Special Olympics Australia National Games

Ms COOK (Hurtle Vale) (15:38): Today, I would like to celebrate a community that shows incredible mateship, diversity and inclusion, one that makes a huge difference in the lives of the participants. Around 600,000 Australians have an intellectual disability, the nation's largest disability population. It is a sobering statistic but, despite the size of the population group, those with an intellectual disability too often go unrecognised or are invisible in the public sphere, the media and our everyday conversations alike.

The Special Olympics is an organisation committed to improving this visibility by 'heroing' the contributions of Australians with an intellectual disability. After connecting with the organisation, I became a member of the 2018 Special Olympics National Games Organising Board when approached by its chair, the fabulous Jehad Rasheed. The Special Olympics National Games were held in Adelaide from 16 to 20 April 2018 and attracted 950 athletes with an intellectual disability to compete in 12 Olympic-style competitions and demonstration sports across a number of wonderful venues here in South Australia.

Weeks, months and years of training and dedication culminated in a week of sports competition full of joy and achievement on the nation's stage where athletes were recognised for their ability and not their disability and for achieving their personal best through sport. From the spirit and determination of the open water swim, which kicked off the competition on Tuesday morning, through to the dramatic football and basketball finals, which closed out the sporting week on Friday morning, almost 900 medals and hundreds of ribbons were awarded.

I proudly presented some of these, along with other members of this place and the other place. The way in which sponsors got on board was also tremendous. The SA Tourism Commission, the federal government and some of the most prominent corporates in Australia, such as NAB, News  Corp, Coles and Australia Post all come to mind. Big and small, each and every sponsor said that this experience has changed their lives and caused them to re-evaluate how they live their lives and engage with the community. Sponsors did not get involved because this is something that will just tick their social responsibilities box with partners: they actively want to change the conversation, to change attitudes of employees and to create a more inclusive community.

The volunteering pool was diverse and committed, with corporates such as NAB providing nearly a third of all volunteers for the games—250 of them. Excellent support was also seen from high schools, including Mercedes College (which I spent some great time with on the athletics day) and universities, as well as the Defence Force, particularly the Army, who provided 50 volunteers every day to assist in the delivery of games across all the sports and event elements.

SAPOL also play a key role. They take charge of the Special Olympics torch leading into the games. They visited many metropolitan and regional areas of South Australia in the lead-up to the games. They take this very seriously. Whyalla was one such place that was visited, and I know that the member for Giles spent some great time with the bearers of the torch at an event in Whyalla. The Law Enforcement Torch Run is a huge highlight.

Both the opening and closing ceremonies were filled with joy and true celebrations. Jehad Rasheed used his closing speech to highlight special moments that captured the true essence of the games and also to thank all who brought the games together. He actually congratulated all individual groups and left them all standing in the arena while everyone was looking around and seeing just how many people participated in those games—it was in the thousands.

On day one, Jehad ran into Western Australia swimmer Koron Gowland, and he spoke about this in his closing speech. Koron proudly told him how he had come last in the 200 metre butterfly, but, to quote Koron, he said, 'But I beat my personal best by 13 seconds. I'm very proud.' Who wouldn't be? Also, New South Wales athlete Stephen Davies was a highlight. After competing his 200 metre sprint, he noticed a competitor on the ground in distress and, as in the acts of some other great athletes we remember from many years ago, Stephen's instant reaction was to help his team mate. He picked him up off the track and congratulated him on his performance.

On the day I presented medals, there were athletes who could not attend for the medal presentations—some of them because they were exhausted or injured but others because they just wanted to be with their mate who was exhausted or injured in the back room, so they came out and did medal presentations later. It is such a great sight.

To my fellow board members, Jehad Rasheed; Corene Strauss; Jenny Daly; Deputy Commissioner from SAPOL, Linda Williams; Rear Admiral Kevin Scarce; Deb Parsons; Mandy Milligan; Scott Pettman; Jack Hombsch; Lachy Woolett (the athlete representative); the games directors, Bredette Koen and Gareth Hogan; athlete ambassadors Kim Flannigan, Laura Hester, Mary Folland, and also Sally Hunter and Brett Maher, you are all amazing. In the words of the Special Olympics, the motto is 'Let me win, but if I cannot win let me be brave in the attempt.'