On Friday it was my very great pleasure, in my electorate, to do the sod-turning for the new superclinic that will be built in Broadmeadows by Dianella Community Health.

Maria Vamvakinou , Federal Member for Calwell today visited Roxburgh Park College to celebrate the electorate’s   windfall of securing two trades training centres.

It is my great pleasure to inform you of $125,000 worth of funding, the Federal Government has made available to the Calwell electorate to commemorate the upcoming Anzac Centenary.

The Melbourne’s North  Innovation and Investment Fund (MNIIF)  is a $24.5  million competitive , merit based grants program. The MNIIF will support investment projects to create new or additional business  capacity that results in sustainable jobs. The minimum grant will be $50,000 on a 1:1 basis.The grant applies only to eligible projects  in the four local Government areas of :Hume; Whittlesea; Moreland and Darebin.

I want to congratulate the Hume Valley Soccer Club in my electorate of Calwell for completing a very successful 2013 soccer season which saw the club achieve great success in winning the premier league of the Victorian Amateur Football Association for the 2013 season. The competition this season involved 12 teams competing in what was a very tough and highly skilled contest. Hume Valley defeated Moreland United to take the premiership title.

As the Federal Member for Calwell and the chair of the Parliamentary Australian Turkish Friendship group I welcome Mehmet Tillim to the Australian Parliament. Mehmet and I have been colleagues in the Australian Labor Party  for many years. In addition he is also a local constituent in my electorate of Calwell.

 I take great pride in welcoming him to the Federal Parliament as he assumes the senate position soon to be vacated by David Feeney.

In addition to being ALP colleagues Mehmet and I  share a common migrant background. We were both born overseas and came to Australia at a very young age. I came to parliament as the first  Greek born women, and Mehmet now  as the first Turkish born  member of parliament.  This is a significant result for both of us, who have both come from migrant, working class families. Mehmet’s appointment to the Senate is a reflection of the our communities integration into the broader Australian society.

Participation in the Australian political system is a privilege for us all, and a source of pride for our communities, families, neighbours and friends .

I look forward to working with Mehmet on issues that are relevant to people in the northern suburbs.

Local Broadmeadows and Coburg manufacturer, Baron Rubber will use a $77,000 grant from the Australian Labor Government to invest in clean and renewable technologies.Federal Member for Calwell, Maria Vamvakinou  today announced the funding from the $840 million Clean Technology Investment Programs.

Today, together with the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport  Anthony Albanese  the new state-of-art fire training facility at Melbourne Airport was opened.

The $22 million Learning Academy Hot Fire Training Ground is the only one of its kind in the southern hemisphere and will combine aviation rescue and fire fighting training.The centrepiece of the new training ground is a full-sized mock-up aircraft fuselage over 56 metres long, 10 metres high and 29 metres wide, replicating sections from the Airbus A380 and Boeing 767 which will be used to simulate real-world fire fighting and rescue situations.