Private Members' Statements

Private Members' Statements

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (15:52): I want to take this opportunity to thank our frontline health workforce, and this grieve is no reflection on you. Last month, the Labor government's record of the worst ramping in the state's history only continued to climb. Ambulances spent 4,773 hours ramped and, compared to May last year, an extra 200 patients were admitted to hospitals, and an extra 1,500 calls were made to 000. On top of this, the government canned elective surgeries for both metropolitan and regional South Australia.

The elective surgery list has blown out to 21,191 patients, 4,065 are listed as overdue, and many constituents in my electorate of Chaffey are on that list. Scheduled for surgery this week, they were told that they are going to have to wait—so how long are they going to have to wait? Every time the Labor government touches our health system, it ends in catastrophe. The state has lost faith in the health minister. They have lost faith in this current Labor government.

Regional communities are suffering from Labor's broken promises in the city. This is a reflection of the health system that is suffering in regional South Australia with the deficiency of a government, of a minister, that has continued to fail our health system. The regional health crisis continues. The regional health situation is of dire concern. What I want to do is make sure that our elective surgery is reinstated as soon as possible so that those people living with pain can have that surgery and get on with life.

Ms O'HANLON (Dunstan) (15:54): I rise today to congratulate Mr George Belperio on being awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the General Division. Mr Belperio is a highly regarded and active member of the Italian community and it will come as no surprise to those who know him that this honour recognises his services to the Italian community.

George was born in 1954 in San Giorgio La Molara, Italy, and came to Adelaide as a young boy in 1958. It was at the club of that same name in my own electorate where I was honoured last week to join many members of the San Giorgio community and, indeed, the Hon. Vincent Tarzia, in honouring this achievement.

George is known in the community for his incredible achievements as a businessman and restaurateur. No doubt, this passion grew from a childhood steeped in family, fresh produce from the market garden and, as he says, 'Good food with lots of laughter and lots of love.' This passion saw him go from strength to strength as he built his Fasta Pasta franchise, starting with one restaurant in Pirie Street and eventually reaching 39 restaurants all over Australia. More important, it seems, has been his support of Variety Bash SA, Radio Italiana 531 and the myriad other ways he supports the local Italian community.

I must also acknowledge that behind this great man is a great woman and, as George has said himself, his achievements would not have been possible without the love and support of his rock Josie, his wife of 41 years. George is also incredibly proud of his children Enzo and Rebecca and his delightful granddaughter, Penny.

Receiving an OAM is an incredible achievement in a person's life and denotes truly outstanding hard work and commitment to a cause. The Italian community is renowned for their extraordinary work ethic and contribution to our state. It is testament to George Belperio that his effort has been so outstanding as to be recognised with this prestigious award.

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (15:56): I rise today to celebrate the newest and biggest rivalry in the Adelaide football league where two local teams, the Lockleys Demons and the Henley Sharks football clubs played for the very first time in division 3, with the Lockleys Demons moving up and the Henley Sharks, unfortunately, moving down to division 3 this year. They played on the weekend for the Cowdrey Cup.

I was pleased to bring in this new initiative to support a local sporting rivalry and to carry on the tradition of the former member for Colton, Paul Caica, who, of course, had the Caica Cup between St Michaels and Henley High. What better way to continue the legacy of the member for Colton supporting local sporting rivalry than getting on board and supporting a neighbour versus neighbour, classmate versus classmate rivalry between the two local footy clubs.

It was a sterling match which certainly lived up to the billing: 81-60 in the end, with a good, tight tussle through three and a half quarters but with Henley kicking away right at the very end. It certainly deserved the twilight fixture it was given by the Adelaide football league. We certainly hope that that is the case with the return leg later in August.

Congratulations to Bailey, who was the MVP of the game. It was a credit to both clubs, their volunteers, their boards, their coaching staff, supporters and sponsors to see a night where effectively it was packed out. There was not a spare seat in the place. I think the crowd would have rivalled many SANFL games over the weekend. Congratulations to both clubs and I look forward to future editions and continuing to support the local sporting rivalry in my area.

The SPEAKER: Go both teams—that is what I always do. Have a lot of flags, know a lot of songs, never leave the ground a loser.

Mr ODENWALDER (Elizabeth) (15:58): Indeed. I rise also to speak about some local football legends and to talk about one of the great local underdog comeback stories and that is the Elizabeth Football Club. Many members will have noticed in the news recently that the club suffered a record South Australian football loss of 516-0 against Fitzroy. That hurt, of course.

Since then that has been a catalyst for a great outpouring of support, of sponsorship and of general love from the local community. They have received new sponsors and also various players returning to the club. I am happy to report that although they are yet to win a game, they do have numbers on the scoreboard at every game and, in fact, came very close to beating Central United in the local derby just the week before. I think they were two goals off beating Central United.

This Friday, Elizabeth will take on Lockleys in the division 12 ressies game. It has been billed as the biggest game ever. Of course, one of the highlights is that local legend, Central Districts legend, Johnny Platten will be putting on the Eagles guernsey, along with Andrew Jarman and Bernie Vince. They will be playing against the likes of JP Drake, Daniel Motlop, Mitch Robinson and others. It is going to be a great night. You will be able to listen to the game on Triple M's The Rush Hour, or I am sure you can catch it on social media if you are so inclined after the game. Go Eagles!