Motions

Defence Reserves

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (11:30): I move:

That this house—

(a) acknowledges the contribution of the Defence Reserves Support Council (SA), Air Force, Army and Navy reservists and employers of reservists;

(b) acknowledges the contribution of Dr Pamela Schulz OAM as the recently retired chair of the council;

(c) congratulates Dr Andrew Cannon AM as the new chair of the council;

(d) recognises the contribution of reservists, in war and peace, locally, nationally and internationally, and including the Sampson Flat bushfires; and

(e) appreciates the support of the employers of reservists to facilitate their contribution.

When I proposed this motion back at the beginning of 2015, members will recall that we were then facing the clean-up of one of the savage bushfires of our summer season, and for the 2014-15 summer season, we had the horrific circumstance of the Sampson Flat bushfire. Since then, we have had the ravages of bushfires across the state. During last year's occasion, the Mid North suffered a very, very significant loss.

The importance of recognising the contribution of our reservists or, as some like to be described, part-time serving personnel, should never be underestimated. Whilst our emergency services officers rightly receive accolades when we have these major incidents, it should never be overlooked that volunteer members of other areas, including the Australian Defence Force reserves component, should share in that recognition, respect and appreciation.

The purpose of this motion is to recognise the reservists generally, but also to highlight a number of other agencies, including the police, who contribute in those civilian emergencies. I am proudly a member of the Defence Reserves Support Council and have been for some years. I know the member for Ashford has been a member and now we have the Deputy Speaker as a member, which is very helpful. We are able to encourage our council to take up initiatives, such as the visit to the Woomera site recently.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: And wear flak jackets.

Ms CHAPMAN: And wear flash clothes, yes, and shoot pistols and do all sorts of things. Aside from the benefit that we individually have, as members of the parliament representing this parliament on the council, I think that we certainly enjoy the enlightenment of information that we receive by being there.

Essentially, the council comprises a group of employers drawn from all sectors of the state who advise, direct and endorse strategies of engaging and supporting employers of reservists in South Australia. I think, personally, that we are one of the most successful councils in the country and that has been recognised by the present national chair and, indeed, the former chair also, Mr Jack Smorgon, who for many years served as the national chair. The council aims to ensure availability of the reserve component of the Australian Defence Force by promoting the benefits of employing members of the reserve. It also aims to establish flexible partnerships with the community and employers so that they are encouraged to support those in the reserve.

Let me now recognise Dr Pamela Schulz OAM, who was appointed in 2009 as the chair of the council. She was the first woman to be appointed chair of the South Australian committee. She is known to many of you as she is a longstanding public servant of our state. She has devoted herself to community education and encouraging people to participate and act in issues that are relevant to their daily lives. She has also covered very important issues, including parenting, vaccination of children, parliamentary engagement, justice and the rule of law, so a broad spectrum of contribution to public debate and to academic advancement.

I also recognise Dr Andrew Cannon AM, who has been undertaking the role as chair for some time. He has served a long judicial career in South Australia, including as acting chief magistrate. His judicial career combined with academic research into the court systems, and his work on the introduction of many reforms to civil and criminal processes is commended. I am very proud to serve with him in this current role. Just this last weekend, many members of the council attended to support the celebrations of the Maltese community. I think the Speaker of the house was in attendance, as was minister Bettison and the Hon. Jing Lee. Our council turned up in droves to support a member of our council in that community and I am very proud to be part of that.

I will also speak briefly to the contribution of the reservists during the now past Sampson Flat bushfire in South Australia, which included the important contribution of the reservists. RAAF Base Edinburgh responded to the emergency by providing logistic support to airborne fighting efforts from 4 to 7 January, two large air tankers, a Bird Dog aircraft and more than 10 air crew and support staff were employed to assist the South Australian Country Fire Service. The Defence aid provided refuelling, air movements and water replenishment support to contracted firefighting aircraft from Victoria.

