MONTEROLA, MR V.D.

Mr BIGNELL (Mawson) (17:01): I am pleased to say that 21 March 2010 is indeed going to be a great day for the people of Flinders when, finally, they get a decent representative in this place (whether that be Liberal, Labor, National, Democrat or Independent), because the current member has continually come in here and rambled on talking about walls of faeces and other things and having a go at the transport minister.

She might wonder why she and the transport minister do not get on very well. It goes back to 2005 when her community suffered the devastating bushfires at Wangary. While we got on the ground quickly and put things in place on Eyre Peninsula to try to get people back on their feet, the then opposition leader (Rob Kerin), Dean Brown, and others on the other side got on very well with the government and we worked together in a bipartisan way. All the member for Flinders did was come in here and try to play politics with this issue. She was the only person from any side of the political debate who did that. The other thing is: she has never said thank you.

Today, I congratulate Vince Monterola who, on the June Queen's Birthday weekend, received the Medal of the Order of Australia. That is a well-deserved honour for Mr Monterola, who led the recovery process—

Ms Breuer: Not one member of the opposition is sitting there listening. The place is empty. How disgraceful!

Mrs Geraghty: Where are they all?

Mr BIGNELL: I thank the members for their interjections, and I appreciate the fact that there are people on our side listening to this contribution, even if there is no-one present on the other side.

Vince Monterola did a fantastic job. The day after the Wangary bushfires the Premier, the then emergency services minister (Patrick Conlon) and I were on the ground in Port Lincoln, and we realised that this community had been devastated and it was really important that we got someone on the ground who could spend two to three months there and bring the community together and help it through this most difficult time. We were driving along in the car trying to work out who would be the best person and Vince Monterola's name came up and it was agreed on-the-spot that he was the ideal candidate.

So, we rang Vince, who had been the chief of the Country Fire Service and a volunteer since the early 1960s. He had worked for Coca-Cola Amatil and ran its operations in 16 countries between 1989 and 1993. So, he had a background as a volunteer and also a proven management career. One thing we knew about Vince was that, whatever we had ever asked him to do as a government, Vince would never say no. When we rang him and asked him if he could get to Port Lincoln and help set up the recovery process, of course, he said he would do it. He put his own life and personal considerations on hold for two to three months and came over.

He worked with local farmers, local volunteer groups and local churches, as well as various public servants, all from different government departments. He did a magnificent job—as did all the other people there. Everyone pulled together to get Eyre Peninsula back on it feet—to get relief to people and put money in their bank accounts so they could start rebuilding their lives as soon as possible.

He worked with the local health people to ensure that those people suffering from depression, anxiety and stress received treatment, because it was just as important to look after people's health needs as their financial needs. We had a minister on the ground who had the delegated authority of cabinet to make whatever decisions needed to be made to help get people back on their feet. Vince coordinated that. He was the person who would provide the briefing to the incoming minister each time they arrived.

I was really pleased to pick up the paper over the June long weekend and see that Vince had been recognised for his efforts after the bushfire, and also for his lifetime of commitment to so many different projects in South Australia. In 1999, Vince won the Australian Fire Service Medal. In 2001, he was awarded the Australian Centenary medal. He was made a life member of the CFS in 1984 and a life member of KESAB in 2000.

I regularly keep in contact with Vince in his role with the Friends of Parks in South Australia. I have been in Wilpena Pound and they do a great job in the Flinders Ranges, and also closer to home in the Onkaparinga Gorge park which goes through the seat of Mawson and the seat of Kaurna at Old Noarlunga. It is a fantastic park, and Vince and his band of volunteer Friends of the Park do an outstanding job in that area.

When the devastating bushfires caused so much destruction in Victoria in February, I actually rang Vince the next morning, when it became clear that the death toll was rising by the dozen almost every hour as I listened to another news service. I worked with Vince for about five or six weeks in Port Lincoln after the Wangary fire. Reports were done on the recovery process after the Wangary fire and a list on the way in which to do things was prepared. Canberra took about three or four weeks to set up a recovery centre. Our recovery centre was set up in the afternoon of the bushfires at Wangary. It was seen as the blueprint, if you like, to a recovery process.

I rang Vince and said, 'Would it be all right if I have a word with the Premier's office, to put forward our names if the Victorians want us to go over there to help them in any way,' and he said, 'Absolutely, I am prepared to fly out at the drop of a hat.' That demonstrates the sort of person Vince Monterola is. Once again, I pass on my congratulations to Vince and thank him for his great contribution to this community over so many years. Given his nature of never saying no, I am sure he will be around for many more years to help out South Australians.

At 17:10 the house adjourned until Thursday 16 July 2009 at 10:30.