Waite Electorate

Ms HUTCHESSON (Waite) (17:47): Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and I cannot tell you how proud I am to be standing here today, because on Sunday on Kangarilla Oval it was buzzing with energy as 12 teams of CFS cadets, their leaders, their families and their trainers all came together for the Region 1 Cadet Championships. It was a real celebration of community teamwork and the next generation of firefighters.

As someone who wears the yellow PVC myself, I know just how tough the drills are. A hose drill, a complicated draughting drill and a burnover are not just exercises, they are skills that could one day save lives. To see our young cadets step up with such determination and confidence, it makes me proud, not just to be a firefighter, but their local member and a member of our community, knowing that they are the future of looking after us. Every cadet who took part deserves a huge pat on the back. You gave it everything, and to the cadet leaders and our supervisors, thank you for the hours of guidance and encouragement. To the families, thank you for standing behind your kids, they could not do it without you.

Here is the part I am especially thrilled about: our Sturt group did not just show up, they absolutely shone through. Their Alpha team consisting of Emma, Ellie, Tayla, Angus and Harper absolutely smashed it, finishing in a combined time of just 10 minutes and 40 seconds to claim first place, and right behind them the Bravo team of Brooklyn, Toby, Kaydah, Gregor and Onyx pushed hard and proudly claimed third place, with a time of 15 minutes and 17 seconds. The Sturt teams were in the top three. That is no accident, it is teamwork, training and heart and they have done themselves proud, and their families and our community proud.

To show you how well they trained, in the first drill our Alpha team came first and the Bravo team, who are quite a bit younger, came second. In the second drill, Alpha was first and Bravo third, and in the third drill Alpha was second and Bravo fourth. Bravo had two members with only two years' experience, and the other cadets had less than six months, so they absolutely shone through. When I look at these cadets, I see the future of the CFS.

I see young people who are learning not only how to fight fires but how to stand together, trust one another and give their best under pressure. As a firefighter, that gives me enormous confidence in what I saw. So, to Emma, Ellie, Tayla, Angus, Harper, Brooklyn, Toby, Kaydah, Gregor and Onyx, congratulations. You are champions in every sense of the word.

Staying with that winning feeling, on Sunday, after cheering on our cadets, I headed to Blackwood Hill oval to cheer on our Blackwood Footy Club women's teams as they took part in the preliminary finals, and let me say they smashed it. The senior women's HFL team absolutely sent Hahndorf packing with a 52-10 thrashing, the under 14 girls won 80-7 against Mount Lofty, and the under 12 girls won 22-16 against Henley.

What was really special was the number of locals who turned out to cheer them on. It was tricky to even get a car park, and there are plenty of them. That is what I love to see. As Deputy Chair of the Women in Sport Taskforce, it is so good to see the support for this women's program that Blackwood do so well. Even more lovely was witnessing all the little lads who were there just watching footy. They were watching footy; not women's footy, they were just watching footy, and that is absolutely what we want to see.

Well done to all of our Blackwood teams, because also on the weekend our B-grade men wiped the floor with Onkaparinga Valley 107-19, and the under 18 boys also got in the action against Onkaparinga with 110-26. The under 16 boys got home also against Onka 32-30. It is going to be an exciting weekend of footy, and I will be there with the rest of our community cheering our club on.

A quick shout-out to our park rangers, who celebrated World Ranger Day on 31 July. Tony Magor and the team did a lot of work lighting up all of the landmarks in Adelaide, and I was really pleased to be able to assist them to make sure that Parliament House joined in the fun. It was lit green and it was fantastic to see them come together. I was happy to play my part. I do have a motion for them tomorrow, but I am not sure if we will get there, so a big shout-out to the rangers for the work that they do in preserving, conserving and caring for our national parks and wildlife and for the support that they give our Friends of Parks and nature as well.

Finally, on 27 July our community came together for another wonderful event organised by Blackwood Action Group, celebrating the history of Hawthorndene that has turned 100 this year. Ex-councillor Lindy Teuber and legendary Peter Hough gave an excellent talk on the history of both the suburb and the Coromandel Valley Ramblers, who will be celebrating 100 years next year. They were supported by Hawthorndene students from year 6, Lowenek, Lenora and Malee, who provided the voices of the settlers, and they did such a wonderful job in front of a big crowd. Over 140 people enjoyed the talk, and it included a beautiful afternoon tea from Pauline Dodd. We cannot wait for the next event, which is a big community picnic.