What a great turn out for this year's International Women's Day (IWD) at the Newbury Child and Community Centre in Craigieburn. It was great to celebrate IWD with the wonderful Calwell women, community groups and friends and focus on the 2019 IWD theme #BalanceforBetter.

We got to hear from Hume City Mayor Carly Moore on the day who spoke of empowering women and female leadership, and I want to thank Cr Naim Kurt, Deputy Mayor for attending too. Gabrielle Fakhri from Newbury Community Centre talked about the important services they provide to women in the local area, and Brenda David from Craigieburn Support and Exercise Program spoke about the lifestyle programs they have available for women of all ages in Craigieburn.

I want to thank all those who attended the event, particularly Archana Nayak, Anne Coall and all the staff from Newbury Child and Community Centre; the women's Iraqi dance group from Good Samaritan Primary School mothers for providing the sensational entertainment; and even bigger thanks to today's sponsor Baked Provisions, Patricia Surace and staff who joined provided us with the glorious cakes and muffins we got to enjoy for morning tea.