MARK DREYFUS MP

I rise to speak about my recent visits to two important locations in my electorate that offer assistance to people in our local community, the Lyrebird Community Centre in Carrum Downs and Wellsprings for Women in Dandenong.

Hamas continues to hold Gilad Shalit as a bargaining chip, seeking to secure the release of hundreds of terrorists being held in Israeli prisons. It is important that leaders around the world continue to demand the release of Gilad Shalit

The government has in place a comprehensive safety plan to deal with the wind-up of the Home Insulation Program.

With the theme being Many Species. One Planet. One Future. there could be no more appropriate day to officially launch Animalia Wildlife Shelter, which is based in Frankston but looks after animals and wildlife up and down the bayside area as far north as Brighton.

The Liberal Party is long on fear but very short on solutions and very, very short on facts.

I rise today to speak about the opening of an important business for the Aspendale Gardens and Edithvale area, which is the community bank at Aspendale Gardens Shopping Centre.

Joeys Van provides healthy, nutritious meals to needy people in our local community. Joeys Van is an outreach ministry of St Josephs Parish, Springvale.

We have presented a credible pathway back to surplus in three years, and that time frame is half the time that it was expected to take when Australia first responded to the global economic crisis.

The Dandenong area - and, in particular, suburbs like Dandenong South, Braeside and Carrum Downs - provides a significant chunk of Victorias and the country's manufacturing output. So, when times are tough, manufacturing, retail and hospitality jobs in this area are often the first to go.

These real effects are what make it necessary for all industries, including agricultural industries, to adapt to the changes that are already occurring and will continue to occur.