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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-03-25 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

STANSBURY

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder) (15:46): I want to take a few minutes to inform the house about a wonderful announcement made on 28 November last year by the Hon. Jay. Weatherill, Minister for Environment and Conservation, when he confirmed that Stansbury on Yorke Peninsula had been selected as South Australia's Tidiest Town.

Stansbury is a wonderful place, with only about 500 people, on the south-eastern coast of the peninsula. I have enjoyed its hospitality many times in the past, playing football and cricket there. It is a great place to go to the beach, launch a boat and go fishing. However, importantly, it is the ethic that that community has which has made it rise above many others to now be, with a great deal of pride, acknowledged as South Australia's Tidiest Town. In fact, it has been in the top 10 list eight times, and I think that has probably been only over the last 15 years. The Progress Association and the Tidy Towns group have not been in existence for that long, from a Tidy Towns perspective, but, wow, they have done wonderful things.

Each week, of the 24 members of the Tidy Towns a group of about 18, on average, come together to perform work around the town. Some great articles have appeared about it recently in the Yorke Peninsula Country Times, which really espouse the virtue of not just what those 24 volunteers do, but about the collaboration that exists amongst the community.

The school is very heavily involved through the environmental programs that it runs. The local government authority, the Yorke Peninsula council, is also very heavily involved. The collection of all those people has allowed Stansbury to be acknowledged in this way. Tidy Towns has had a great history across the state; there is no doubt about that. I know that it is with keen competition that many communities and aspects of communities enter it each year.

Ross Swain, a previous judge, probably has a better knowledge about South Australia than even Keith Conlon. He knew more about every town. He has a photographic memory about it, which is quite amazing. But I am particularly pleased that Stansbury has been acknowledged in this way.

I think, in some ways, their recent success has probably stemmed from the good work also done by Port Vincent, which has been in South Australia's top 10 many times. It has been acknowledged twice, I think, as South Australia's Tidiest Town, and was lucky enough to be acknowledged as Australia's tidiest community in 2004. That level of recognition comes only with a great deal of hard work.

I know that the KESAB organisation sets quite a broad range of criteria. It is far more than just the physical perspective you get when you enter a town and look at it. Issues involved in the judging include water issues around the infrastructure of the town, and conservation education and changes to water use. They also look at waste and litter recycling and resource recovery programs, waste education within schools, community, business and local government, and, indeed, at how they integrate all of that. Energy is also considered, where there are energy efficiency initiatives. They also look at energy and climate change education.

KESAB then looks at community engagement. That is an important one for me, because it is not just the people who are involved in it, but the whole community. They look at the appearance of the town, and everybody has a responsibility for that. They look at the partnership with the local government authority, they look at how business itself is involved in the Tidy Town activities, and then at how the community itself is engaged.

They also look at biodiversity. The education of biodiversity is taught through the school. Stansbury Primary School is a great school, with probably about 50 students. I was there six to nine months ago for the launch of their new playground cover. The school has a great collection of kids. KESAB also look at conservation activities. So, there are lot of things that are involved in it. It is more than just the physical appearance, and I think that is important to note.

In about six weeks' time, on Friday 8 May, there is another very important day for Stansbury because that is when the national winner of Australia's Tidiest Town is going to be announced in Canberra. I am lucky enough to have been invited to attend as the state representative for that community, and probably about another 20 people from the local community are going to be there.

We hope that we bring home, with a lot of pride, success for South Australia in this national judging. I know that an enormous amount of effort went into it. Mr Dick Olesinski, who is a national judge, was in Stansbury about a week and a half prior to Christmas making assessments. I know that he had presentations from 14 different community groups. He was obviously very impressed, from reports that I have read in the paper. I know that he thinks kindly upon the Yorke Peninsula and I hope that he has been objective in his assessment of what Stansbury has to offer as an overall package for the tidiest town.

I sincerely hope that soon after 8 May I am able to report to the house on Stansbury's success and the success of our state in competing against these other communities, which have a lot greater resources. I think that for a town of only 520 people to get this level of recognition should make us all proud.

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