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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-06-03 Daily Xml
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ATLANTIC OCEAN TRAVEL

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (15:30): On Monday night very sad news was broadcast about Air France flight 447 losing contact with air traffic controllers while over the Atlantic Ocean. Grave fears are held for the 228 on board and our thoughts and prayers are with them and their friends and families in what now, so tragically, looks like their darkest hour.

We heard this morning that their worst fears are likely to be realised and that the black box that may hold the secret to this disaster could be between three and seven kilometres below the surface of the sea.

Whilst so much safer these days, this serves to remind us how much we take for granted in traversing the world, now so relatively easy and fast, by air travel, a far cry from the days when we relied on sea travel. I was reminded of the report in the press earlier this week of the news of the death of Millvina Dean at the age of 97 at a nursing home in Ashurst near Southampton, England. Ms Dean was the last survivor of the sinking of the Titanic on the night of 14 April 1912.

At two months old she was the youngest passenger on that fateful maiden voyage, which resulted in the tragic loss of 1,523 lives. Her father was 27 that night when he was lost at sea, and we can only imagine the panic and dread that descended on passengers and crew as the gravity of their situation became apparent.

Fate conspired against the Titanic in so many other ways when several other problems became known in what was supposed to be the unsinkable state-of-the-art ship. Transatlantic travel can be a dangerous business and it was a crushing blow that the very calamity that it had been designed to avoid actually befell it.

There have been countless books and many films released about that night. Many stories and myths persist to this day. We are told of the brave men working to the end in assisting the women and children onto the boats, staying behind to face the inevitable with the captain, who went down with his ship, and that the band played on, trying to keep people as calm as possible.

Like many people around the world, the Titanic's story, containing so many others, has held my imagination and memory. A little while before my election I met Mark Kasperski, a world authority in all things Titanic. An Adelaide man, his recall of events is encyclopaedic, and I attended a talk from the then fledgling Titanic Society run by a group of passionate South Australians.

Over the years they have commemorated Titanic events, and through Margie Monk, the event coordinator, they have worked to incorporate the body '1912 The Event' to tell one of the world's best known stories of survival, human endurance and courage.

They have secured the Adelaide Convention Centre for the evening of 14 April 2012, and in association with a group of committed sponsors and supporters they will host 'A Night to Remember', one of many commemorations planned worldwide. They will also be raising funds for the National Breast Cancer Council and the Cancer Council of South Australia's prostate centre.

It is only in recent years that what is left behind of the Titanic has been found on the sea bed, and witnessing film of the final resting place of that great ship and so many people is sobering. So many lives were changed that night and I know that the 1912 Event, while remembering those lives, will be hopeful to help raise funds to ease the lives of people battling cancer and hopefully working towards a cure for the disease so prevalent today.

Last week, all over the nation, Biggest Morning Teas were held to raise funds for the Cancer Council and its work. In the Florey electorate office, staff baked cakes and hosted community groups, enabling us to raise in excess of $1,000. We remembered our friends, heroes to us, who have passed away this year: Clive Bristow, Karen Nulle and Ron Stanton. We remembered too people like Julie Duncan, Irene Krastev and Maria Oulianoff, and many other family and friends gone before us.

Groups like the Re Gen Shop, Modbury Kiwanis, Tea Tree Gully Croquet Club, the Forget Me Not Club and friends from the Burragah Over 50s, Tea Tree Gully Salvation Army, Modbury Probus, Enfield and Tea Tree Gully historical societies, as well as members of the Florey sub-branch, supported the day and enjoyed wonderful fare from Victoria's beautiful butterfly cakes to my own gluten-free dairy-free alternatives, as well as Girl Guide biscuits.

In our own way we are supporting the wonderful scientists and medical researchers working on the cure and prevention of cancer. Great things are being done in research centres all over Australia. In many ways we are contributing on the forefront. The Hanson Centre and the Masonic Foundation for Men's Health are making great contributions, as is the Peter MacCallum Centre in Melbourne, retaining an Adelaide connection through Craig Bennett, who served Modbury Public Hospital with distinction.

In keeping the memory of those who have gone before us alive, we can support the people who suffer greatest from their loss. We remember all those who have suffered from cancer and died and send our very best to all those facing cancer and those working on the cure.

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