Pancare Foundation

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD (Gibson—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (15:32): I rise to speak about residents in my electorate and great friends of mine, the Beaumont family. Late last year, the family—made up of dad, Wayne; mum, Sharon; and sons, Jake and Adam—had to go through the unthinkable when Shaz died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 51.

Younger son, Adam, set out to find a way to raise money for Pancare, a charity that raises awareness of pancreatic cancer and raises money to fund research into curing and preventing this terrible disease. Adam decided that he would ride his pushbike to Melbourne. He is not a rider; he is a football player and a handy volleyballer as well, but this is what he decided to do. Adam, Wayne and Jake worked tirelessly, approaching companies for sponsorship and donations, as well as hosting fundraising events. In fact, I worked with them to host a very successful winter warmer with Patritti winery in Dover Gardens. A big thankyou to Ines Patritti and all the team at Patritti winery, who got right behind the event. We raised more than $4,000 on the night to go towards the cause, which was absolutely outstanding.

After months of training, organising and fundraising, Adam and his fellow Brighton Secondary School student friend Matt Greer, as well as a family friend, the slightly older Adam Brown, set off in all their purple Pancare glory on the morning of Friday 5 October from the Brighton Football Club, where Adam played footy The president, Kym Steer, got right behind this as well and they put on a wonderful breakfast. Andy, from Better Brick Paving and Landscaping, donated money for the breakfast and another $1,000 went into the kitty, and it was great to have so many people there to see them off from Brighton all the way to the MCG.

The trio rode for nine days, taking the back roads through to Mount Gambier. On the first night, they went to Strathalbyn, then continued down to Meningie, through Kingston to see Larry the Lobster, on to Robe and then, as I said, to Mount Gambier. I am told that that was the coldest day they had: it was wet and it was rainy. They were at about the halfway mark and had plenty more ahead of them. They did a marvellous job.

It was really great to hear in some of the reports back that people were stopping along the way and that everywhere they went they were singing the message of the Pancare cause. In fact, I would like to give a shout out to one person in particular, Denise Hann, who pulled them over and donated $150. That is absolutely fantastic. They were helped out along the way by the generosity of everyone in pretty much every town they went through, whether it was a meal provided by a local pub or business or somewhere to stay that evening.

The community was very generous to the cause. Again, Wayne did an amazing job in organising every step of the way. He was in contact with SAPOL and VicPol as they crossed the border. Every part of the community was right behind this ride when people saw their bright purple jerseys. In the Pancare world, purple is the colour that they use, and some people suggested that the three of them looked like three Phantoms on bikes when they were all decked out in their purple. People would see the uniforms riding past, look up Shaz's Ride to Cure and then they would go and donate, which is absolutely outstanding.

Helping out with the ride were Matt's dad, Trevor, as well as a support crew, made up of Steve Cornish and Michelle Cornish, Mel Milsteed, who was there as first aid and official masseuse—she was overworked, I think, in particular by old mate Adam Brown—and, of course, Wayne Beaumont, who was a big part of the support crew as well.

They set a goal of raising $20,000 for Pancare, and they have definitely exceeded that total. At the moment, it sits at $30,915, which is a great achievement. There is still time to donate, and you can do so by searching Shaz's Ride to Cure on Facebook or googling Adam Beaumont's GoFundMe page and accessing the official page. Well done to Adam, Matt, and old mate Adam, but also to Jake and Wayne. My congratulations—you have done us proud and you have definitely done your mum, Shaz, proud too.