By Elliot Stein, president of Thirroul Labor and a fourth-generation local.

This year marks 110 years since the formation of the Thirroul Branch of the Labor Party.

We’re as old as the Butchers, the same vintage as the Surf Club and just a few years younger than the other three great institutions of our village – St Michael’s, the railway and the Ryans.

Each year we come together to celebrate our history and connection to Thirroul – a place we all dearly love and feel a great bond too.

As we reflected on how much we feel an affinity with Thirroul after just 110 years it was blindingly apparent just how strongly the Dharawal people would feel with their 65, 000 years of connection to this land.

So this year we gave over our anniversary to listening – giving a voice to elder Uncle Richard and Yanyuwa woman Northern Territory Senator Malarndirri McCarthy. It was a privilege to host the event with our Federal Member Alison Byrnes MP to hear about the Voice to Parliament.

We asked and Thirroul answered – with almost 100 folk coming together to say “Yes!” to the Voice.