National Volunteer Week

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. E.S. Bourke:

That this council—

1. Notes that from 20 to 26 May 2019 we celebrate National Volunteer Week;

2. Acknowledges the valuable contribution that volunteers make to the economic and social wellbeing of local communities; and

3. Calls on all South Australians to thank and show their appreciation to all volunteers in our community.

(Continued from 15 May 2019.)

The Hon. I. PNEVMATIKOS (21:54): I commend the original motion, sir. I will not be moving any amendments.

The Hon. C. BONAROS (21:54): We all know and value the tremendous efforts of our volunteers. I am sure most, if not all, of us have worked with volunteer groups over the years and probably volunteered ourselves at some point—I know I certainly have, especially in the South Australian Greek community and legal community—whether it be in our schools, our hospitals, our animal shelters, our pro bono legal services, or our charities. The list is absolutely endless.

Each and every day, we rely on thousands of volunteers to keep the wheels turning. Their contribution is immeasurable and for these reasons, I am extremely pleased to join the Hon. Emily Bourke and other members of this place in thanking our volunteers and extending our appreciation to them for their selfless efforts to our community.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK (Minister for Human Services) (21:55): I move to amend the motion as follows:

Leave out the word 'and' at the end of paragraph 2 and insert the word 'and' at the end of paragraph 3.

Insert new paragraph 4 as follows:

4. Acknowledges the positive impact that the Marshall government's policy of providing free screening checks has had on organisations and their volunteers.

I note that as the night goes on the speeches get shorter and better. Free screening checks have been incredibly well received by the community. As I have said in this place before in response to questions that I did not expect, some of the ways in which they have enabled community organisations to increase their capacity and to volunteer in other ways for other organisations and so forth have been outlined.

National Volunteer Week was the first collaborative attempt to promote volunteering nationally and first took place in 1989. This year, from 20 to 26 May, Volunteering Australia celebrated 30 years of National Volunteer Week, with the theme this year being 'Making a world of difference'. In South Australia, to mark the start of National Volunteer Week, Volunteering SA&NT held a colourful volunteer parade, as they often do, with a record number of 1,200 people registered to attend, the highest number since this event began eight years ago.

I echo the comments of a number of my colleagues in that there are an amazing number of volunteers doing all sorts of things. It never ceases to amaze me that in all sorts of roles for which I am responsible, we come across volunteers. I spoke today about the Red Cross Telecross service, which has volunteers who come in and contact people, particularly on hot days, to check on their wellbeing and give them reminders about drinking cool water and those sorts of things.

It is worth putting the statistics on the record. South Australia has more than 900,000 regular volunteers contributing around 1.7 million volunteer hours each week, which is equivalent to more than 107,000 full-time jobs with a dollar value of almost $5 billion per year. Clearly, it is more than just about replacing roles and having some economic measurement of it. There is a huge amount of exchange that goes on between people who volunteer and the people they assist. It has been demonstrated to have a very significant impact on people's wellbeing.

It has also been promoted amongst students. The Curriculum of Giving program promotes volunteering to school students, lets them know about some of the great benefits of volunteering and encourages them to get involved at a young age. I think that it is a good thing for young people who are entering the workforce to have volunteering efforts on their CVs as well, because it demonstrates that they have that community service aspect and also are able to work in groups. With those words and with that amendment, I commend the motion to the house.

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (21:59): I would like to thank the members who have spoken on this motion: the Hon. Irene Pnevmatikos, the Hon. Connie Bonaros and the Hon. Michelle Lensink. I will not be accepting the amendment put forward and I will explain why in a minute.

I started my original speech by saying that perhaps there are times when we can put politics aside and consider the issue that we are talking about, and that is volunteers. This was a private member's motion put forward, not an opportunity to discuss government policy

I will not be accepting a compromise to the motion that I moved to take a multipartisan approach and accept the amendment put forward by the minister. Considering that a multipartisan amendment was not looked at, I will not be accepting the minister's amendment at this point, and I hope that the chamber will vote for the amendment in its current form.

As I explained earlier today, CFS volunteers at Yorketown play a substantial role in our community. This motion acknowledges the fantastic work that volunteers do in our community. We should not be talking about government policy. I ask members in this chamber to support the original motion.

Ayes 7

Noes 12

Majority 5