While a new team has been announced at local government level, it was our federal leader causing a stir recently.
Julia Gillard was the guest of honour at Mambourin’s DisabiliTea, one of many national events held to support the long-awaited National Disability Insurance Scheme.
The Mambourin community, adults with mental and physical disabilities who attend a range of innovative day programs, turned out in force to welcome her. And like any family getting together in celebration, they’re a rowdy bunch.
One man repeatedly hides behind bushes, before running off around the duck pond to lie on the sun-warmed grass wearing a huge smile.
Another shakes people’s hands, over and over, while excitedly discussing the Western Bulldogs’ chances of taking the flag in 2013. A young woman behind the counter at the little cafe adjusts her apron, arranging and rearranging plates of cakes so they look their best for the PM.
The woman’s mother, a well-dressed lady in a red hat and blazer, gets a little teary as the Mambourin choir start to sing the Bruno Mars song Just The Way You Are.
“That’s perfect”, she says. “They are all amazing just the way they are.”
As the PM and her entourage sweep into Mambourin gardens, the noise and excitement goes up a notch. As Mambourin’s patron, she’s visited this lovely spot on Ballan Road in Werribee many times. She eats cake and drinks coffee, poses for happy snaps, gives a short speech and views the rose that will be planted in honour of her late father.
Then she’s gone, almost as quickly as she arrived. But behind her are happy smiles and lasting memories for this warm and caring community of people of all abilities.
Emma Sutcliffe is a freelance writer on Facebook at ‘Little River Emma’
