OUTBACK COMMUNITIES AUTHORITY

The Hon. L.R. BREUER (Giles) (15:10): Today I want to comment on some appointments that were announced today by the Minister for State/Local Government Relations to the Outback Communities Authority. The Outback Communities Authority is a very important part of my electorate, certainly. It has jurisdiction over almost two thirds of the state. It serves about 4,000 people in numerous small communities throughout the state, and service locations and pastoral and farming properties in the outback.

It does very important work in managing the provision and improvement of public services and facilities for outback communities as well as helping to communicate the views, interests and aspirations of those who live there to our city politicians and our city-based departments. It is a really important role and, for a long time, I have admired the work they do, and I certainly have had feedback from my various communities about the good and the bad, but mostly good, work that the Outback Communities Authority does out there.

Today, it was announced that there are some new appointments to the board which will take place from July 2013, in particular, the announcement of incoming chair Cecilia Woolford, whom I will talk about a little bit later. This is because Bill McIntosh is the outgoing chair, and I want to speak today particularly about Bill McIntosh, a great man of the outback for whom I have had great admiration for many years.

William Raymond McIntosh was born on 28 January 1948. He lives at Gum Creek Station near Blinman—which is not part of my electorate but is in the electorate of the member for Stuart, but I am sure he also knows Bill very well. He was chair of the Outback Areas Community Development Trust from 1 April 1996, but he was actually a member of that trust (which is the predecessor, of course, of the Outback Communities Authority) since 1988.

In fact, I understand that it is 25 years today exactly since he joined. So he has given 25 years of service to that authority. I believe he served under members like Lowitja O'Donoghue, who was the chair at one stage, and Gavin Kenneally. Currently, he is also a member of the State Bushfire Coordination Committee and a member of the South Australian National Parks and Wildlife Council, and he has been a JP since 1989.

Bill is an amazing man. He is seen at numerous outback functions, organisations, etc., around the place. He has served on many committees and organisations connected with the outback—for example, the Arid Lands NRM board, the Soil Conservation Council and the Rangelands Integrated Natural Resource Management Group. He is a member of the Regional Communities Consultative Council, the Outback SA Community Board and the Outback Community Alliance. Some of these have disappeared into time, but the amount of work he has done is unbelievable.

He also served on the Northern Regional Development Board, the South Australian Natural Resources Management Council and also the Advisory Committee on Soil Conservation. He was a very active and strong member and chair of the Southern Rangelands Rural Plan Task Force for a couple of years. He has been involved in the Farmers Federation, National Parks and Wildlife and the Progress Association of Blinman. I could go for hours and talk about this, but what I really want to say is this is indicative of the wonderful work that Bill McIntosh has done out there. He goes along to all sorts of functions. I have seen him at all sorts of conferences and different functions that have been held in the Outback areas. Bill is always available and always gives his time.

He is a very charming gentleman, a wonderful man, and I wish him well. I want to thank him on behalf of the parliament for the wonderful work he has done over the years with the Outback Communities Authority. He holds an Australia Medal for his service to Outback communities. He also won, I think, at some stage a Centenary Medal and was an Australia Day Citizen. This is all indicative of the esteem in which people hold him. I wish him and his wife Jane well in their future and thank him again for the wonderful work that he has done. I know it is very much appreciated by everyone throughout the Outback.

The new chair, Cecilia Woolford, comes in with an incredible CV, which makes you feel quite humble when you look at it. She has done all sorts of work, so I know that she will be great for the Outback Communities Authority and I look forward to working with her.

Time expired.