On the 24th of June I was part of a delegation through the Eastern Transport Coalition, that presented a petition of 13,000 signatures to the Parliament of Victoria.

The petition, which was accepted by Martin Pakula, the Minister for Public Transport, as well as Terry Mulder, the Shadow Minister for Transport and Greg Barber, the Greens Spokesperson on Transport, requested public transport improvements for Melbourne’s outer east including:

• A full and public feasibility study for a heavy rail line to Rowville,
• A full and public feasibility study for a heavy rail line to Doncaster
• A greater commitment to the extension of the Metro rail tunnel from Domain to Caulfield,
• A full and public feasibility study for an increase in capacity on the Belgrave/Lilydale and Glen Waverley lines,
• Improved facilities for passengers, particularly at interchanges located in central activity districts – Ringwood, Dandenong and Box Hill,
• Fully accessible public transport facilities and vehicles

It is great that the eastern region recognises the importance of the redevelopment of Ringwood Station into an accessible, safe and integrated transport interchange. As the City of Maroondah and as part of the eastern region, we can only hope that the State Government and all political parties act on requests within this petition.

On the 8th of July I had the pleasure of launching the Maroondah Photographic Competition and announcing the winners amongst this year’s entrants. The competition has now been running for 14 years and it is great to see that it has sustained interest from both sponsors and the community. There were 121 entries this year and the judging decision was definitely a difficult one.
The diverse of photographic talents is to be commended and in particular it is great to see our schools supporting the arts and encouraging students to participate, with the two winners in the Intermediate category both being students from Norwood Secondary College

On the 9th of July I attended the Outer Eastern NAIDOC Ball, which was held at the conclusion of NAIDOC week. The ball recognises the many individuals and organisations that are involved with Indigenous communities and provides an opportunity to celebrate Indigenous culture and achievements.

On the 10th I attended the opening of the redeveloped Glen Park Community Centre, which had extensive works to improve the accessible and inclusiveness of its facilities. One of the real accomplishments with Glen Park has been the partnerships that have formed with various organisations, as well as all levels of government working together to provide better facilities for our community.

On the 13th of July I had the pleasure of welcoming James Merlino as the Minister for Sport, Recreation and Youth Affairs at EVs Youth Centre in Croydon. The State Government has provided a $10,000 grant, which will be used for the purchase of new music equipment through the Youth Centre and also announced that EVs will be one of the venues for the state wide FReeZA Central Music program. This is a great achievement and would like to commend our Youth Services Team for raising the profile of EVs and the talents of our young people.

In addition, on the 14th of July I had the pleasure of receiving a grant for $8,800 from the State Government through the Victorian Multicultural Grants Commission to further the work of the Maroondah Interfaith Network. The funding will be used to strengthen the capacity of the group and to further encourage Maroondah’s faith based communities to become involved the Network. I would like to commend the Community Development Staff and the Maroondah Interfaith for their work in establishing the group and for achieving this great result for our community. The Maroondah Interfaith Network was formed in November last year and it is fantastic to see that its efforts have been recognised by both Council and the State Government.

I’ll be tabling the rest of my report.