Fund My Neighbourhood

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (15:45): I rise today to speak about the Fund My Neighbourhood grant program.

Mr Whetstone: Who's funding that moustache?

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: Well, hopefully, you are as well. I am very proud to say that my community did very well in the Fund My Neighbourhood program and that I am very proud of the community. We did all the hard work in our community and 15 projects won funding—

Mr Whetstone: Fifteen? That's pork-barrelling if I have ever seen it.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: —for a total of $1 million. The member for Chaffey talks about pork-barrelling, but this was voted by the people themselves. The people voted. So when people vote for a project that is pork-barrelling?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Back to the nub of your—

Mr Whetstone: How many projects?

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Members on my left!

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: My community—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Chaffey, member on my left, you have been called to order and warned for the first time.

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: I am warning you for the second time now. The member for Light has the floor, and he is entitled to be heard in silence.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO: My community actually nominated 52 projects and worked very hard. Fifteen of those projects were successful, and I am very proud of that. I am very proud of my community, that they were able to lift their game and get the results.

The fact that we were able to do that is a great result for our community. It also shows that democracy and people power can work at the local level—and that is what this is about. The overwhelming response to the Fund My Neighbourhood program proves that people who know their communities best are those people who live there. They are the ones who decided which projects should be funded in our community, so I am very proud of all the 15 projects that got up. I am also proud of those other projects that were not successful this time.

I will be more than happy to work with those community organisations to make sure that their projects get a better opportunity to win the money next time. Giving local people the power to decide where government funding should be allocated demonstrates that this government is prepared to listen to what people want in the community—at the street level, at the neighbourhood level, at the community level. The fact that my community in its region was able to succeed very well shows that it was prepared to do the work required to receive that funding.

I am very honoured to be able to work with these community organisations and honoured to work with a number of highly motivated local people. I was also honoured to be able to support them through the process, including making my electoral office a polling booth. I am sure that many other members also opened up their electoral offices and people came in and they were used as a polling booth.

The member for Chaffey and those on that side do not know how to win. We know that. For the last 16 years they have not shown us how to win, and it is unfortunate they still do not know how to win because in my community there are winners. We had 15 organisations that were winners and able to share $1 million in funding. The projects were quite widespread right across the community, and I would like to name some. For example, the local Salvation Army won some money to establish a community bus service in our town—a very important project. The local Apex group won money to upgrade Apex Park to make it a much more accessible and disability friendly park for our community.

The Gawler BMX Club won money to actually establish a pump track at Willaston. One of the local residents won money to establish a dog and recreation park for dogs and owners. The Salt Care church group won money to set up the Gawler Community Care Hub. The Gawler Central Football Club won money to establish a grandstand shelter, not only for the football but the cricket and the show society. A whole range of people will benefit from that project, so I applaud the Gawler Central Footy Club.

The Gawler Primary School won money to establish a science and outdoor classroom area. The Gawler Road Safety Group won money to establish a speed trailer for the community to improve road safety. The Gawler Community House won money for a kitchen and dining area upgrade. The Hope Church won money to establish a mobile food trailer to help service the local community. The Uniting Church won money to establish an open access community playground and for a garden upgrade in the community.

The Salvation Army also won some money for a riverside project, a special needs indoor play area. The Gawler Light Rotary club won money to establish a program to teach young people driving skills, etc. The Willo's Men's Shed won money to establish a new workshop. I am very proud to be the local member for Light. I am very proud of these community organisations and I am very proud of the fact that we got up, did the work and won the money.