East Gippsland Specialist School will build a new playground for its students, receiving $200,000 from the Inclusive Schools Fund.

Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, congratulated the school and visited the site of the soon-to-be-built facility today.

"The school will replace its current playground with a much more advanced facility, which will include a pod swing, small trampolines, a water play area and a sandpit and a climbing frame as well as a grassed, so it is more inclusive of all students,” he said.

"I fully congratulate the school for planning this and writing up a successful grant application.

“It really is fantastic news for the entire school community,” Mr Bull said.

EGSS principal, Barb Olsen, said: “It’s a very exciting opportunity for the school to provide appropriate facilities to meet the needs of a wide range of students at our school.”

“It will provide an environment to teach explicit language around play that can be transferrable into other environments, such as the All Abilities Playground.

“It will also provide a rich environment to engage our special needs playgroup children,” she said.

Caption: Gippsland East Nationals MP, Tim Bull, with East Gippsland Specialist School's Carolyn Taylor, who submitted the grant application, and principal, Barb Olsen, looking over the plans for the new playground.

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Funding has become available refurbish or construct Men’s Sheds across East Gippsland, according to Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull.

Mr Bull said the latest round of the Men’s Sheds Grants Program opened today, with up to $60,000 available to build new sheds, or up to $30,000 to refurbish existing buildings.

“Men’s Sheds provide local residents with the opportunity to meet in a relaxed, sociable environment, which is great for the wellbeing of men,” he said.

“They also allow men to undertake a form of community service, with members often completing house repairs and maintenance work for pensioners,” Mr Bull said.

Mr Bull said more information on the $30,000 and $60,000 grants was available at http://www.dhs.vic.gov.au/for-business-and-community/community-involvement/men-in-the-community/mens-sheds.

Caption: Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, with Adrian Temple on a recent tour of the Stratford’s Men’s Shed, which opened under the former Coalition Government.

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Marlo biathletes Damon and Darcie Morton have their sights set on representing Australia at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, following a successful campaign at the Asian Winter Games.

Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, met with the siblings upon their return from Japan last week, and said they had made fantastic progress in the sport.

“They come home after achieving Australia’s highest ranking for both men and women, which is a fantastic achievement given biathlon is not a traditional Australian sport,” Mr Bull said.

“Damon returns as the only Australian athlete to meet the Olympic qualifier, while Darcie is in the running,” he said.

Damon and Darcie both said they were pleased with their progress.

“The winter definitely approved for me as the season went on; my best races were at the end, but that was pretty good for me, as the world championships were one of my last races,” Damon said.

“I’m pretty happy with my races and how I did. I’m the opposite of Damon – I did some better races at the start of the season,” Darcie said.

Caption: Darcie and Damon Morton discuss their winter season results with Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, in his office last week.

Monday, March 6, 2017