Operation Flinders

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (15:45): I rise today to speak about one of South Australia's great organisations, Operation Flinders. Last Friday, I had the opportunity to attend a presentation at the Loxton Waikerie council chambers at Waikerie to celebrate the 5A/17 group that attended Operation Flinders from Waikerie High School. They had an experience that they will remember for life. They visited Yankaninna Station up in the northern Flinders Ranges just next to Balcanoona. They were ably assisted by Phil Valentine and Tim Hensel from Waikerie High School to accommodate those nine young lads who went up there to experience the program.

It is an eight-day trek, which is an experience that they will refer to as they go through adolescence and into manhood. When I talked to the group after the presentation, their experience was much like my own when I visited Yankaninna not long after I was elected. I learnt that that young group of boys created quite a unique bond. They now know one another better and they support one another more than they ever have before. While they were on the trek they got out of their comfort zone, they slept rough and they had nowhere to go but to embark on that program.

The program instils self-belief, decision-making, strengthens their ability to cope in isolation, enables them to live without a handheld device and to work as part of a team. They learn about and begin to understand what responsibility means. As I said, there is nowhere to hide up there. It is a program that has really changed these boys' lives. I was able to relate to these boys because, as I said, I have been up to Yankaninna and done the Operation Flinders program.

I was up there with Steven Marshall, the opposition leader. We embarked on that experience and we have come back to spread that message and to raise money. We have started up chapters of our own in our electorates of Dunstan and Chaffey. We are very proud to support our local communities and those adolescent boys and girls who are in some ways a little wayward so they can go up there and experience what Operation Flinders offers them as a life experience.

The story that the boys told during that presentation really did hit home to many people in the council chambers because they came back with an experience that they will remember for the rest of their lives. They came back with an experience that they will tell their friends and their families. One day they might even tell their children about this great experience. The program only happens with the support of local service clubs.

Many of the Riverland local service clubs have been outstanding supporters of Operation Flinders, as have local businesses. Of course, this time, thanks goes to the Berri Lions Club and the Barmera Bakery. The Barmera Bakery had a collection tin in the bakery and that tin was filled many times by people who put in donations to support Operation Flinders. A thankyou goes to a philanthropist, who is a very strong supporter of Operation Flinders, for an anonymous donation and, of course, the Loxton Waikerie council for their outstanding and ongoing support of this great program.

I must say that Jonathon Robran, the liaison officer I have worked with for seven years, did another outstanding job in rounding everyone up, making sure their funding was there and making sure that Heather and Jim Maywald provided the transport to get those young boys up to Yankaninna. I would like to thank Operation Flinders, their staff, commanders and support staff. I thank the people who support this institution and thank the people of the Riverland for sending those boys for that experience.