Mr Norman Kent, who managed the base support tasks, said that, due to the efforts of a small but hardworking team of personnel, the aircraft were able to be sent straight back to work after arriving at the Edinburgh base. He also said that the rapid rate of aircraft operations was something out of the ordinary as, by the end of the day, which was effectively only half a day, there had been 10 aircraft movements, and the air tankers averaged a turnaround time of just 25 minutes. To put this in perspective, he explained that the turnaround time was when the aircraft took off from Edinburgh, dropped its water supplies into the fire, came back, reloaded and returned to the fireground again.

The aircraft had virtually just taken off when, 10 minutes later, they were landing again, already having completed their task. To achieve such a short turnaround time was truly remarkable. The Victorian Country Fire Authority aviation officer, Wayne Rigg, has revealed that the support provided by Defence at such short notice was instrumental in supporting the South Australian community during the fires. He also commended the Edinburgh base staff who coordinated the resources and equipment so that, once the air tankers had arrived, they were immediately able to scale up their operations and get to work.

Over the four days that the air tankers were deployed, 320,000 litres of water was able to be provided for the fire retardant mixing plant. In addition, 14 refuels were conducted, supplying more than 50,000 litres of fuel to the aircraft. These are exemplary efforts which deserve our acknowledgement and our thanks. Australia's Defence Force continually seeks the skills and expertise of reservists to help maintain its capability. Receiving the support of employers means reservists are available to undertake their duties when called for service. Late last year, five South Australian employers were recognised at the Employer Support Awards. Again, in the preceding year, there was recognition of this particular contribution.

I also thank all other employers of reservists who facilitate their contribution. We could not operate without the ongoing support of employers, such as the many that we have, and the thousands, literally, who have signed up in South Australia who are committed to this. Most of us understand that, under the law, there is an obligation to release employees for the purpose of their service. However, we should not underestimate the importance of the support that comes from employers to facilitate that, to support them when they come back and to make sure their duties are undertaken while they are away. Obviously, they have the reciprocal benefit, which I often remind them, that their employees are being trained, they learn new disciplines and new skills which they can apply in the workplace for the betterment of the operation, business or employment. Many of them are significant government departments.

I recently had a meeting with the Minister for Environment, the Hon. Ian Hunter in another place. We have an annual meeting on bushfire management. I like to know what is going on in the state and I like to know what is going on in my district. Just about every year I have a new minister for the environment, but that is no problem, and for the last couple of years he has been handling it. I had a briefing about the few fires that have been undertaken in my area, which includes the entire Cleland National Park and very concentrated areas in the Adelaide Hills of bushland up against townships, and intense horticulture. So, we have a number of things that are intentioned.

I was stunned to have reported back that there had only been seven cold burns this spring across the entire state. Today, when we recognise the very significant work of our emergency services personnel and persons such as the reservists in South Australia, we need to understand the significance of not putting their life at risk, and putting costs and expense out into the arena to deal with these catastrophic fires. We also must ensure that our government employs funds to ensure that we have every possible advantage to diminish the fuel load before we get there. I do not want to be standing up in this parliament in the future having to commend contributions into events that should not have happened at all or been as severe. That, in my view, is up to the government to deal with. There is a lot of work to be done there.

Finally, it was recently announced that three members of our reservists are to retire. They are Commander Patrick O'Brien, who is the commander of the Navy, after some, I think, two years of service in South Australia; Air Commodore Steve Meredith, who is the senior officer for the ADF; and Major Russell Scutchings—we call him Russ—who is the Director of Defence Reserves Support SA. They have made a very significant contribution to our council. We thank them individually for the work that they do in their respective employment in the military and reservist roles, and wish them well in their next ventures. I commend the motion to the house.

The Hon. L.A. VLAHOS (Taylor—Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse) (11:42): Many members may be aware that in the foyer of Parliament House there is a sign about being a supportive employer of defence reservists in South Australia. That important piece of information, which is shared with the general public as they come through the front doors of this building every day, was signed on 8 November 2012.

South Australia was the first state government to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Defence that draws the entire Public Service into the supportive employer network. The Defence Reserves Support Council (DRSC) promotes the benefits of reserve service and encourages employers and the community to support reservists in our state and around the nation.

