Country Cabinet

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (14:42): My question is to the Minister for Emergency Services and Correctional Services. Will the minister update the council on her interactions with volunteers during her time at the Northern Plains country cabinet?

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (Minister for Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Minister for Autism, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (14:42): I thank the honourable member for his question. I, too, like the Hon. Clare Scriven, had an incredible time at country cabinet. This was my first country cabinet as the minister. I enjoyed the day particularly because of the announcement by Tony Piccolo, the member for Light, that he is putting up his hand to be the local Labor candidate.

It was an honour to visit the selfless volunteers from the region. Anyone from the country knows that it is often the incredible volunteers who give their time to keep our regional communities safe, active and connected. My first stop on the day was to visit the new $5 million Gawler State Emergency Service unit, which is currently under construction thanks to state government investment.

I was welcomed by SES volunteers Gerhart, Andrew, Mark and Tony, all of whom have unique connections and stories about why they decided to join the SES. Just like the new station, many of them, too, are new members to the SES community. New Gawler SES member Gerhart shared that the SES has taught him many new skills, but the one that has challenged him the most and has also been the most rewarding is learning how to tie knots.

Andrew is a local who has joined the SES because the creation of this new local station was close to his home and he felt like he needed to be a part of a new community that could give back. Mark has carried on his professional knowledge in emergency management at the University of Adelaide and has taken this into his new role as an SES volunteer. Tony, a former SAPOL employee who just last year underwent two triple bypasses, has now been trained to use drones, enabling him to continue to give back to the community through the work he is doing as an SES volunteer.

From there, we visited Anthony, Paige and the brigade captain, Alex, from the Mallala CFS brigade, which is responding to at least one incident every week in its local community. We then met more volunteers at the Two Wells CFS station, a brigade that is a CFS family. For the first time since I took on my new role, I met husband and wife duo Chantelle and brigade captain Adam. Both Adam and Chantelle started as cadets in the CFS, and now their kids, Carla and Blake, who are 18 and 19 years old, are cadets at the station too.

In true country fashion, I went down the road to the Two Wells oval only to meet the brother of Adam, who is also the captain of the cricket club. Everyone in that family is doing a lot to give back to their community. Once again, I want to thank the many volunteers who have shared their time with me, particularly on that day, but importantly who always give their time to give back to their community and keep them safe.