Schoolies

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (15:26): I listened with some degree of interest to the member for Torrens, particularly in relation to year 12 students, because one matter that I want to talk about today is where they are all going to be this weekend, and that is down at Victor Harbor for Schoolies.

When I commenced in this role, Schoolies was fairly haphazard but manageable. Prior to that, when my eldest son went some 16 years ago, or whenever it was, it was a complete shemozzle. It lasted for over a week and it usually meant that hundreds of thousands of year 12 students were left in a pretty untidy state. However, that has all changed, and that is what I would like to talk about today.

I would like to commend those who run Schoolies, particularly the Green Team, and, of course, the services that look after their welfare, and that includes the Victor Harbor City Council. It is now an extremely well-run event. That occurs because of the efforts of the Green Team. They are simply legendary. The hundreds of people from the Green Team who go down there and volunteer to assist and keep everybody safe are wonderful.

The event is now over Friday, Saturday and Sunday and then it is all over. The young people of South Australia who attend have a good time. They are in a safe environment and they are well looked after. Those who would seek to go down and peddle drugs or other dubious activities are caught out pretty regularly and they do not have a lot of joy. It costs this state an enormous amount of money to conduct Schoolies and, this year, it is under the direction of Inspector Gus Sickerdick from Mount Barker.

I tend to keep away, to a certain extent, from Victor Harbor over the Schoolies period. I really do not want to be there. However, it is interesting to watch the community attitudes and how they have changed, from many in the community not wanting anybody down there to now accepting that it is well run, that it is controlled, that drugs are limited and that the so-called toolies (the ones who left school years ago) are held up, not to mention the efforts that are made on the roads in getting the kids down there and back home safely if they are driving themselves. Many of them choose to go in buses and charter buses, or their parents drive them down.

The police are out there, as they should be, on the roads, stopping cars if they need to, checking them out, or just generally maintaining the road safety. They do a wonderful job and I take my hat off to them. It is an incredible economic fillip to the South Coast because they do stay as far away as Goolwa, Middleton and Port Elliot and come into Victor for the festivities. Some of them do not even go to them; they just stay where they are and camp and have a generally good time.

I am afraid that in my day when we left school we went straight to work. We did not have anything like Schoolies. It was out the door of the schoolroom and straight into a job, quite frankly.

Mr Treloar: Pick up a handpiece.

Mr PENGILLY: Well, I think I had to go carting hay the day after I left school, from memory, and that has never really stopped. I reiterate my great pleasure in seeing how well it is run now. I know that the Mayor of Victor Harbor, Graham Philp, who is a former police sergeant, takes a keen interest in it, as he should. It is going to be a good weekend.

What we actually like is cold weather, not hot weather. Cool weather is much better for schoolies. They do not tend to imbibe as much as they would, and they do not get sunburnt as much. The boys seem to think they can run around without their shirts on and get cooked like crayfish, but hopefully the weather will be mild and they will have a good time.

The other thing I want to mention in the brief time I have left is to do with the situation on the turn-off from Pages Flat Road and Main South Road, where there has been an upgrade to the section of road. It has been built up and plants and flowers have been put in. It is dangerous, and it is causing a lot of concern. The Times ran the story last week. I will be tabling a petition in the next day or so; it is a dangerous spot.

Time expired.