By Member for Waterford Shannon Fentiman
Community catch up
One of the best parts of my job is getting out and hearing directly from locals about what matters to them.
Recently, I visited Halcyon Rise, where residents raised concerns about community safety, hooning, vandalism and discarded nitrous oxide canisters around the village. I’ve taken those concerns back with me and raised them with local police.
We also had a great discussion about health and aged care, with Member for Forde Rowan Holzberger joining us to answer questions about the federal government’s historic aged care reforms.
I also caught up with locals over coffee at Woolworths Logan Reserve. We talked about cost of living, local issues and my bill to strengthen workplace protections, ensuring serious violent incidents that cause psychological harm – including sexual assault – are reported to the state workplace regulator.
I’ll be holding more community catch-ups across our area, so keep an eye on my social media for the next one. Come along for a chat – the coffee is on me.
Making history
It was a very special moment welcoming the Loganlea State High School captains and principal Brenton Farley to Queensland Parliament recently because, for the first time, I could show visiting students a statue of a woman at Parliament House.
Years ago, when I was Attorney-General, an eight-year-old girl named Malia started a petition calling for more statues of women across Queensland.
Since then, we’ve seen statues recognising the Matildas and Dr Abigail Allwood, and now Queensland’s first female Member of Parlimant, Irene Longman, has been honoured at Parliament House.
Irene’s statue stands outside the entrance to the parliament dining hall – particularly fitting because when Irene was elected in 1929, parliament had no facilities for women and she had to eat her lunch outside.
It was wonderful to share this piece of history with our local students and show them that the stories of Queensland women deserve to be seen and celebrated.
Remembering our veterans
It was an honour to join the Mabel Park State High School community to commemorate Vietnam Veterans’ Day, particularly as this year marks 60 years since the Battle of Long Tan.
Seeing young people take part in these commemorations is always incredibly important. It gives the next generation an opportunity to learn about the service and sacrifice of those who came before them and to hear their stories firsthand.
A special mention must also go to the very talented Daisha Auda for her incredible performance on the day.
Many locals will now recognise Daisha from The Voice Australia, where she has made it all the way to the semi-finals. It’s fantastic to see one of our own young Logan talents doing so well on the national stage – our community is cheering her on.
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