manager, district 5; Craig Lapsley, emergency services commissioner; and Lance Baillie, life member…
Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria) — I rise today to acknowledge the tragic closure of the Ford Broadmeadows and Geelong plants last week. The consequences are yet to be fully realised across the state, but the effects are immediately felt by the workers involved. They have to rebuild their lives, as do the communities who so heavily…
Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria) — My member’s statement relates to the ongoing impact of the record-breaking spring rainfalls in western Victoria. The shire communities of Glenelg, Southern Grampians and Buloke, among others, are dealing with the lasting effects of flooding after two major September rainfall events, each a 1-in-20-year event. They produced emergency situations to which the…
On Monday morning I had the pleasure of attending the site of the new Bannockburn P–12 school for the turning of the first sod. I want to thank all those who attended — students, teachers, parents and school councillors — for braving the weather to come out to help turn the sod. Construction is due to be…
On another note, I had the pleasure last Sunday of attending the official opening celebration for the Banyul-Warri Fields recreation zone along with members of the Torquay community, Surf Coast council representatives and other dignitaries. The Andrews government contributed $50 000 towards the project. The recreation zone was developed for people of all ages. It has…
Monica Hayes, a friend and constituent in western Victoria, passed away on 26 August. Monica was a community activist extraordinaire, an outstanding exemplar of commitment and advocacy in her communities — in Essendon when she was a councillor and mayor, and on the Bellarine from 2001. Monica was a social reformer and an agent of change, especially…
The highly successful Port Fairy Folk Festival has been operating for 40 years under the helm of its founder, Dr Jamie McKew, who has now handed over the reins to the new director, Caroline Moore. In 1977 Dr McKew — and the Geelong Folk Club — saw the potential for something special for the booming folk music scene in this…
The Andrews Labor government is leading the way to create job opportunities and drive economic growth across regional Victoria. Before the 2014 state election Labor committed to creating 100 000 full-time jobs in the first two years of government, and we are on track to deliver that commitment and deliver it ahead of time. Data released in…
Last month I had the pleasure of announcing $323 000 worth of Andrews Labor government funding for yet another road safety improvement project on the Forrest-Apollo Bay Road. This funding will address a history of run-off-road crashes, near misses and head-on collisions due to the curves along these roads, by installing guide posts, curve alignment markers,…
On another note, I was delighted to represent the Minister for Mental Health in Warrnambool last month at a wellbeing service provider forum. The forum was a chance to have a discussion with key figures in the mental health sector in western Victoria regarding the unique circumstances facing farmers in regional Victoria who may be…
On a final note, I wish to thank the Surf Coast shire and local members at Modewarre as well as the state government for providing moneys to revitalise the Mount Moriac Reserve at Modewarre with resurfaced tennis courts, the addition of basketball and netball rings and the creation of an open play space — — The ACTING…
As we approach the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan on 18 August, Vietnam Veterans Day, I am pleased to congratulate two students from western Victoria who have been selected to take part in the 2016 Vietnam history study tour. The students, Lauren McIlveen of Camperdown College and Georgia Perris of Horsham College, are among…