FINNISS ELECTORATE

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (15:28): You will be pleased to know, ma'am, that I wish to speak about something different. I draw to the attention of the house today a couple of issues. The first one is the intended amalgamation of the Victor Harbor R-7 School—totally contrary to any common sense, totally contrary to the wishes of the school, the parents and the governing council—at the behest of bloody-minded bureaucrats in Flinders Street who could not care less about schools and how they operate; all they want to do is save money.

A few weeks ago Ms Sharon Phillips, the Chair of the Governing Council of the R-7 school, came to see me. She was quite distressed about the fact that this was being thrust upon them and wanted to know where to turn. One of the worries of this business is that the intention is for the minister to make the final decision. Currently, the minister is the Hon. Jay Weatherill and, in 21 days, he will go on to become the premier of the state, and I am not sure where this will finish up.

However, let me put firmly on the record that this matter regarding the school is totally inappropriate. I do not wish to comment on other schools in the metropolitan area or around the state, but, in this particular case, leave it alone, because the community is in an uproar about it. It is creating major distress with the parents of the children and the staff, as I said. The staff are feeling bottled up because they cannot comment at the risk of some sort of retribution from the mandarins up in Flinders Street. It would appear that other people who have been sent down to do the dirty work are not all that happy about it either and want it to go away.

I simply say to the government that they should get their hands off this particular attempt at amalgamation and leave the school as it is. It is a brilliant school on a brilliant campus doing a brilliant job, and it should not be messed around with to save a few dollars for a government in terminal decay through its budget process.

The second thing I want to talk about is the Vivonne Bay Surf Music Festival, which will take place in November, and you will remember that the Minister for Tourism announced this event a few weeks ago. I have never seen a more disgusting protest launched against anything than I have about this. A couple of weeks ago, Kangaroo Island Council organised a meeting so that Surfing SA could present its case, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the CFS and some other people were able to answer questions.

There was a group of protesters there whose performance was nothing short of discourteous, rude and downright un-Australian as far as I am concerned.

Mr Pederick: Were they on the roll?

Mr PENGILLY: No; that is a good question the member for Hammond asks. When I checked up to see whether three of the people who appeared in the Sunday Mail out on the water at Vivonne Bay were indeed on the roll, two of them are not on my electoral roll at all; one is, but resident at Middleton. A whole lot of nonsense has been talked about this, and there have been attempts to incorporate and blame Sealink, for heaven's sake, which is just a sponsor. It just happens that some of the activities are on its property, and others are on the property of Mr Michael Bald, a nearby farmer.

The members of the community overwhelmingly support this event happening on Kangaroo Island at Vivonne Bay. My attendance at recent football and netball finals on three days (Saturday, Sunday and Saturday) has left me in absolutely no doubt about that. These people will not go away. They are putting all the nonsense in the world on websites. To say that they are playing with the truth would be something of a polite statement, quite frankly. The nonsense they are trying to perpetrate is unbelievable.

There are a couple of people who are actually genuine locals who are opposed to it, and I listened to what they had to say. I do not necessarily agree with them, but I listened to what they say. These feral people living down at Vivonne Bay making all the noise and creating all this disruption ought to pack up and leave if they do not like it because it is going to be a great success. On this, the government and I are at one, and I know my side of the house is as well. It is going to take families and children home to the island. It is seen as a reunion. It is going to be good for business. It is going to be good for the island. It will be a great event. Whether there is any surf remains to be seen, but the music will be fantastic.

The minister for the environment is well aware of what has been going on over there. I praise Mr Bill Haddrill, the local manager, who has done a great job. I praise Terry May, the local CFS chief. I praise the mayor of Kangaroo Island, Jane Bates, for holding the meeting. I have nothing but disdain for those who sought to disrupt, be discourteous and derail that meeting, which was for information only. I would happily pay their ticket off the island—one way.