Prospect Spring Fair

Ms HOOD (Adelaide) (15:31): I rise today to say a big thank you and congratulations to everybody who was involved with the Prospect Spring Fair that has just been on Saturday at Broadview Oval. It was an absolutely wonderful community celebration that brought so many different groups, locals and organisations together to celebrate our wonderful community.

I never thought I would say these words, but one of the highlights was the 'fastest sausage in the north'. What I am actually referring to is what is known as the 'dachshund dash', which is where lots of little sausage dogs come together to have various heats and races to be claimed the fastest sausage in the north. Well done to all those little dachshunds that participated in that event. It really is the highlight of the fair every year.

I myself, along with my amazing staff and the federal member for Adelaide, Steve Georganas, and the member for Enfield, Andrea Michaels, hosted a stall. I would like to think we were a bit of a triple threat on the day. We were not just offering free popcorn to all the locals, but the member for Enfield's staff held 'make your own badges' or badge-making, and my staff and I were able to provide 'make your own friendship bracelets'.

As a bit of a Swiftie, I was quite inspired, having attended one of Taylor Swift's concerts, by the magic of friendship bracelets, seeing people share them, the joy that it brought, the connection that it created. I thought if it is good enough for a Taylor Swift concert, it is good enough for our community. It was an absolute joy seeing all the kids coming along to our stall, making their friendship bracelets, whether it had their little name on it or a special message for the community.

It was wonderful to be able to be there on the day and not just provide those free activities for families but also be there to chat to locals and listen to them. For them, it was an opportunity to be able to raise various issues or just have a chat about how things are going in the community.

Speaking of dogs, I was able to also offer my Dogs of Prospect and Surrounds calendar. I also have the Dogs of Adelaide calendar. This is a fabulous 12-month calendar for 2025 featuring the many famous pooches in our community. I was so inundated with offers to provide their dog as a model mutt for my calendars that I had to do two. It was wonderful to be able to sell those calendars at the fair as well, with all proceeds going to the RSPCA. All profits from the sale of the calendar are going to our amazing RSPCA South Australia.

I want to also give a shout-out to some of the other stallholders. We had some amazing local businesses also at the fair: Cannoli Box Co., Blackfriars school, Powerhouse gym, Artisans of Prospect. We also had some amazing service clubs. Our Prospect and Blair Athol Lions Club was firing up the barbecue as always. It was amazing to see all the volunteers there, including former member for Adelaide Rachel Sanderson, who is always willing to roll up her sleeves and assist with the barbecues at various events. Thank you to all those wonderful volunteers for what you do to give back to the community.

Big thanks to our Mayor Matt Larwood and all the staff and volunteers at the City of Prospect. This really is a team effort. It is a beautiful community event where you see everybody coming together to really lift the spirits of the community, and we had gorgeous weather for it as well.

Thank you also to Uncle Tamaru, who was able to provide the welcome to country, with some assistance from my daughter, Audrey. A quick thank you to my kids Audrey and Ned. They were there right behind the stall helping, as well as my amazing staff Chloe, Sophie and Nathaniel.

I have always said in this place that often working for an MP can be a bit of an extreme sport. You are called upon to do many different tasks, but they always do it with a smile. They always work so hard and they are so committed to our community, so I really want to thank them for that.

Finally, it is never a community event without the incredible Police Band. They came along and really showed us an amazing array of hits, as they always do. They bring so much joy to whatever event they come to, so a huge thank you to them.

I wish everyone a wonderful spring. I cannot believe we are on the run to Christmas but, once again, thank you and congratulations to everyone involved with the Prospect Spring Fair.