Private Members' Statements

Private Members' Statements

Mr BATTY (Bragg) (15:35): Last month, it was my honour to attend the Rotary Club of Burnside's Volunteer of the Parks and Leadership in Conservation Awards presentation at the Kensington Hotel. This is an award that has been presented annually by the Rotary Club of Burnside since 1983. For me, it was a very happy intersection between my role as the local member and member of the Rotary Club of Burnside, as well as my role as the shadow assistant environment minister, celebrating the great work that our volunteers and park rangers conduct. I would like to put on the record my very sincere thanks to Bob Cooper, who has taken charge of this event for many, many years now, including this year. He puts in an enormous amount of work and as a community we are so grateful for what he and the whole Rotary Club of Burnside does in relation to these awards.

I also want to acknowledge all of the finalists for the awards, but in particular the winner of the Volunteer of the Parks Award, which was Penny Kothe, a volunteer ranger in the Flinders and outback region; and also the winner of the Leadership in Conservation Award, which this year was Tammy Leggett, who is the senior North Lofty district ranger. Congratulations to all of the finalists and in particular the winners and the Rotary Club of Burnside for organising the awards.

Ms HUTCHESSON (Waite) (15:37): In 1939, after years of local community members working together to protect our beautiful Coromandel Valley, the Coromandel Valley firefighting organisation was formed. After years of members just using wet sacks and milk containers to fill with water and even a pair of pants at one stage, the fire brigade came together with the help of a couple of the local community's families.

The original fire control officers were Otto Scherer and Alec Magarey, whose family still is so important in our community today with the Magarey Orchard. The member for Newland spent the weekend at their orchard. It is still an important part of the brigade all the way through. In 1940, local families helped by providing privately owned trucks, which then had big water tanks put on the back. Some of those families, again, are still in our community today: the Watchmans, the Hamats and, of course, the Magareys.

In 1958, the organisation became affiliated with the emergency services of South Australia and there are lots of incredible stories of heroics over the years. This Saturday, the brigade will be celebrating their 85^th year, and we are very excited to be able to celebrate with them. Originally located on Main Road, they are now on Ackland Hill Road, sharing a station with the SES. As a member of the Sturt group, the brigade consists of 32 volunteers. In 2023, they responded to 172 incidents. I wish them a very happy birthday and look forward to sharing with them on the weekend.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (15:38): In the role of local member of parliament, you have the opportunity and honour to meet a wide range of people from different backgrounds and circumstances. Two of those people who have had a lasting and positive impact on the way I view the history and wellbeing of Aboriginal people would be two incredible women, the late Mary Graham and the late Kaylene Brown. Sadly, both have passed away now, with Kaylene passing away recently. Gawler has lost one of its beautiful personalities in Kaylene, formerly Kaylene Jackson, and by beautiful I mean she had grace, compassion, wisdom and a heart of gold. Kaylene had a similar impact in our community in her efforts to help others, servicing various organisations, including the Grannies Group, EMU Group and Circle of Hope, and becoming a board member of the Lyell McEwin Hospital. She was an active and strong advocate for raising the wellbeing of Aboriginal people in our urban communities.

The day she joined the Australian Labor Party began our lifelong friendship, as her personality lit up a room. However, she was no shrinking violet either and never held back when she witnessed injustice. She was a devoted mother and grandmother, finding purpose and joy in caring for her family and grandchildren, which gave her life meaning and hope. Her legacy continues through her family and the many lives she has touched with her compassion and strong presence. She had such a beautiful soul and that has not changed with her passing.

The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley) (15:40): I rise to speak about the change to a 50 km/h speed zone that has been supported by the City of Unley on Unley Road and speak in support of such a measure. I had some luck last time a change to Unley Road was proposed. That was the extending of the clearway parking. Of course, it would have devastated the strip shopping and removed the very thing that draws people to Unley Road if there was more difficulty in parking vehicles.

With the transport minister at the time, I was able to push back on the department's recommendation to expand clearway times on Unley Road, and so now we still have the clearway times that have been historically there, not the expanded clearway times that go to 10am and start earlier at 3pm. I am pleased that the government is looking favourably at the 50 km/h zone, supported by the council. It will mean that the pedestrian traffic, the bike traffic and people crossing the road in that busy CBD area of Unley will be able to do so much more safely, including those, of course, who are dining on the footpath.

Sitting extended beyond 18:00 on motion of Hon. N.F. Cook.