Private Members' Statements

Private Members' Statements

The ACTING SPEAKER (Ms Thompson): Member for Flinders.

Mr TELFER (Flinders) (17:20): Thank you very much, Acting Speaker, and happy birthday. The long weekend was a sporting smorgasbord for the Eyre Peninsula. I start with the longest-running regional football event in the state, the Mortlock Shield which brings together footballers from all around the Eyre Peninsula with all the associations represented, with the Lincoln City team this year successful in taking out the Mortlock Shield.

On the Sunday the Norwood Cup, the under 15s equivalent of the Mortlock Shield, was also held at Centenary Oval. On this occasion it was the Lincoln Districts team which prevailed on percentage over Great Flinders after both sides won three of their four games.

Meanwhile, in Adelaide, Eyre Peninsula netballers were representing our community at the Netball SA Country Championships and were competitive across all teams. The Western Eyre seniors fell just short of winning the Division A title, just missing out in the final, and the Western Eyre under 13s also finished as runners-up, going down in the third division grand final by just one goal. However, the Port Lincoln under 13s were successful in their second division grand final, defeating Adelaide Plains 29-22.

And then there are the six teams of the Port Lincoln Soccer Association at the SA Junior Soccer Association championships, with all six teams finishing in the top three in their divisions, with the under-12s development boys and the under-16 girls being championship winners. Not to be outdone, the Port Lincoln Gymnastics Club hosted their annual invitation of championships with over 400 gymnasts competing over the weekend, so congratulations to all our representatives on their successes reflecting their tenacity, the spirit and the sporting prowess of the entire Eyre Peninsula community.

Mr McBRIDE (MacKillop) (17:22): I rise today seeking government support or assistance for the preservation of the iconic Robe obelisk. As you may or may not be aware, the obelisk was built on Cape Dombey in 1885 as a day guide for ships entering Guichen Bay. The aim was to create a landmark that could be seen at 16 kilometres out to sea in ordinary weather. The structure stands at 12.2 metres tall and is painted with three white and two red stripes, creating what has become Robe's most famous landmark.

Since it was built, the soft sandstone cliffs on which it stands have eroded significantly, meaning that the obelisk will eventually fall into the sea. It is now off limits to the public but still draws thousands of tourists each year. Recently, the Robe Council said it had decided not to spend ratepayers' funds, looking into options to preserve the obelisk. Mayor Lisa Ruffell has now called a public meeting for 11 July to see what locals would like to do about the iconic structure.

When you think of Robe you think of the obelisk, the same way as when you think of Kingston you think of the jetty or the Cape Jaffa Lighthouse, both of which are needing large amounts of money to preserve their integrity. It is a catch-22 situation. Local councils that have towns in their boundary that are popular tourist destinations often do not have the funds due to their ratepayer base to preserve the landmarks that help make them popular.

The state government has acknowledged that the obelisk is important to the local community and the state in general; therefore, I hope this government can assist where required. It may not be financially viable to save the obelisk, but we at least need to do the work to find out what the potential solutions could be. I call on the government to liaise with the council on this issue. Relocation may not be an option but reconstruction of a matching obelisk back further from the cliff may be a more practical solution. We need to investigate the options, not sit back and do nothing.

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (17:24): I am very pleased to congratulate Mal Hansen OAM and Val Hansen OAM, husband and wife, valued members of the local community in my area and in the King's Birthday Honours recognised for their services to Rotary and particularly through the Campbelltown Rotary Outback Experience to the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

I am very pleased to be an honorary member of the Campbelltown Rotary Club and I was previously an active member prior to coming into the parliament. Mal Hansen was one of those people who really warmly welcomed me into the club, and I got to know Val as well in later years. He has been in the club for a long time. His service to our community has been across a range of areas but I think the King's Birthday Honour that has gone to Mal and Val has been particularly for the Rotary Outback Experience. Ten times they have brought together groups of Rotarians and others and explored this extraordinary country, with stops along the way and fundraising adventures along the way.

The combined merits of these experiences has been to raise in excess of $300,000 for the Royal Flying Doctor Service: an extraordinarily impressive feat appreciated by flying doctors, appreciated by the communities whose lives they have touched and appreciated by the Campbelltown Rotarians and other people in our community who have really enjoyed these outback trips. I have not been one of them; I am sad about that, but I have enjoyed every year hearing the reports of these 10 amazing trips. Congratulations, Mal and Val.

Mr ODENWALDER (Elizabeth) (17:25): It would have escaped no-one's notice here that housing affordability and rental affordability have reached a fairly acute point, particularly in our outer suburbs. I do recognise we are doing what we can as a government. My friend the Minister for Housing, the Treasurer and the Minister for Human Services are working as hard as they possibly can as part of the cabinet to address some of these issues, but there are people doing some really good things on the ground, including some church leaders in my community. I will talk about them as a group later on, because they are doing some very good things as a group, but I want to focus today on the work of the Salvation Army Playford Corps.

I have been involved with the Playford Salvos since before I was a member of this place. They always do good work. This year, they are focusing their annual Red Shield Appeal very much on homelessness. They are aiming to raise $20,000 for a mobile trailer shower and laundry for those people in our community who are sleeping rough. I want to particularly congratulate Fi Allan from the Playford Salvos who works so hard and is very much the face of this new campaign to raise the money for this trailer. I want to thank her and the Playford Salvos for their work. I am doing what I can. I will be posting links to their fundraising pages periodically throughout the next couple of months, and I hope we can raise that $20,000 for a much-needed service in our community.

Mr Deputy Speaker, I draw your attention to the state of the house.

A quorum having been formed: