CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS
Ms McKENZIE (Flinders) (09:48): I rise to give a shout-out to the great people of Portsea, who yesterday won the best Tiny Tourism Town Award here in the Great Hall of Parliament House. The awards, which are sponsored by the Australian Tourism Industry Council and Tourism Australia, recognise regional tourism excellence, breathtaking landscapes, unique local experiences and the passionate people who bring our warm welcome to life.
And let me tell you about those passionate people and little places of the township of Portsea. Firstly, there are Kirsty and Loic Duchet and their entire teams at Le Capucin and Pompette, places that make Portsea feel like home. Then there are Owen Brookfield, Joe Hildebrand and the team from the amazing Portsea Hotel; Allison Ermogenis from the Portsea Gallery; and the whole team who love and share the wonders of the water world at BayPlay.
The Mornington Peninsula receives eight million visitors a year, and Portsea is its pinnacle at the tip before the rip. Our glorious Point Nepean National Park shares the history of Melbourne's early settlement and our second most dramatic democratic moment—after the Dismissal. The Portsea Golf Club, the Portsea Surf Life Saving Club and the petanque piste are great hubs of community spirit.
The Portsea Golf Club, the Portsea Surf Life Saving Club and the petanque piste are great hubs of community spirit. The Portsea Swim Classic, the Portsea Polo, our extraordinary craft markets and car shows bring people to Portsea from across the state of Victoria. Yesterday, Councillor Cam Williams accepted the award on behalf of the Mornington Peninsula shire and gave a shout-out to shire officers Sam and Amy for their great work in bringing the community together and sharing Portsea with the planet.
Congratulations, Portsea. I wish to raise the issue of housing and homelessness for vulnerable women in my electorate. In question time over the last week, the Prime Minister has spoken frequently about funding he found for emergency accommodation in his electorate of Grayndler for women fleeing domestic violence.
But, almost a year since the Special Envoy for Social Housing and Homelessness and member for Macnamara Josh Burns visited Flinders and nine months since the shire submitted an application for $15 million to build 22 safe medium-term accommodation options in Rosebud, supporting vulnerable women and children escaping or at risk of domestic violence, including women over 55 at immediate risk of homelessness, we are still waiting for a reply.
Many people in this place make the mistake of thinking that my electorate is wealthy. It is not. The average weekly earning in Flinders is $745 a week, versus $805 in the rest of Victoria.
More critically, the Mornington Peninsula has the highest homelessness rate in Victoria. A few days ago, this government announced another $300 million for 500 crisis homes. So I have written directly to the Prime Minister this week with a simple message: if funding vulnerable women is a priority in your electorate, Prime Minister, I hope it can be a priority in mine too.
The need is now, and the proposal is ready.