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Ms ADDISON (Wendouree) (09:55): Last Friday night the Ballarat Regional Trades and Labour Council held its annual Labour Day dinner to celebrate 162 years of working conditions hard-won by the labour movement and to honour local champions of the union movement.

I wish to congratulate Allan Townsend of the Australian Nursing & Midwifery Federation, Brian Martin of the Independent Education Union and Rhonda Richardson of the ASU on being awarded life membership of the Ballarat Regional Trades and Labour Council. This is recognition of their great contributions to unionism in Ballarat and Trades Hall.

Well done to AMWU delegate Ross Kenna from McCain Foods and CPSU delegate Meaghan Smith from the State Revenue Office for their inspiring speeches about their experiences as union delegates at worksites. I would also like to congratulate the next generation of union activists, including Cameron McIntyre from the Health and Community Services Union and Edward Drew of the CPSU for their nominations for the Athan McCaw Young Activist of the Year award.

Well done to secretary Brett Edgington on organising a great event, and thank you to all the unions who attended and supported this important event.

Ms ADDISON: Happy International Women’s Day to all the wonderful women in this Parliament, in the Wendouree electorate and across Victoria. This is an important day to celebrate the achievements of women and encourage everyone to continue to work towards gender equality.

I am proud to be a part of the Andrews Labor government, which is made up of 48 per cent women and has the first cabinet to have 50 per cent women representation. We are changing attitudes towards women and outcomes for Victorian women.

Click here to read more of my contributions in Parliament. To access further Hansard transcripts, head to the Parliament of Victoria website.