Soldier On Ladies High Tea

Ms VLAHOS (Taylor) (15:17): This afternoon, I would like to talk about an event I was very pleased to help work on the event committee for, and that was the inaugural Soldier On Ladies High Tea for women who have been involved in the Australian Defence Force: servicewomen, the partners of veterans, and the broader ex-service community. In South Australia, we take a very broad definition, and I am very proud of what the veteran community is to that special family that has served our nation and protected us so well both on Australian soil and abroad.

Being a member of the event committee, I was very happy to be working alongside Justin Brown, the Transition Manager of Soldier On in South Australia; Calli Morgan, a young woman veteran who is doing great work in the area; Tiffany Sharp from BOMSupport, which supports women and their spouses who have gone through a marriage breakdown; Mark Reidy from Soldier On; Jacqui and Jason Ross; and Kendal Brown and Maddy Brown. Together with our sponsors Defence Health, RSL SA, Department of Veterans' Affairs, NAB Health and Southgate Plaza, along with various other goody-bag supporters such as Myer, Mooch & Me Candles, Charlesworth Nuts, Nestlé, the Adelaide Zoo, Jurlique and Lippy & More, we were able to provide a beautiful afternoon tea at the Naval and Military Club for 100 women free of charge.

All the women who came along to those events that day had a lovely time. They were entertained by the Brighton Secondary School String Quartet, who are currently fundraising for their next overseas trip. Jeff Kong was kind enough to lead them that day. They do a magnificent job, and they did a fantastic presentation at two different times in the afternoon.

We had some fantastic floral contributions from a beautiful lady down at Christies Beach who gave us lovely floral arrangements and centrepieces for the table, and each woman who attended received a flower that day. We had beautiful food from the Naval, Military and Air Force Club.

We had two fantastic speeches from Tiffany Sharp about resilience and wellbeing and looking after yourself and then we heard from Professor Susan Neuhaus, who is a veteran herself who has served in Cambodia and is a medical professor and author. She talked about resilience and how wellbeing can be enhanced, as a servicewoman herself, from her perspective, and looking after a busy career and being a family person too. All of these events were well received by the ladies who attended our inaugural event and I am looking forward to having the opportunity of working with this committee as we hold another one in 2016.

The other thing I would like to say about this is that working alongside these groups, the ex-servicewomen and ex-service organisations, is the RSL, which is going to be holding a women's symposium on 20 November. There is a building movement of women involved in the veterans' community who are shining beacons for what Australians can do to help their service community, particularly younger women who have served abroad and are coming back to live their lives after our longest deployment away of the last 10 years.

So, thanks and sincere congratulations to all the people on the organising committee, particularly to Juan in my office, who is quietly working behind the scenes and probably listening to this speech right now. You are all doing a fantastic job. I cannot speak highly enough of the work of Soldier On and the committee of people who are doing work for the younger veteran community in South Australia. To the RSL and its new CEO, Julia Langrehr, more power to you. You do excellent work and I am very grateful for it.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Schubert. Before we let you speak we should acknowledge that you have a wonderful parent with you today, and I am sure at least you will enjoy the next five minutes of the contribution.