Andrew Leigh

Clean up the park and build networks

The Chronicle, 5 June 2018

Two car tyres, a desk chair, building materials, and dozens of bags of rubbish. After just a couple of hours, that was the collection of garbage we had collected from Lyneham Wetlands and its surrounding paths.

Over recent years, I’ve been working with colleagues in the Legislative Assembly to arrange Saturday afternoon clean-up events in our local community. With Andrew Barr, Rachel Stephen-Smith, Gordon Ramsay, Tara Cheyne, Michael Pettersson, Suzanne Orr and others, we’ve joined with the local community to help pick up rubbish in Umbagong District Park, the North Mitchell Grasslands, John Knight Park and Yerrabi Pond.

These events aren’t just good for the environment, they’re also a fun way to get a bit of exercise, and to build community. We put on a free sausage sizzle afterwards, and it’s a chance for local residents to catch up with neighbours, chat about the Raiders, and even discuss politics.

So if there’s a local park near you that needs some tender loving care, email me at [email protected] and we’ll see if we can arrange a local clean-up.

Andrew Leigh is the Federal Member for Fenner and his website is www.andrewleigh.com.

Authorised by Noah Carroll, ALP, Canberra.