Waite Electorate

Mr DULUK (Waite) (15:33): Like almost every other country in the world, Australia has a system of honours and awards so that its citizens can be recognised for excellence, achievement or meritorious service and contribution to our society. I would like to acknowledge the special Queen's Birthday Honours recipients from my electorate. I am so proud to have such a vibrant community of volunteers who actively participate in the improvement of our society.

The following recipients epitomise the concept of going above and beyond to serve others and are exemplars, demonstrating high standards so outstanding that their peers have taken the initiative to reflect and share them with all of us. Firstly, Dr Karen George of Crafers West, was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to history preservation and research and to professional associations.

OAM recipients in my electorate include Mr Robert (Bob) Arnold of Eden Hills, for services to the community through Blackwood Rotary Club. Bob is a keen environmentalist as well. Other recipients are Mr Graham Davis of Crafers West, for services to sport in South Australia; Professor Adrian Linacre of Blackwood, for services to forensic science; and Dr Joseph Montarello of Netherby, for services to medicine, particularly in the field of cardiology.

Mr John Mudge of Eden Hills received the Australian Fire Service Medal for nearly 40 years of service to the Eden Hills CFS and Region 1 Operation Brigade, which is a fantastic achievement. On a personal note, I would also like to congratulate the Hon. Alan Ferguson AM, Morry Bailes AM, Kathryn House AM, Peter Wadewitz OAM and Krzysztof Balcerak OAM for their Queen's Birthday Honours recognition for their contribution to their fields and to civic service.

I would also like to discuss this afternoon and bring to the parliament's attention some great news from around my electorate in the sporting field. Sport is such an important aspect of our lives and for me and my constituents. Indeed, I welcomed round 3 of the Office of Recreation, Sport and Racing's Grassroots Football, Cricket, and Netball Facility Program, the winners of which were announced earlier this week. This program is providing much-needed economic stimulus to our local communities, whilst also developing the function of community space to allow the enjoyment of sport to prosper.

I am pleased the following organisations from my electorate have received much-needed funding to upgrade and build important facilities: firstly, the Unley Jets Football Club and Unley Cricket Club. The Unley Gunners are set to receive $700,000 from the facility program as part of a $2.1 million upgrade to the existing clubrooms and change rooms. This development will provide unisex change rooms, rooms for umpires and medical staff as well as a match day office.

This funding will be matched by the City of Mitcham and a contribution from the federal government and the member for Boothby as part of the 2019 federal election commitments, as well as the 2018 state election commitment through my assistance as the member for Waite. A big congratulations to Jets president, David Heaslip, and Gunners president, Oliver Smith, for taking the lead in this project. Of course, this Saturday, the Jets have a home game against the mighty Adelaide University Football Club, so good luck to both those teams.

The Coromandel Valley Ramblers Cricket Club is set to receive $326,000 from the facility program as part of about a $660,000 project to construct a new modular multipurpose sports complex with unisex change rooms, an umpires' room, equipment storage and an all-access toilet facility at their Hawthorndene Oval.

This project has been about 10 years in the making and huge congratulations go to president, Matt Smith, Glen Rosie and so many others from the club on their years of perseverance. The Coro Ramblers Cricket Club has been around since 1926, and it will only be in 2020 that it actually has some change rooms built for them. For me, it is a great project to be involved with. It is almost six years ago that I first met with Glen Rosie and Adrian Howard to discuss how this project could progress.

In our community, we have so many fantastic sporting achievements and developments and, of course, just before the COVID outbreak, I was proud to be at the unveiling of the Hewett Oval development, which once again was a state government, local government and federal government initiative, with new facilities for the Sturt Lions Football Club, the Blackwood Tennis Club, Woods Panthers Netball Club, the Coromandel Cricket Club, and the mighty Woods Blackwood Football Club. It is going to be fantastic to see those new facilities being used as winter sport begins, really, at so many levels this weekend.