I spoke in Parliament on the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, known to the Palestinians as the day of catastrophe, which refers to the uprooting and expulsion of some 750,000 Palestinian refugees from their normal place of residence in Palestine during the period from 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948. 

On March 24, World Tuberculosis Day was commemorated, and the theme of this year's World Tuberculosis Day is 'Wanted: leaders for a TB-free world'. This will of course allow for a focus on building an international commitment to end TB.

In March this year, the NDIS began rolling out in my electorate, giving my constituents the long awaited opportunity to finally access the scheme. They will join Thousands of others across the north western region of Melbourne who will be required to submit their care packages for approval, for some however already engaged in that process, it is already proving a source of anxiety and frustration.

In the grievance debate, I raised the concerns of my constituents in the House about the impact of the NDIS as it's rolled out across the country to the hundreds of thousands of Australians with disabilities.

I was delighted to announce the following grants for local community groups under Round 3 of the Federal Stronger Communities Programme to my Calwell community groups and to formally acknowledge the ten recipients of this grant, and pay tribute to the important work they do in Calwell in building, developing and fostering strong communities in my speech in Parliament.

 I spoke in parliament in support of the 30th general conference of UNESCO's proclaimed annual observance of International Mother Language Day on 21 February.

On 8 March, I celebrated International Women's Day with a wonderful group of women in my electorate. It was held at the Good Samaritan Catholic Primary School, who also co-hosted the event with the Roxburgh Park Football Club.

I joined hundreds of Iraqi parishioners in recognising the efforts of the young Iraqi students as a special service led by Father Maher Gurges at St Georges Chaldean Catholic Church in Campbellfield. There, Father Maher told the faithful “we are producing a new generation of doctors, lawyers, architects, teachers here in our new homeland”.

The Iraqi community has settled in well in our local community and are busy building lives and nurturing the next generation of Australians of Iraqi heritage.