This morning, as the Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Learning, I was delighted to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Active Kids Group Early Learning Centre at Narwee.



I am very grateful to be here with you this morning, to join you in this great celebration.

In our society we rightly, and wonderfully, set apart special anniversaries, so that we can celebrate the commitment that they represent; and today we celebrate the silver anniversary, the twenty fifth anniversary of the work of Active Kids Group Early Learning Centre here at Narwee.

As I was thinking about today, and the great milestone that it represents for this centre, and for this local community, I remembered the story of a couple who were celebrating their twenty fifth wedding anniversary. They had a great party to celebrate the twenty five years that they had been married to each other, to which all of their family and friends were invited, just as we are doing, gathering here to celebrate this morning.

During the party the husband was asked to give his friends a brief account of the benefits of a marriage that had lasted for such a long time. "Tell us, his friends said to him, just what is it that you have learned over these twenty five years of being married to your wife?" The husband thought for a moment as the room fell silent, and then he replied, "Well, I've learned that marriage is the best teacher of all. It teaches you loyalty, meekness, forbearance, self-restraint, forgiveness and a great many other qualities that you wouldn't have needed if you had stayed single."

There is some truth behind that story! As we read the newspapers, or watch the television, or listen to the radio we are bombarded with stories about what happens as a result of people finding it difficult to live together, and who find it difficult to get on with each other. But as we think about our friends and families in our local neighbourhoods, we know as well, the enormous benefits of life shared with others, not just for a brief time but over many years.

Today we celebrate and congratulate Active Kids Group for sticking around, and being here in this community of Narwee over the last twenty five years. We think of all of the staff who have made a commitment to be here over those years, and all of the families who have entrusted their children to this service. So this is a special day for celebrating.

As the Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Learning it is my job to champion the work of centres like this one, on behalf of the Government Opposition, the Labor Party, in the New South Wales State Parliament. I get to travel all around our wonderful State to meet educators and staff, and parents and grandparents and carers and their children, to find out what is working well in early childhood education, and to identify how things could be made even better in the future; and then I go back to Parliament, and to my colleagues, and I tell them all about what I have seen and heard.

It is true that it is not always easy to live in our local communities. All of us at one time or another have faced challenges and difficulties. Just like that couple celebrating their wedding anniversary, we have to learn how to live alongside each other and work together if we are not only going to reach our full potential, but help others to be the best that they can be as well. And it is also true that if we want to give our children the best chance to grow, and thrive, and participate fully in our society, and have great jobs and interesting hobbies, and make the best lives for themselves, if we want all that for our children, then we have to start to help them as early as possible.

To put it simply, the earlier in life that we start to make friends, the better we will be at keeping friends in the future. And the earlier that we start to feel confident about ourselves and our abilities to try new things, the more confident we will feel about living life to the full in the future.

The Active Kids Group have been helping children, helping families, helping our local community here in Narwee to give children this great start for the last twenty five years. That is no small task, and that is why I am delighted to be here with you all, as the Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Learning, on behalf of my colleagues in the Government Opposition, the Labor Party, this morning. Because when the educators at this service, in partnership with parents and grand parents and carers at home, inspire even the youngest of children to embark on a life long passion for learning, that is not just good news for those children and their families, it is good news for all of us.

So I will be going back to my colleagues in Parliament to let them know what a great job you are all doing here, and as we celebrate together this morning, I want to say: well done Active Kids Group! Thank you for being here for the last twenty five years, supporting our local community; and well done children, for being here to learn and grow and have fun with each other; and well done parents, and grand parents and carers for making the right decision to invest in your childrens futures.

Congratulations to you all!