Those in this room recognise more than most the contribution that young men and women who serve in our reserve forces make in the defence of our security and our nation and often in peacekeeping operations and in disaster zones. Particularly, the members for Bragg, Ashford, Florey and Morphett, who I am aware have served on the Defence Reserves Support Council, and myself as a supporter of that council, acknowledge the work done on a regular basis by our attendance at and support of events.

When it comes to the reserve service, our nation has an impressive history. It is a history that stretches back over 100 years, almost to Federation. Given the hugely important regional nation-building tasks that have been undertaken by our reservists in recent years, our support for them has become more focused. This is fitting, given our mantle of being SA the Defence State.

I had the good fortune to attend an operation, Boss Lift, with reservist employers during Operation Anode, around the time of their last rotation as we were getting ready to leave the Solomon Islands, and to see the work that the reservists were doing every day and how their employers learnt the story of the skills that they were bringing back into their employment spaces and how that was strengthening our state's economy. It is clear to see that teamwork is one of those skills so essential in operations overseas, but it also has enormous relevance for our nation in peacetime. We see this teamwork in action whenever we experience a natural disaster such as the Sampson Flat bushfires or help in rescue and recovery efforts after these events.

These people, our reservists, persevere and protect our community in times of need. Many are ex-ADF personnel who choose to become reservists as they transition into civilian life or they are civilians who wish to contribute to our nation in a different way and learn additional skill sets. The teamwork shared by defence personnel is also valuable in their employment, as I have mentioned. In both the public and private sectors, employers repay these contributions by ensuring that reservists do not suffer as a result of their service and that their entitlements and defence leave are assured and protected.

I would like to acknowledge the importance of employers in the public and private sectors supporting our reservists to serve with confidence. I have long admired the good work of the past chair of the Defence Reserves Support Council of South Australia, Dr Pamela Schulz OAM, and I am pleased to say that I have become friends with her. In encouraging employers to become supportive employers, she has changed the face of this program and actively engaged deeply with the defence reserve community. Dr Schulz has recently completed her six-year tenure as chair of the council and she leaves it in very good shape.

I am told that the South Australian council has been a leader in this nation in the policy space when it comes to supporting our reservists and involving employers. Dr Schulz continues to serve the community in this space and give advice to the reserve council but is now actively involved in the Veterans Advisory Council. I would also like to comment on the wonderful work of the current chair, Dr Andrew James Cannon AM, in taking on this role after many years' service, most recently as deputy chair. He is also the Deputy Chief Magistrate and Senior Mining Warden, I am advised, whilst still undertaking academic research and publishing. He continues to serve this area and furthers the work Dr Schulz began.

Reservists should always enjoy the complete backing of our community and their employers and the Defence Reserves Support Council plays an important role in making sure this occurs. All of us in this chamber and across the house today would acknowledge their role in disasters and the relief that communities often experience when ADF personnel and reservists come to town. I recently saw that with the ADF in Two Wells when they helped to sandbag. Reservists change people's lives when they step up and I thank them for doing that.

Mr PENGILLY (Finniss) (11:47): Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and may I add my congratulations for your marathon effort yesterday. I think everyone appreciated the way you handled the day. Given that you were here for 15 hours or so with a couple of short dinner breaks, credit to you.

I have great pleasure in supporting this motion of the member for Bragg. I acknowledge points (a), (b) and (c) and congratulate the retiring chair, Dr Pamela Schulz OAM, and Dr Andrew Cannon AM, who is coming into the position on the council. This council does wonderful work and is a great support and liaison mechanism, I would suggest, between reservists and employers. Regarding points (d) and (e), the undertakings of reservists really need to be highlighted, as the member for Bragg mentioned. They are in critical roles and they back up our emergency services. At any time reservists are called upon, they are there.

For example, the member for Bragg talked about the Sampson Flat bushfire and there are other places as well. I reiterate that, as a former presiding member of the former Country Fire Service board when Mr Stuart Ellis was CEO while I was chairman, our greatest fear was another fire in the Adelaide Hills. I am going back now to when I finished in that position. I cannot remember how long ago it was—about 2000, I think.

