Adjournment Debate

Light Electorate

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (17:09): I would like to take this opportunity to speak briefly to the adjournment debate and, in doing so, highlight some matters that are of interest to my electorate. First of all, I would like to congratulate the Hewett Centre and also Relationships Australia who recently held a gambling awareness day. This was designed to increase the awareness in our community of the impact that gambling has on people but also importantly it sought to shine a ray of hope for people. The most moving part of the day, which I attended part of, was the stories from people who had a gambling addiction or who were affected by gambling itself.

What was really disturbing was that the gambling started as a social occasion and, given the people’s personal circumstances, it became a major problem and the gambling was a way for them to escape other issues affecting their lives. It was really disturbing how they went from quite well-adjusted people with happy lives to people who had lost everything—relationships, money, etc. I am pleased to say that both Relationships Australia and the Hewett Centre in Gawler are going to do some more work in this area because I think it is an area that is underestimated in terms of the impact it is having not only on our communities but also on families through the money lost from gambling.

Another thing I would like to mention is a support group which has been established in Gawler to support people who have kidney disease. The Gawler Renal Support Group, which was developed about two years ago, was set up to address the issues of social information and support needs of people with chronic kidney disease, people on dialysis and people who have received a transplant. They have social events, and these give them the opportunity to exchange stories about each other’s journeys, and through that it helps them progress with their healing. This is a self-help group and a volunteer group, but they play an important role, and they are very keen to see the opening of the new dialysis unit, which is attached to the Gawler Health Service, and that there is money in the state budget this year to make sure that the new dialysis unit is opened.

I would also like to mention an innovation that I have not seen before, but I am happy to be corrected. Springwood Communities is a development in Gawler East, and they have appointed a community engagement person, a community coordinator. One of the greatest challenges of new urban areas is building a sense of community and a sense of belonging. It is easy to build roads, streets, parks and move people in, but it is an entirely different thing for people to work together to form relationships in that community, and her role is to work with the people in her community to bring them together.

She also helps identify possible sponsorship programs and helps create a sense of community in those new areas. This community already has about 350 people living there, and I am keen to work with them and to address issues around public transport and also general services for that community. It is great to see the development industry acknowledged. It is one thing to deliver the bricks and mortar, but it is the intangible things that help bring communities together.

Another thing I would like to mention is some research undertaken by a year 12 student at Trinity College who lives in Angle Vale. He is one of the students who has to do a research project as part of his SACE, and he decided to do some research into the rations given to World War II soldiers and whether the rations were sufficient, etc. As part of his research, he met with World War II veterans from the Gawler RSL. He provided me with the results of his research over the weekend.

His research has shown that our World War II soldiers were not provided with sufficient rations to sustain their basic dietary needs. He said that they were not fed well enough to maintain their physical and mental health, which is a real worry. He said that, through talking with the veterans, he got great insight into the soldiers' lives and a better appreciation of what it was like to be involved in conflict, rather than what people see on television. He got some greater insights through talking to the veterans. One of the veterans just turned 100, so he has seen quite a few conflicts in his time.

Evidence collected from his oral research was that, in his opinion, they did not get enough food and that one of the problems with the deficit was a lack of fibre and vitamin C, which caused a lot of knock-on effects. As a result of their poor diets, they had poor blood clotting to heal wounds. He said that not only were they in the trenches but they also had terrible constipation as a result of a poor diet, which would be—I cannot say that here.

The Hon. S.E. Close: No, you can't.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: It would be really tough and make it worse. He has been moved by his research in trying to understand why we would send people to war and not support them appropriately. The student's name is Brandon Klar. I was very keen to see that he was interested in that. He also made a big additional effort this year to go to his first dawn service to get a better understanding and to meet with students. I would like to compliment him and commend him for his research. He has not only done the ANZAC Day thing but he has tried to get a better understanding of what it means to go to war. With those few comments, I would like to commend the adjournment debate.