Community Recognition Awards

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD (Gibson—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (15:24): I rise today to speak about the Community Recognition Awards I held in my electorate recently. Every year, in conjunction with my friend and neighbour the member for Black, I hold a winter warmer event to present Community Recognition Awards to local residents who make a big difference in our communities. It is great to do these awards because so many people out there do so many things, but there are people out there who just fly under the radar, and our intent is to capture those people.

We held the event at Patritti Wines. I would like to thank Ines Patritti, who is the matriarch of this family and this great local business in Dover Gardens, in the heart of my electorate. The wines they produce are absolutely stunning. They are a great supporter of ours and they do an outstanding job.

I would like to run through some of the winners because they are great people who, as I said, do great things. The first person I would like to talk about is Bill Heycox of Oaklands Park. Bill brings joy to thousands of people, and he has done so over many years, with his Christmas light display in his street in Oaklands Park. He raises money for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. He has great camaraderie with the people in his street and every year people come to look at his display.

He also does a great job driving community groups around. I know he does it for one of the local retirement homes. He gets a bus and takes them across to the Marion shopping centre. I saw him there one day in the food court when he was surrounded by six or seven women. He was totally in his element. He collects these ladies of his own accord, takes them to the shopping centre, allows them to go shopping and drops them home again. He was revelling in his great work that day. His wife, Lesley is a wonderful support to him as well.

Another group we recognised was the Marion VIEW Club for their great work on International Women's Day. The committee does an outstanding job: Jill Cunningham, Shirley Jenner, Lorraine Baker and Erica Woolman. These ladies come together every year and have a wonderful lunch; 185 ladies attended the event this year. They raised over $3,000 for The Smith Family. They do this regularly. It is a great social event where they all come together and have a wonderful time, but they are giving back to the community and helping out people in need. The money they raised for The Smith Family is absolutely outstanding.

Another recipient was Anthea Williams from Brighton who volunteers with many community groups in the Holdfast Bay area. She regularly weeds and picks up litter in the sand dunes along Brighton and Seacliff Beach. That may not sound like a lot as a single entity but she does it week in, week out and day in, day out, right throughout the year, and it really makes a significant difference to our local community. It is a great example of one person just doing a little bit consistently like that and it has a great impact on our community. We congratulate Anthea.

Tim Voss, also from Brighton, is very dedicated. In his spare time, along with his son and a couple of his son's mates, he has established a Brighton pump track for local kids to enjoy on a little bit of property alongside the train line at Brighton. They have put this pump track in there and young people, and not so young people, really enjoy using that. It is a wonderful facility.

Another recipient was Ligita Bligzna from North Brighton. Ligita volunteers her time to protect the rare hooded plovers on Seacliff Beach. Ligita has worked closely with local community members to educate the public about these rare birds. I know the member for Black is very passionate about this as well. It is not far from my house, in fact, and to go down and see the great work they do there to look after the plovers is outstanding. The community has really jumped on board with that as well. We also acknowledged John and Wendy Cobb from Marino who both play a significant role in protecting and promoting the rare hooded plovers. They do a great job on the beach along with Ligita.

It was a wonderful night. We also managed to raise a little bit of money, which we like to do at these events, for a local charity. This year, we raised funds for the Marilyns. You may ask, 'Who are the Marilyns?' People in my community know them well. They are a group headed by Brighton locals, Sarah Tinney and Sarah Ventress who work tirelessly to raise money for the Cancer Council of South Australia.

They are very prominent during the Brighton Jetty Classic when they get dressed up—and I think this year they had 270 people dressed up—as Marilyn Monroe in full regalia and they march down Jetty Road, Brighton, float out into the water, and it is a sight to behold. They have secured the Guinness book of records for their actions. They are a great part of our community.

All fun aside, they raise money for the Cancer Council and they have raised over $250,000 since they began in 2014, and their efforts are greatly appreciated by that charity. It was wonderful to give them a helping hand along the way. Again, big congratulations to all the people who received awards in our Community Recognition Awards evening.