KANGAROO ISLAND, EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT

Ms FOX (Bright) (15:15): Can the Premier tell the house about the community cabinet and the 175^th anniversary of settlement on Kangaroo Island?

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:15): I think we need to tell the whole story. I want to thank the honourable member for her question. It would have been nice to have more notice but I will do my best.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the Premier will be heard in silence!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: It was a great pleasure and honour to visit Kangaroo Island twice during the past week to celebrate the important milestone in our state's comparatively brief but profound European history, the 175^th anniversary of settlement on Kangaroo Island.

I want to thank the member for Finniss for his welcome, his attention and his decency during the visit, and also to say that it was terrific to have the company of Ted Chapman's daughter on the island over the last day or so. Ted was a friend of mine; and it was good that we made a bipartisan pact between the three of us and mayor Jayne Bates that we will return for the 200^th anniversary in 25 years from now, and at about that stage I might be looking for a different career. After 150 days at sea, the Duke of York dropped anchor in Nepean Bay—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. M.D. RANN: —on 27 July 1836, and its passengers and crew were rowed ashore. It was the moment that the pioneers of Australia's first free settlement set foot in their new world. Earlier, in 1819, Captain George Sutherland, who spent seven months on the island, compiled a glowing report on its features. Captain Sutherland was taken by the beauty and uniqueness of the island and would later write about the crystal water on the island as well as the bountiful snapper and oysters which he said were better than those in England. This was to be the first awareness amongst Europeans of Kangaroo Island's outstanding reputation for its pristine wilderness and food.

The first pioneers of the island, who hewed a viable, sustainable settlement from virgin land in an alien climate, showed immense courage, camaraderie and commitment, and that commitment can still be seen in Kangaroo Island's residents, especially those able to trace their heritage all the way back to those first arrivals.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. M.D. RANN: I will talk about that in a second. Some time later, the islanders would show their individuality through their innovative industries such as eucalyptus oil, yacca gum and Ligurian bees. I was pleased that the decision was made to hold a Labor caucus meeting, as well as a community cabinet, on the island to coincide with the 175^th anniversary celebrations. This was the third cabinet meeting but the first Labor caucus meeting in 175 years on the island. As I have mentioned before, the community cabinet was this government's 55^th community cabinet and the third held on the island since forming government in 2002.

I was very pleased to host a morning tea for volunteers on Sunday in Parndana to acknowledge the generous and selfless contribution made by local volunteers to their community and to play football with the member for Finniss in a demonstration match that has subsequently achieved some celebrity.

The following volunteers received awards: the young volunteer category was won by Mr Kiri Hamilton for his exceptional contribution as a student representative on the Kangaroo Island Youth Advisory Committee and for the time he gives to Operation Flinders; the female volunteer winner was Kathie Stove for her tremendous contribution as a volunteer, protecting and conserving the unspoilt environment of the island; and the male volunteer category winner was Mr Phil Buck, who has worked tenaciously to establish a formal volunteer marine rescue presence on the island. The community project category winner was Kangaroo Island Dolphin Watch, which is an exceptional community project that sees Kangaroo Island schools and the wider community working together to develop an understanding of the island's dolphins and their habitats.

Later in the day I visited the Solider Settlement Museum, where a historic display tells the stories of the development of the soldier settler scheme in the early 1950s. In an era before 240-volt power, good roads and telephones, the innovation and humour shown by this generation is inspiring. Following that, I met with the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, the RSL and Legacy in Kingscote and was also pleased to hear their stories. The Minister for Veterans' Affairs introduced me to two diggers from World War II. One had served in New Guinea and the other had also served in New Guinea and at Kokoda.

Prior to the cabinet meeting on Monday, I opened the recreation centre at the Penneshaw R-9 campus. I was extremely delighted to hear that this school, first opened in 1869, has a 100 per cent participation rate in both the reading challenge as well as the be active challenge. I congratulate all of the teachers, children and their parents on this outstanding effort. Back in Kingscote, cabinet received an inspiring presentation from the Mayor of Kangaroo Island, Jayne Bates, prior to the cabinet meeting.

It gave me great pleasure to return to the island again on Wednesday and spend another day and night there attending the official celebrations of the 175^th anniversary of settlement. Last night, on the anniversary, at the Kangaroo Island Pioneers Association dinner at the Ozone Hotel, I delivered a State of the State address, as I would have done at the Proclamation Day celebrations in Glenelg. I was joined, of course, by the member for Finniss—a relative newcomer to the island, given his forebears arrived in 1837 in South Australia, so not quite local, and in fact arrived on the island in the 1930s—and that well-known islander, whose island heritage dates back seven generations, the member for Bragg. She was actually one of the originals—not one of the originals landing there, but her ancestors did.

An honourable member: She has aged well.

The Hon. M.D. RANN: She has aged very, very well. Last night I also had the pleasure of announcing that I believed that, in addition to Proclamation Day, an annual State of the State address should be delivered on 27 July every year by the premier of the day on Kangaroo Island. This would then recognise what all the islanders will tell you is the true anniversary of European settlement in South Australia, when the Duke of York anchored off the coast of Kangaroo Island and the very first citizens arrived on the shore on 27 July, five months before settlers landed at Holdfast Shore.

The Pioneers Association dinner last night was the culmination of a terrific day of celebration. At the flag-raising ceremony on Reeves Point that morning, I had the pleasure of meeting the direct descendant of Captain Robert Clark Morgan, the captain of the Duke of York, who was one of the first of six people who went ashore on that historic day. His name, too, was Clark Morgan and he travelled with his wife to the island from Melbourne.

Every school student on the island also gathered at Reeves Point for the raising of the flag to commemorate the beach landing. It was also well attended by the many proud descendants of the first settlers on the island. At last night's State of the State address, I also talked about how I thought our state would be in 2036. I outlined a future shaped by choice, not by chance, and of a dynamic, confident, outward-looking state, with strong links to the world and an even stronger sense of self.

There is no doubt that, even after 175 years, South Australia has come a long way since nine ships set sail down the Thames on their long voyage to South Australia. Kangaroo Island is South Australia's undisputed jewel. It is Australia's Galapagos. It is a paradise girt by sea. We look forward to working with the Kangaroo Island Council and with the local member to deliver the multimillion dollars worth of projects that we announced on the weekend.

The SPEAKER: I would just remind the media cameramen in the gallery that they are only to film people on their feet. Leader of the Opposition.