PORT ADELAIDE, KNITTED ADORNMENT

Dr CLOSE (Port Adelaide) (15:13): With much pleasure, I wish to inform the house about the explosion of knitting all over the Port this winter. Known as 'yarn bombing' or 'guerrilla knitting', if you come to the Port you will see trees, railings, light poles and objects like shopping trolleys and bicycles wrapped in highly coloured and expertly knitted wool.

This is not just fun, although it is very fun both to do the knitting and to go and see it. It is an example of just how healthy the community of the Port is. Some talk the Port down. There are even some in local government office who do this. I will never talk us down because I know how tough, positive and strong the community is. When some of the local women—and I must note it is mainly, but not exclusively, women who are behind this—sat back and contemplated a long cold winter in the Port, they decided to do something to entertain the locals and to attract visitors, and they got knitting.

On the first day of winter, after a hard day in the office, I walked down Lipson Street to go to one of my many favourite pubs and saw a dozen or so people starting to stitch knitting onto trees, railings and benches—anything that did not move. By the next day, the weekend, the Port was festooned and it looks fantastic. Even my office has been adorned and one wit added a note that the Port was a 'close-knit community'.

Since then, I have seen photos of the local pub owner and two of his clients, both burly blokes, making a valiant attempt to contribute to the knitting. Everyone has had a go. What they are doing is not just making the place look great, but also reminding all of us that the Port is alive, eccentric and creative and always worth a visit.