BEULAH PARK FIRE STATION

Ms CICCARELLO (Norwood) (15:51): Earlier this month I was delighted to be present at the opening of the new $3.9 million fire station at Beulah Park. All the more so, because it is a project about which I felt passionately and for which I lobbied hard. The old Norwood fire station closed in 1988, during my time on the Norwood council. As a member of parliament, I can safely say that it is always gratifying to see a project that I really believe in get the green light and come to fruition—not to mention on time and on budget!

The new Beulah Park fire station is a modern facility that will serve the local community for many years to come, as did the old Norwood station located on The Parade. As children, we always gained much pleasure on Sunday mornings when the fire trucks would go out on their practice runs with their sirens blaring. The new station replaces the Glynde fire station which is over 40 years old and which is scheduled for closure in mid-2009. An additional fire station at Paradise is also scheduled for completion early next year at a cost of $4.4 million. The Glynde station will remain open until the Paradise station is completed.

These two stations alone represent a commitment in excess of $8 million—a solid commitment towards public safety and rebuilding our highly respected and valued fire service. This is great news for the north-eastern suburbs which will now have two new fire stations replacing one outdated one. Minister Zollo and I were most impressed when we inspected the Beulah Park fire station at its opening. It is certainly a state-of-the art station and deserves its reputation as one of the best designed buildings of its type in Australia. In addition, but not surprisingly, it also houses the latest environmentally sustainable design features. These include: 71 solar panels on the roof; water recycling systems; solar hot water systems; irrigation of gardens from flushing of toilets within the station; and the use of environmentally sustainable building materials.

I have given speeches in this place before about this government's commitment to the environment, and therefore I am pleased that the Beulah Park fire station encompasses the best of what we have achieved since we came to office. The Rann government is equally committed to upgrading and replacing fire stations throughout South Australia. New stations have already been opened at Elizabeth, Golden Grove and Renmark. In addition to the new station being built at Paradise (which I mentioned earlier), new stations will also be built at Port Lincoln and Seaford.

Despite the opposition rumblings and media reports to the contrary, all these new fire stations will be adequately staffed. Recruitment of firefighters has been and remains a priority for this government. From 1 July this year, we will be providing funding for an extra 22 crew for the northern-eastern suburbs. Since 2002, we have funded 11 recruit courses (which is the equivalent of 194 new firefighters), with three of those courses taking place last year. I am pleased to note that further recruit courses are planned in the months to come.

Therefore, it was disappointing to see the shadow minister Stephen Wade claim in the media, following the Beulah Park station's opening, how badly the government was mismanaging the state's fire service, yet he never mentioned (not once) how the previous Liberal government had averaged less than one recruit course per year and some years failed to recruit any firefighters at all. He also never mentioned (not once) how the Rann government has increased the Metropolitan Fire Service operating budget by more than $23 million since it came to office. It would be nice for the opposition sometime to look at our record, rather than publicly criticising just for criticism sake. They would realise that our commitment to the fire service cannot be questioned.

Our aim is to increase resources, not cut them. We intend to recruit firefighters, not make those whom we have work harder and longer. We are about upgrading and building new fire stations, not simply sitting back and hoping that the status quo will be good enough forever.

This government's commitment to making South Australians feel protected and safe within their communities is plain to see, and personally I am delighted that my electorate has gained the benefits from this government's resolve, and I look forward to visiting the Beulah Park Fire Station again soon to see how they are all doing.