I was put out to pasture by the then minister for emergency services, but that is another story. Our greatest fear was that the Adelaide Hills would go up. Here we are decades later and we still have not had that major fire. When it does happen, people like these reservists will be worth their weight in gold in assisting the CFS, the SES and other emergency services. They are a critical part of the human capital of the state, quite frankly, and it is wonderful that we have this council there to support them and pull things together.

In relation to point (e), employers who allow their staff to go into reserve situations need our full support. It is a big undertaking. It is the same with the Country Fire Service and the State Emergency Services. For an employer to give an employee time out to attend either reserve activities or emergency situations always leaves them behind the eight ball. It quite often leaves them short on staff or having to employ additional staff. There are businesses in my electorate that do this regularly, without complaint and at enormous cost to themselves. They do a fantastic job. It is most appropriate that the member for Bragg has put this motion this morning and I have much pleasure in supporting it.

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (11:51): First of all, I congratulate the member for Bragg for bringing this motion to the house because the Defence Reserves Support Council is one of our hidden achievers in the community. Certainly a lot of people I know were not really aware of the Defence Reserves Support Council until I had the honour of being appointed to it some six years ago, I think it was. The chair at the time was Dr Pamela Schulz OAM, who is a long-time friend of mine, mainly through some of the fantastic work she has done in community health as a communications expert. More recently, I have been benefiting from her expertise in the area of discourse analysis.

It is very helpful, certainly for politicians, to understand communication in the way she is able to put forward. She is very well known in academic circles. In fact, one of her publications was launched by the Hon. Michael Kirby AC, CMG. He wrote the foreword and introduction in her book Courts and Judges on Trial: Analysing and Managing the Discourses of Disapproval. As I understand it, that has gone on to be a textbook for people in such high office, and Pamela is called on quite often to actually go and support various seminars and presents papers to assist in the judicial system. This is one of her many skills.

She has been awarded not only for her work as a journalist, having been appointed an OAM, but for the work she has done all over the world with regard to the judiciary and her topics with regard to courts and public confidence. On the Defence Reserve Support Council—as the member for Bragg said, I had the pleasure of serving with her for some time—I have actually learnt a lot from the people around the table. I know that the member for Florey, who has followed me onto that council, has had the benefit of meeting people across the South Australian community, from the police commissioner right through to various people in the ADF services.

Because of the foresight of Dr Schulz, there is a number of different people from the community sector—I think Anglicare is represented, for example—people that you probably would not necessarily immediately assume to be part of the Defence Reserves Support area. Obviously, there are emergency services that are represented on that council because of the fabulous work—and I think the member for Taylor, the member for Bragg and the member for Finniss have adequately covered that area—done by Dr Schulz, followed by Dr Cannon, to make sure that we understand and have the best wide, big-picture approach to our volunteer services.

In a previous life, as a trade union official, I was always really impressed with the number of Transport Workers Union members, in particular, across a whole variety of areas—driving heavy vehicles would be an obvious one, but also in catering, logistics and a number of other associated areas—and people who came out of the wider transport industry who would have the opportunity, with support from their employers, to serve and train as a Defence Reserves Support Council person and also develop a whole lot of other skills and be of real use to the community in disasters and peacekeeping expeditions.

The other thing that I am really proud of from my time on the Defence Reserves Support Council was that, as the member for Taylor has mentioned, Parliament House became a Defence Reserves Support Council supporter. There was a negotiation—the minister at the time was the previous member for Napier, Michael O'Brien. He was the state public sector minister, and we were involved in negotiations for making South Australia the first state public sector that became a Defence Reserves Support Council employer. We also moved on into the local government area, and I was very pleased that the councils that were in Ashford at the time—Ashford does move its boundaries quite regularly, so sometimes the councils change—became Defence Reserves Support Council employers. In fact, Lachlan Clyne, who is the mayor of Unley council, is a Defence volunteer and the council is a DRSC employer.

