BROADMEADOWS MATTERS BECAUSE IT SYMBOLISES HOPE.

It is an emblem for that diminishing Australian value – a fair go for all. Parents from 140 countries have crossed the world with children in their arms and hopes in their hearts searching for a better life, as my family did before them. Only the accents, not the aspirations have changed.
Our obligation is to build cohesive communities.

After living in Broadmeadows for 25 years, I returned 14 years ago to establish the Global Learning Village model to connect people to the attributes that largely determine where everyone ends up in life – attitude, education and opportunity.

As the first person to grow up in Broadmeadows to represent our proud community in the Victorian Parliament, I will continue to work hard to co-ordinate the partnerships between governments, business and civil society.

It began in 1999 with my vision of creating the Global Learning Village and has delivered results regarded at the time as beyond the realm of possibility. Since this strategy was launched, the first public library opened in Broadmeadows in 2003 as the cornerstone of the Hume Global Learning Centre – a community hub for lifelong learning.
The following year a maternal and childcare centre that also provided computers and skills training for jobs opened in Meadow Heights – the Visy Cares Learning Centre.

Recently a new Global Learning Centre opened as the iconic feature of the Craigieburn redevelopment. Business partners and sponsors beginning with Visy, the Ford Motor Company and The Age have expanded to include international leaders in information and communications technology Microsoft, Intel and Cisco Systems. The ICT giants collaborated to establish the ideasLab to harness each evolution of technology for
teaching and learning. This initiative delivered a slice of Silicon Valley to Broadmeadows.

Opening the Multiversity extends opportunities so residents can participate in lifelong learning from pre-school reading classes to bilingual story-time and mentoring off computers to TAFE training and higher education degrees from 2013.

This community-based strategy for lifelong learning provides education, training and skills for jobs throughout the Broadmeadows electorate from Glenroy to Coolaroo, Meadow Heights to Campbellfield. It is internationally acclaimed for delivering “practical idealism.”

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