Enfield Electorate

Ms MICHAELS (Enfield) (15:19): On this day last year, I was formally declared the winner of the Enfield by-election and the new member for Enfield. It has been an honour and a privilege to serve my local community of Enfield over the past 12 months. I wish I actually had more time today to acknowledge more of the people I have had the opportunity to get to know and work with in my area. It is an honour and privilege that I hope to continue for years to come.

I chose to stand for the South Australian Labor Party at the by-election because I believed and hoped that I could make a valuable contribution to South Australia through in-depth policy work and the development of new ideas to make this great state even greater than it is. This year, I look forward to making a contribution through the Economic and Finance Committee as one of the committee's newest members. I look forward to diving into the crash repair industry in its current investigations and making a contribution to that sector.

One thing that I have enjoyed more than any other aspect while being the member for Enfield is getting to know the community leaders and volunteers who strive each and every day to make Enfield a better, safer and more enjoyable place to live and work in. They are people who dedicate themselves to their local sporting clubs and community groups to build and improve these organisations, which in turn builds a stronger community across my electorate. Without their dedication, the Enfield community would not be the vibrant community that it is today.

The Enfield electorate is blessed with many great sporting clubs. These clubs provide a supportive environment for our young people to develop and learn life skills. The Broadview Football Club, under the supervision of its president, Shane Hodby, is a pillar of the Broadview community. The club fields numerous men's and women's teams, from juniors right through to seniors. I was lucky enough to sit down with Shane and Emma Short to hear about the club's vision for the future.

A bold master plan has been developed, which, if properly funded, will see the football clubrooms significantly upgraded, the creation of a tennis hub capable of supporting regional tournaments and improved artificial turf surfaces for the bowls club. These plans will ensure that those clubs can continue to build their membership and grow and support tomorrow's sporting legends.

The Broadview Football Club is not the only club with a bold vision for the future. The Gepps Cross Cricket Club's new president, Shane McMillan, has been developing strategies with his committee to continue to grow the club, despite the size limitation on their home ground. I recently presented Shane and the junior cricket team with an Active Club grant. Shane told me that the purpose of the grant was to purchase a Flicx Pitch, which will mean that more of the junior teams will have the opportunity to play at their home ground.

While Broadview and Gepps Cross are both in strong positions, other clubs in my electorate are not so lucky. The Kilburn Football and Cricket Club is fighting for its survival, despite its long and proud history. Its committee members are working to save the club, and its president, Dale Agius, is faced with a task from which many would have run. The club was in deep debt and has a shrinking member base. Dale and his committee have been grappling with the club's finances and negotiating with creditors to save the club. The club now has a women's team and is trying to develop a path towards returning juniors to the club.

These three clubs represent only a tiny fraction of the great work happening in the sporting clubs in the Enfield electorate. There are many others, including the Ghan Soccer Club, Enfield Tennis Club, Enfield Little Athletics and Enfield Harriers, Gepps Cross Rams and Prospect Broadview Bowling Club, and that is just to name a few.

When I hold street corner meetings, community safety issues are regularly raised with me. Thankfully, there is a small group of Neighbourhood Watch volunteers who regularly meet to discuss these issues within their areas and liaise with SAPOL. People like Ron and Audrey White of the Clearview Neighbourhood Watch have been involved in that group for nearly 30 years. Barry Baker and other committee members at the Lightsview Neighbourhood Watch group work tirelessly to promote safety in the new development and use the Lightsview Chit-Chat Facebook page to promote the work of the group.

The work of these groups is invaluable, improving safety in our community. Without the dedication of the few people I have had the opportunity to mention today and many, many more in my electorate, Enfield would not be the community that we see today. So to each and every person in Enfield who supports our community through their work and volunteering, I very much want to thank them.

I also look forward to continuing to work with my local councils—Prospect and Port Adelaide Enfield—and thank their mayors, councillors and CEOs for the strong relationships we have built. I want to acknowledge my local community groups: everyone from our kindergyms to RSLs, charities, local schools and multicultural groups. I have been very lucky to have been warmly embraced as your local member.