That was a very satisfying experience for me, not to mention the amazing contacts that were made in the private sector. I have to congratulate the council as a whole, because it is a wide church, as I was explaining. I think the Defence Reserves have got into places where employers that you probably would not normally associate with Defence Reserves Support Council are now part of that council and under that umbrella. I do not know Dr Andrew Cannon as well as I know Dr Schulz, but one of the other aspects that Dr Schulz and Dr Cannon have brought to the council is looking at analysing and doing big-picture academic research. When I say 'big picture', I mean looking at similar organisations internationally and certainly South Australia holding its own on a national level.

I think it would be fair to say, and I think the member for Bragg actually mentioned this, that South Australia is actually held up as the template with regard to the Defence Reserves Support Council. I know that a number of people—including Thea Papadopoulos, who is now on the council and who has also been Defence Reserves Support Council ambassador, and the member for Taylor, who is an ambassador—have strategically been chosen to try to promote further the great work that is done by the council.

While I am very sad that I am not on the council anymore, I am very ably replaced by the Deputy Speaker. I know she gets as much out of being on the council as I do. The member for Bragg has been a very loyal and innovative member of the council, and I think the thing that is interesting about the three of us having different skills and different attributes while serving on that council is part of why we have been on there—because the council recognises that we can bring something different to what in days gone by would have been a fairly conservative agenda.

The President (Hon. Russell Wortley) was on the council for a while and preceded me, as did my good friend the member for Morphett. They were on the council before my time, so I am sure there have been other members that I do not know of who have served on that council. So, thank you to the member for Bragg for bringing this to our attention, and all speed ahead for the Defence Reserves Support Council.

Ms REDMOND (Heysen) (12:00): I did not think I would be getting to my feet this morning, but first I join the member for Finniss in congratulating you on your masterful performance in the house last night, managing to keep us all on track appropriately during a long debate.

It is my pleasure to rise to support this motion and, although I have never been a member of the actual council, I was for a long time a member of the Friends of the Defence Reserves Support Council. It is probably entirely appropriate that I follow the member for Ashford, who said she knows Dr Schulz much better than she knows Dr Cannon. Dr Cannon is the Deputy Chief Magistrate, and of course I know him much better than I know Dr Schulz, although I do know her and I have been emailing her brother this morning.

The thing I wanted to discuss very briefly in my comments this morning, whilst certainly joining with others in giving my congratulations to both the retiring and incoming chairs of that committee, is that very early in my parliamentary career I had the wonderful opportunity—and I do not know whether it is still offered—to undertake Exercise Executive Stretch. That was aimed at people who were currently or might in the future be employers of people who are in the defence reserves.

The point of it was to make the employers understand that their employees were not going out playing cowboys with guns on the weekend but were learning a lot of skills that would be useful in any workplace, whether that was leadership, team work, focusing on various issues—all sorts of things. The weekend I did Exercise Executive Stretch, my PA of 22 years, Gaynor, who still works in my electorate office, did it and said that it was the best weekend she had ever spent.

I will briefly explain what happens with Exercise Executive Stretch: you have to send in your measurements, and when you get up to Edinburgh Airforce Base, all your clothes, watches, phones—everything—are taken from you and you are in camouflage gear for the weekend. You are given actual Army rations. On the weekend I went, the first exercise we had to do was abseiling, an adventure sport I had never undertaken before. It was off a very high tower, and as I lowered myself backwards over this 60-metre tower I was thinking, 'Who invented this as something useful to do?'

There were two lines going down, and the chap on the other line was a very experienced abseiler who had a video camera. So, I was being videoed as he talked me through in my nervous state. On the weekend this was happening I had almost broken my ankle and ended up at the Stirling Hospital a couple of days earlier. So, I had been on crutches until the day before I went, I was still heavily bandaged, so I was a bit tentative on my right ankle.

I was climbing down an abseiling tower, and the chap with the video camera said, 'Smile!' So, when we got the CD that was made from this, it had a picture of a terrified Isobel going down backwards, and then when he says, 'Smile!', there is a quarter of a second of smile and then it went back to sheer terror for the rest of the time. Then we had to do the commando course and leopard crawling through the sand and climbing over things. I could climb fine—I am a tomboy, I admit it—but I could not land on the other side, so I had to tumble down. We had to swing across the creek—I could swing right across the creek; I was the only one who made it—except I could not land because of my foot, so I had to drop back and fall into the river and then do the leopard crawling through the sand.

