Mr ALEXANDER (Bennelong) (19:39): Our communities are full of wonderful community groups: groups that help locals in need, groups that bring others together and groups that make our community stronger, cleaner or better in some other way. These groups are the lifeblood of our community. Without them, our suburbs would be less rich, less integrated and simply less interesting or vibrant. But many of them are struggling, operating with volunteers and goodwill but with very tight bottom lines. This is why this government has been putting money into community groups through a number of grants, one of which is just closing and another which has a way to go yet. The Stronger Communities Program supports the Australian government's commitment to deliver social benefits to communities across Australia. We've been running this program for five years now, and this latest round will provide $22.65 million to fund small capital projects across every electorate. The program is designed to improve local community participation and contribute to vibrant and viable communities. Crucially, a panel of community leaders was assembled to assess each application so I could ensure that the process is transparent and in the best interests of our community. Each electorate has a total funding of up to $100,000 that can be allocated to successful applicants. We can choose no more than 20 projects, but in Bennelong we had 31 projects, costing a total of $415,000, demonstrating the huge interest this project has gathered over the past few years. We chose our preferred applications last week and we look forward to seeing if the department ratifies this decision. This is a fantastic program, one which has provided huge amounts of infrastructure and goodwill across our diverse community. I look forward to working with the successful applicants to grow their projects to completion, not to mention working with the unsuccessful applicants on future rounds. The other grant project, that is still to close, is the Communities Environment Program. This program was announced in the last budget and will provide $22.65 funding to support small-scale community-led environment projects that address local environmental priorities across Australia. The program forms part of the Australian government's 2019 environment policy election commitment—our plan for a cleaner environment. It aims to support the environmental priorities of local communities and environment groups, in their regions and neighbourhoods, to recover and strengthen the environment and to build and strengthen local communities. The grant can be used to fund a huge range of environmental activities, including 'citizen science' activities that encourage people to collect and contribute information about their local environment, activities that protect or support recovery of native species, or activities that reduce the impact of waste and litter, such as clean-up events. One hundred per cent of the eligible project's costs are available for funding, so community groups are encouraged to apply as soon as possible to ensure they have a chance of receiving this funding. We have run the Stronger Communities Program for many years now, and a trend has emerged. Locally, we are giving a huge number of these grants to schools. Obviously, there is absolutely nothing wrong with giving this money to schools, where appropriate, and there were many fantastic things that helped both schools and the community that were funded through these programs. The wheelchair ramp at Karonga School, which allows their many wheelchair users to get up to the sports field, is one that leaps directly to mind. But the fact remains that our schools could do with a dedicated fund, so the government is providing $30.2 million this year for the Local Schools Community Fund, with up to $200,000 available in Bennelong. This fund will benefit students and assist schools to meet their priorities through the contribution of funding for small-scale projects. The fund is open to all schools, government, Catholic and independent, and schools can apply for any amount between $1,000 and $20,000. Also, importantly, funding requested can be for the total cost of the project. This grant is only open until the end of this month, so it is imperative that schools get in now. Application forms can be accessed through the school hub and must be in before 5 pm on 30 September. These grants will make a great difference in our community. (Time expired)