Surf Lifesaving

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton) (15:10): Today I want to talk about surf lifesaving, the Henley Surf Life Saving Club in particular, and focus on their annual major fundraising event. On Saturday 14 March, members of the Henley Surf Life Saving Club departed for their 2015 Big Row. The Big Row is our club's, Henley's, own unique major fundraising event with all funds raised going towards funding the club's surf lifesaving activities. You might be astounded by this, Deputy Speaker—I am sure you will be—that members row a surfboat across Gulf St Vincent from Stansbury to Henley Beach, covering around 68 kilometres of open sea. This event started in 2007 and is run annually.

In addition to fundraising for the club's building of facilities, the lifesaving club and its volunteers raise around $40,000 per annum to provide patrols on the beach with extra equipment and resources that they might require. This year's members of the Henley Surf Life Saving Club departed the Stansbury boat ramp a few minutes before 6am to row an open surfboat 68 kilometres, as I said, across the gulf to Henley Beach. With the sun not due to rise until after 7am, the rowers and support crew set off in the dark. Conditions were relatively good—and I know the lifesavers were very thankful about that—with a small wind chop from the north-west, plus an accompanying six to 10 knots of breeze. There were four crews of rowers, and they rotated every 45 minutes throughout the crossing.

I am told that crews were treated to a spectacular sunrise, and whilst I was up at that time and saw the sunrise, I did not have the same view they had. It was a spectacular sunrise, and at times they were accompanied by pods of up to 15 dolphins—I certainly did not see that either. The wind began to ease with approximately 20 kilometres to go, and by the time the surfboat arrived at Henley Beach it was virtually non-existent, making for a spectacular arrival at 2pm.

I know you will also be interested in this, Deputy Speaker, because on the Friday before, lifesavers from the Henley Surf Life Saving Club conducted surf safety sessions with 59 young children from the Stansbury, Edithburgh and Yorketown primary schools where the years 6 to 7 children got their resuscitation awards. The crews also spent time at the Stansbury Bowling Club and, this would not surprise you, the Dalrymple Hotel, who are sponsors of the particular event.

There are many major sponsors of this event, and I will not name them all, but I want to particularly recognise the Bendigo Bank which I think—and I might be corrected here—was a foundation sponsor. Certainly, our area and other areas where a Bendigo Bank exists have been great beneficiaries, particularly the sporting clubs and community clubs within those areas where that bank exists. So, I thank them for not only their sponsorship of the Big Row, but also the contribution they make to our community.

This year, the event made $83,000 altogether, which is one of the highest amounts raised in the nine years it has been operating. I am proud to say that I am also a foundation sponsor—although admittedly in the bronze division—and will continue to do so. Next year will be the 10^th Big Row and here's hoping that the Henley Surf Life Saving Club can raise even more.

You cannot talk about the Henley Surf Life Saving Club, or I can't anyway, without talking about the Grange Surf Life Saving Club, which is the second of the two magnificent surf clubs that I have in my electorate.

I want to focus briefly on the redevelopment of the Grange Surf Life Saving Club. That club is a beneficiary of additional funding promised by the government prior to the last election to fast-track the redevelopment of facilities. The Grange Surf Life Saving Club is one of those amongst other clubs that are beneficiaries of this commitment to increase the funding available for facilities to the surf lifesaving club movement. I look forward to the work commencing at the Grange Surf Life Saving Club during this coming winter

I want to finish off by congratulating the many thousands of people who volunteer their time as surf lifesavers in South Australia and make our beaches safer than otherwise would be the case. I also want to congratulate the member for Kaurna and the member for Bright on establishing the Parliamentary Friends of Surf Life Saving. I am told, and I might be wrong here again because I am sometimes wrong, that there are 20 amongst us who are members.

I urge other parliamentary members here who are not members of the Parliamentary Friends of Surf Life Saving SA to join up because, whilst you might not have a surf lifesaving club or a beach in your electorate, you certainly have constituents whose water safety is far improved when they visit the beach by the surf lifesavers who protect them—so join up.