I then had a chance to try scuba diving, which was something I had always wanted to do. Scuba diving was fantastic except that they make the swimming pool very muddy, so that you understand that the sorts of exercises our Navy divers and our Navy reservists do are performed in muddy, dark, awful water, not nice clean swimming pools and you have to find your way with rope signals and so on. Of course, when I spoke about this in the parliament on a previous occasion, it was laughingly reported that with my gammy leg, no doubt, I had swum around in circles because I could only wear one fin.

By the end of the day, I was exhausted. We had been supplied with a pup tent and a stretcher, which were all set up. I was so looking forward to having my little bit of Army rations and going to bed, but they said, 'No, no, you've got to go to the officers' mess for drinks and we're going to have a lecture on the Six-Day War—the Egypt-Israeli war.' We got through that, but I was so tired that I fell into a very sound sleep, unlike what I had last night which was nothing at all. I fell into a very sound sleep only to find in the morning that everyone else in the camp was up and finished. They had actually packed up my tent around me. I was still sound asleep and everything had been packed up around me.

On the second day, we went to see the dog training and the way they manage and handle the dogs. We went on a PC3 Orion and had a look at all the work they do with that, and then went target shooting. We each fired a round with an AK-47, if memory serves me correctly—the standard Army assault rifle. I can tell you that my PA, Gaynor, has been extremely well behaved ever since we did this exercise together because, where I got 10 bullseyes, she hardly hit the target. Since that time, she has always considered that she had better stay in line.

The point of the exercise was not for us to have a great time—although we did—but for employers to understand that those who give of their time make a huge commitment and also learn skills through the process that will be of use to the employer. Not only that, employers at least at that time and I assume it is still the case, actually get quite good compensation for loss of time for the employee who has to go off on bivouac and so on. Having had a father who was in the defence services and a brother who was in what was then called the citizen military forces, I have had a long association with the armed services.

Exercise Executive Stretch is really worthwhile for any employer or potential employer. If there is another opportunity for members of parliament to take part, I would strongly recommend it to anyone who has not already done it because it really is an eye-opener and it does make you understand how many different things there are to do across our defence forces.

In closing, I add my congratulations to both Dr Schulz and Dr Cannon. They are no doubt both very worthy people to hold the role of chair of the committee. They are ably supported by an enthusiastic, knowledgeable and broad-based committee around them. The role the defence reserves play in all sorts of circumstances—not just when we are a wartime situation but, as has been mentioned, in numerous community emergencies—is invaluable. Without the training they get on a regular basis, it would not be possible. I endorse the motion and thank you for the opportunity to say a few words about it.

The Hon. T.R. KENYON (Newland) (12:08): I would like to join with others in the house and acknowledge the contribution of the Defence Reserves Support Council and all those involved and the reservists themselves, of course. I would especially like to thank Dr Pamela Schulz for her contribution over a very long period of time. When I was the state veterans' affairs minister, she was an excellent chair, a very good advocate for her organisation and very persistent.

In my view, she has done a lot to improve the lot of reservists, especially in regard to their interactions with their employers, which can be a little difficult. Employers sometimes do not understand their obligations or what might be available to them in terms of assistance. Congratulations to Dr Cannon, the new chair. I welcome him to the position. Finally, thank you to reservists for their contribution to our defence and also our civil defence in times of need.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Bragg is going to finish off. I have decided to say that I will happily do day 2, but I will never do day 1 of the stress thing, nor will I hang from the yardarm, member for Bragg.

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (12:10): A marathon champion effort, Madam Deputy Speaker, only matched by your contribution to our Defence Reserve Support Council, which we all greatly appreciate. Thank you, members, for the contribution you have made. I look forward to this motion being carried and will of course ensure that your contributions are advised to the council at the next meeting.

Motion carried.