Adjournment Debate

Light Electorate

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (17:02): I wish to speak to the adjournment debate and to draw to the house's attention to some of the matters relating to my electorate. First of all, I would like to talk about an event to be held on Saturday. The Hewett Centre, a community-based organisation in my electorate, in association with Relationships Australia, is hosting an important event to raise awareness of gambling issues in our community and to assist people who have a problem with gambling.

Gambling Awareness Day includes a range of speakers, the screening of a highly awarded documentary, a panel discussion and some insights into mindfulness to help people deal with their gambling problem. I think this is a great event. It is very important that we increase our understanding of issues of problem gambling in our community. It is one of many addictions, unfortunately, we have in our society that have a major impact on not only the individuals involved but also their family members. Some estimates say that for every problem gambler seven other people are directly affected by that gambling. That could include a partner, children, or people at work, etc.

Last week, I met with both people from the Hewett Centre and one of the counsellors from Relationships Australia, the South Australian branch. With them was a lady I will call Carol for the purposes of this debate. Carol has had a problem with gambling. She has had a number of failed relationships and she has had huge debts because of her gambling problem. What started off as, as she put it, 'just some plain fun playing the pokies' with her husband in 1996 spiralled out of control after a while. There were issues with her relationship, and as a result she took on gambling as one of the ways to deal with the pressures in her life.

She now has her gambling under control, but she says that it is like any other addiction: you just have to be very mindful of where your life is at because the addiction is constantly in your life. She has to work very hard to keep her issues under control. The reason she is coming to speak on the day, which I think is a very brave act, is to do two things; one is to raise awareness about how quickly what can be a social activity can become a problem, and the second is also to let people know that there is hope and help out there available to assist people who have a problem with gambling. She actually did a program for gambling problems, she also joined Gambling Anonymous, and today she works with Relationships Australia and does other work to assist people with gambling problems.

The other part of this day is the award-winning documentary, Ka-Ching!: Pokie Nation, which I think is going to be shown in this place, too, sometime this month. It has been advertised by another member of parliament. It talks about how gambling is established, how the gambling industry works on vulnerable people and also about the issue of problem gambling. I would recommend people attend this session in my electorate. It is a free event. I commend the Hewett Centre and also commend the work they are doing with Relationships Australia to help problem gamblers in our community.

Last week, I also had the opportunity to meet with people in Hillier Park, which is one of the residential parks in my electorate. It was one of my regular meetings with the people in the park. On this occasion, we had a conversation regarding the discussion paper about the government's review of the Residential Parks Act 2007. They were provided a briefing about a month ago by the Commissioner for Consumer Affairs and, as a result of that briefing, I caught up with them again just to get some feedback on what their concerns were. During those discussions, I think the major issue raised by the residents was security of tenure of sites within the residential parks.

There was a bit of a discussion about whether you achieve security of tenure either through some sort of minimum fixed period of licence or actually having a system that means there is a certain notification, prior notice and a right of appeal. In the end, the residents felt that, rather than having a hard and fixed rule regarding fixed-term contracts, which in themselves can create some anomalies, as long as you have proper notification about terminating a contract and there are appropriate appeal rights to make sure that the decisions are fair and reasonable externally, that was the way they would like to see the act go.

Another issue raised by residents was disclosure requirements by a park owner or park managers when entering into leases or licences, and not only entering into licences and leases but also the period of time they are there. They said they wanted to make sure they were aware of what the requirements are and to make sure it is in plain English so that they understand what the liability is when they enter a residential park. In that regard, they would like that tidied up.

They would also like to have what is the equivalent of a section 7 search when you actually buy a property. In other words, the park owner provides a section 7 search, where the council would make comment about the things happening in that community about proposed developments, etc. In essence, it was firstly the issue about security of tenure and, secondly, disclosure. They also want to ensure that increases in site fees are regulated to make sure that they are reasonable and that they get prior notice.

There is also an issue about termination of contracts, particularly when perhaps a person passes away. The issue there was, if they did have a fixed-term contract, what would happen with the expiry bit of the contract and who would have to actually pay for that time. There are a couple of other issues they raised, and we are now putting a submission together on their behalf to go to the commission.

Another matter I would like to raise is that last night the local Gawler Lions Club had their annual Youth of the Year awards, when there was the judging of young people in the community from three senior schools in the electorate, that is, Trinity College, Gawler and District B-12 College and Xavier College. The two students representing Trinity were Vin Nguyen and Cameron Green. Kahliah Lind and Emily Mann were from Xavier, and also Franke Agenbag from Gawler and District College. This award is designed to encourage young leadership in our communities, and I commend the Lions Club for this award.

I would also like to thank the judges, Ian Skewes, Patricia Dent and Ebony Steadman, who took time out from their lives to talk to the young people, who were all students. What I have been told is that all the students made themselves proud, their schools proud and also the community proud. Franke Agenbag won the John Hillier Memorial Award and young Vin from Trinity College won the public speaking award. The award gives them a chance not only to improve their public speaking but also to talk about and argue a case for issues that are dear to their hearts, so it is a very good and important program.

I would also like to mention and congratulate the Gawler BMX Club. The Gawler BMX Club is a very family-orientated intergenerational club, and by 'intergenerational' I mean that three generations of people actually race at the Gawler BMX Club. They have been very successful in getting a $25,000 grant from the state government to improve both their track and their facilities. The $25,000 is part of a $110,000 budget for improvements to their facilities, and there are a number of important things about this track.

First of all, the track provides young people with the opportunity to play sport and it gives an opportunity for families to be involved. The club is also an open track, which means that members of the public can use the track, so the hard work by the members and their families is actually of benefit to the whole school and it is used out of hours as well. The club has a children's membership of around 200 but, when the various family members are added pm, it is more. In 2012, BMX became an Olympic sport, which has obviously increased its profile in our community. The club treasurer, Mr Tim Pengilly, said:

For children, BMX is a great pathway to other cycling disciplines and many great Australian cyclists (road and track) started their cycling careers in BMX racing.

In fact, two young local residents, Miles and Callum Scotson, who lived at Evanston Park and started at the Gawler BMX Club where their parents were involved, are now racing at an international level, so the BMX Club gives a lot of young people a chance to promote their sport.

In the minute I have left, another thing I would like to raise is that last week I also took the opportunity to visit some principals in my electorate to get a rundown on how things are going. Like other members of parliament, I regularly visit my principals to see how things are going and I have a couple of messages. Roseworthy Primary School has moved large leaps ahead in terms of literacy and numeracy. They have put a lot of effort and resources into that area, and they are expecting their NAPLAN results to go through the roof this year, and I support them. The principal, Matt Saunders, is an outstanding leader.

Another good thing in the community is Gawler and District College, which is making their middle school program very effective as well.