As the year is drawing to a close, I would like to extend my best wishes to everyone for a safe and joyous Christmas and prosperous New Year.
Looking back on 2023, it’s been a difficult time for many, with serious cost of living challenges along with numerous interest rate rises causing mortgage payments to almost triple, skyrocketing electricity charges, and inflation pushing the price of everyday items up by more than 9 percent.
Many Australians feel they are going backwards under the current government and this Christmas there will be families and businesses struggling to balance their budgets and having to make difficult decisions about where they allocate their limited resources.
Community, service, and not for profit organisations are not immune from the impacts of rapidly rising costs, and government grants can go some way to assisting these groups and their volunteers with the costs of the services and activities they deliver to their communities. Locally, a wide variety of groups have received federal funding in 2023.
Katie Rose Cottage at Doonan, which provides end of life and palliative care services for people in Noosa and the Sunshine Coast broke ground with their $1.5 million extension a few months ago. I was able to secure funding from the Community Development Grant Program in 2022 to add two additional bedrooms to the hospice. Work has now commenced on the project which will allow more than 20 additional people to receive high quality end of life care each year.
Thanks to the Stronger Communities Program introduced by the former Coalition Government, the residents of Kin Kin have a new outdoor space at their Community House. Their $20,000 grant was used to build a new shelter and deck, install outdoor flooring and weatherproof blinds, and fit a solar system to help alleviate running expenses.
The Cooroora Historical Society received $3700 from the Stronger Communities Program to safeguard the Noosa Museum’s extensive collection of photographs, documents, and artifacts. The funding enabled an upgrade of the wi-fi coverage and network security in the museum building. This is first stage of a project that will enable the protection of all data stored at the museum and ensure that the valuable collection is available to future researchers and the wider public.
The Peregian Beach Surf Lifesaving Club’s $5510 Stronger Communities grant was used to purchase equipment for their kitchen and food preparation areas to provide access to food and snacks for the Nipper training programs, lunches for lifesavers on patrol, and catering for member and community functions. The club also received a $3300 Volunteer Grant for a new laptop computer and first aid training equipment.
The Noosa Heads Surf Lifesaving Club also received a Volunteer Grant, with their $3900 spent on first aid and rescue equipment that will be used for Surf Rescue and Bronze Medallion certification training.
Pomona Meals on Wheels has been able to reimburse its volunteers for the costs involved in using their own vehicles to make deliveries to clients thanks to their $5000 Volunteer Grant, and the Cooroy Horse and Pony Club used their $1000 Volunteer Grant to buy a new laptop computer and provide fuel vouchers for their volunteers.
The Noosa Christian Outreach Church received a $2900 Volunteer Grant to purchase furniture and other equipment for use by the volunteers who operate the Hub Food Outlet, Op Shop, and the other support services the Church delivers to the regional community.
Local youth sporting stars have also received assistance from the Australian Government during 2023, with grants of between $500 and $850 from the Local Sporting Champions Program which supports participants aged 12 to 24 to help meet the costs of participating in sporting events, including travel, equipment, uniforms, and accommodation.
The Noosa and Sunshine Coast Hinterland is home to a number of very dedicated and talented young athletes who have competed in state and national championships in 2023 through a variety of sports including surfing, equestrian, football, cross country, weightlifting, water polo, and swimming.
Going into 2024, I will continue to focus on working with local communities to advocate for the new and improved services and infrastructure we need to keep on building a better Wide Bay.
