The Quang Minh temple is more than a place of worship. It is arguably the largest centre for the delivery and administration of community services in the Braybrook and Maidstone area, a community identified by Jesuit Social Services as the most impoverished urban neighbourhood in Australia.

Led by the inspirational Venerable Thich Phuoc Tan, the monks, the nuns, the community workers and volunteers run an amazing array of community supports to the local geographic community and the broader members of the Buddhist and non-Buddhist community.

Family counselling services, drug counselling services, Internet training for elderly citizens, employment training schemes, meal services -- especially to local schools -- and a host of other services are run from this centre. It is also in touch with a large number of people in the community. Police estimate that up to 15 000 people annually are present at midnight, usually on a weekday, on the occasion of the Tet lunar new year. With that standing in the community it is an ideal organisation to reach thousands of people who are often difficult to contact from mainstream community service centres.

The temple is located atop the Braybrook escarpment above the Maribyrnong River near Solomons Ford, where the fresh water and the salt water meet

The temple has recently conducted an impressive dialogue with the indigenous community as part of an effort to design an appropriate structure to mark the significance of the site to the Koori community. The community will build a $6.5 million temple complex. But I am calling on the minister to assist with the community service component of the project. It will certainly be good value for money to build on the success of this extraordinary voluntary community agency. This centre is already a visual landmark in the area, and it is certainly an organisational landmark.

It is a place that most people in the community know and are drawn to, not only because of its spiritual significance but because it is an epicentre for an extraordinary range of community activities.