William Kibby VC Veterans Shed

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (15:21): During National Carers Week I also want to acknowledge all the carers who are here today in parliament. I want to speak about an organisation that, in a way, is certainly related to caring for people, and so I do want to take the opportunity in parliament to thank everyone involved with the William Kibby VC Veterans Shed and congratulate them on the official opening of the workshop extension that was held in October.

The extension of the veterans shed is a major milestone in its history. In early 2022 I secured $40,000 of funding from the former state Liberal government for the workshop extension, which was only possible because of the tireless efforts of all the volunteers in supporting veterans. The William Kibby VC Veterans Shed is for veterans from all wars and has the motto 'Those who served supporting those who served.'

The veterans shed is located in Glenelg North and is named after William Kibby who lived in Glenelg. He served in World War II and was killed by machine-gun fire after single-handedly attacking the enemy in the Battle of El Alamein. William Kibby was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously. Kibby's leadership lives on through the William Kibby VC Veterans Shed, which was founded by Vietnam veteran Barry Heffernan. Barry is dedicated to supporting veterans and, in fact, my first meeting as an elected member in 2010 was with Barry where he outlined his vision of the veterans shed and for it to be based in Glenelg North. It was, therefore, an honour to support the planning and the building of the veterans shed and then to be able to officially open the veterans shed in 2015 when I was Mayor of Holdfast Bay.

From there the veterans shed has become a vital support service for veterans in the community through the hard work of volunteers who have a military service background. I have continued to work with everyone at the veterans shed since becoming the state member of parliament for Morphett in 2018 and it is wonderful to see the benefits that the veterans shed provides to our veterans community. The shed has an area set aside where veterans could come together over a tea or coffee, or, as they like to say, 'a brew', to discuss health and welfare issues with other veterans who have shared similar experiences.

The majority of the shed area is set aside for hands-on woodworking activities, where the veterans build products such as firewood, planter boxes and cutting boards to help raise funds to then fund support services for other veterans. As the woodworking activities became more successful and grew, the original shed needed to be expanded via enclosing the front section. I worked closely with the board of the veterans shed and in February 2022 this resulted in $40,000 of funding from the former state Liberal government to enable the shed expansion to occur. Work began in 2022 and was completed by early 2023 and on completion the result was an almost doubling of the enclosed footprint of the shed, enabling the woodworking stations to be more permanently placed and organised.

Additionally, ventilation systems have been added and electrical outlets have been set up to remove trip hazards and look after the health and safety of the veterans working in the shed, which is a terrific result for all involved. Importantly, the shed extension has seen the wood-making activities grow, which ultimately means that more much-needed funds are being raised to support veterans.

While the extension had been finished for 18 months, it was certainly very important and a worthy recognition of everyone involved to have the workshop extension officially opened last week by the Minister for Veterans Affairs. Along with other MPs, I attended the opening ceremony, which was held in the picturesque and peaceful Michael Herbert Memorial Garden, which is adjacent to the shed and has been curated into a beautiful and peaceful memorial garden. It includes flowerbeds and a memorial wall. At this time of year, of course, it is spring, and the flowers are in bloom. Appropriately, with Remembrance Day approaching, the flowers include poppies to remember the fallen.

Congratulations to William Kibby VC Veterans Shed Chair Graham Matthews, Treasurer Malcolm Schlein and Jim Mavromatis on hosting the official opening and to everyone involved with the veterans shed. Thank you. The work of all the William Kibby VC Veterans Shed volunteers truly makes a major difference to the lives of our veterans. This work keeps fresh in our minds the sacrifices made by the men and women who have served our nation, and that is why, as the entrance arch to the Michael Herbert Memorial Garden states: we will remember them.