Michelle Rowland

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Michelle Rowland MP

FEDERAL MEMBER FOR GREENWAY

Level 1, Suite 101C, 130 Main Street, Blacktown PO Box 8525, Blacktown NSW 2148 (02) 9671 4780 Michelle.Rowland.MP@aph.gov.au MRowlandMP www.michellerowland.com.au

There’s something about being in Western Sydney

 RESILIENCE | MICHELLE ROWLAND

IN the film “Rocky”, there goes a saying: “It’s not about how hard you can hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward”. It is about resilience.

As the NSW lockdown restrictions proceed to lift, most recently reaching 80% double-dose vaccinations, it is easy to get lost in the exciting whirlwind of freedom.

And, while I did spend the fi rst hours of Freedom Day at the Blacktown Workers Club, beer in hand, I feel it would be remiss not to refl ect on these last few months of lockdown and how resilient Western Sydney has been.

There’s something about being born and bred in Western Sydney that compels you to try harder than everyone else. We refuse to give up.

When we were denied a mass vaccination hub in Greenway, our community decided to turn places of worship like the Ahmaddiyah Mosque and the Gurudwara Sahib in Glenwood into pop-up vaccination clinics.

When we were labelled an LGA of concern, our community supported each other through online Facebook community groups and through food drives led by the legends at the Harman Foundation or Turbans 4 Australia.

When we were subject to curfews and harsher regulations, small businesses like the Young Lions Cafe in Blacktown and Oregano & Oil continued to operate safely within these guidelines.

Time and again, we were hit, but Greenway kept moving forward, and with the highest rates of fi rst-dose vaccinations in the country.

As I expressed in Parliament at our most recent sitting: thank you Greenway and Western Sydney, for your resilience, proactiveness and commitment to keeping each other safe during the toughest of times.

By supporting one another, we can keep moving forward.

It would be remiss not to reflect on these last few months of lockdown and how resilient Western Sydney has been.”

Michelle Rowland is Shadow Minister for Communications Federal Member for Greenway. Visit: www.michellerowland.com.au