My Diary  

Thank you to community members and faith leaders from across the city who attended last night’s vigil for the Bondi shooting victims.

What a pleasure it was to present awards to the bright and engaging youngsters at Ladysmith Public School this week.

It was a privilege to present Ron Pascoe with a NSW Community Service Award at the South Wagga Lions Christmas lunch on Saturday.

It was fantastic to see the NSW SES in action during their recent emergency simulation exercises at Wagga. These exercises are an important part of strengthening our region’s readiness for flood events and ensuring teams can respond quickly and safely when it matters most.

It was great to join the community for the opening of the new, modern tiny homes at the Tumut Caravan Park.

These state-of-the-art cabins are a fantastic addition to the park and will no doubt attract even more visitors to Tumut and our wider region.

Congratulations to the volunteers who graduated last night as first responders in The Rock’s new Community Emergency Response Team.

Great to be part of the Wagga Lake Run this morning. A huge well done to everyone who took part, and thanks to the committee — Paul MacDonald, Loren and Phil Roy — for their efforts in making the event such a success.

It was an honour to commemorate Remembrance Day with serving Defence members Private Conrada Maniago and Seaman Monica Collie at the RSL poppy appeal at parliament today.

The Harvest Riverina launch on Friday night was a wonderful celebration of our region’s food, wine, music and people.

What a pleasure it was to join students and teachers from Snowy Valleys schools this week as part of the inaugural Snowy Valleys Heroes Competition.

It was a pleasure to meet teaching practitioners and school leaders from across the school sector when Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect) visited parliament this week.

What a great privilege it was to host dozens of dedicated volunteers in parliament this week to celebrate Can Assist’s 70th anniversary of helping country people in their fight with cancer.

Congratulations to the Murrumbidgee Turf Club on hosting a wonderful community day.

I was proud to join hundreds of community preschool educators at a powerful protest rally in Sydney today.

It was great to host the Annual Parliament Motorcycle safety awareness ride.

It was a privilege to be on the first official trip of the Ladysmith Tourist Railway across the Tumbarumba road in more than 20 years!

It was a pleasure to attend the Spirit of the Land Festival on Friday night and present awards at this year’s art show opening. Congratulations to David Fenwick, winner of Best Small Sculpture, and Jobe Cunningham, who took out the Youth Artist Under 12 award — both incredible talents!

It was great to drop by the Wagga Mental Health Expo at the PCYC today — with more than 60 local providers coming together to support our community’s wellbeing.

What a pleasure it was to join the team from the Riverina Regional Library and the Lockhart community to celebrate the arrival at Lockhart today of the brand-new mobile library service packed with the latest books, DVDs audio books and other services.

This week I had the pleasure of joining the Ride4Life team as they passed through Wagga Wagga on their incredible journey.

Today I joined the official launch of Albury Wodonga Foodshare in Wagga Wagga, hosted at the Carevan Centre. It was a privilege to stand alongside Mark Lucy and Katrina Pawley from Foodshare, Carol Parkinson and Ana Suarez from Vinnies, Lisa Smith from Argyle, David Brennan from Carevan, and Wagga Mayor Clr Dallas Tout.

In Batlow last Thursday for the Re-Alliance workshop on community benefits from renewable energy projects, followed by the Big Map exercise at Batlow Technology High School — a valuable initiative in preparing the community for disasters.

It was an honour to attend Wagga’s first Aboriginal Justice Conference last Friday. Congratulations to Simone Jolley, Edwina Crawford and Kim Hamer and to Legal Aid and the Aboriginal Services unit of DCJ.

It was an honour to attend the Kildare Catholic College Year 12 graduation ceremony on Friday night. I was pleased to present awards to Mackenzie Edwards (Kildare All Rounder Award), Gerard Curtis (Notre Dame Science Award), and Madeleine Gaiter (Sister Alexis Horsley Award for best overall performance in the trial HSC).

I had a great day at the Henty Machinery Field Days, one of Australia’s premier showcases for agriculture and innovation.

It was great to join Committee4Wagga at their Welcome to Wagga event, welcoming new arrivals from different countries.

I was honoured to attend the dedication of a bench seat in recognition of HMAS Wagga.

I was pleased to attend a tour of the Save Sight Institute at Sydney Eye Hospital, a leading centre for eye health that brings together research, patient care and specialist training.

I was pleased to join the NSW Parliamentary Lions Club for a special lunch to welcome the International President of Lions, A.P. Singh, and his partner in service, Sangeeta Jatia.

It was a privilege to join Premier Christopher Minns and Mayor Rick Firman OAM at the official opening of the new REROC offices last week.