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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-12-03 Daily Xml
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NORWOOD ELECTORATE

Ms CICCARELLO (Norwood) (15:40): As today is the last day of this parliamentary session before the election, it is appropriate for me to reflect upon my electorate and to pay a tribute to the many men and women who have given their time and talents to make Norwood what it is today and, as the member for Florey pointed out, the centre of the universe. I point out that, when we came to Australia, we lived at Paradise for 1½ years. In fact, I used to catch the tram to Paradise, but then we moved to Norwood. Obviously, Norwood has to be pretty special if one leaves Paradise to live there.

There is no doubt that the big winners in my electorate for 2009 are schools. As part of the Building the Education Revolution, a $14.7 billion investment across Australia to build and modernise its 9,450 schools, 11 schools in Norwood received a windfall just shy of $30 million. This is the biggest single school infrastructure investment in the history of Australia and enables all our schools to embark on major construction and refurbishment projects. In conjunction with the Rann government's investment of $790 million since 2002 in school redevelopment, maintenance and improvement, this funding reinforces our solid partnership with the federal government to deliver the best possible quality education for our children. On visiting every school in the electorate recently, it has been enormously satisfying to see that so many plans are finalised and works well underway. In fact, we approved the latest redevelopment of East Adelaide Primary School last week at the Public Works Committee.

Whilst this sort of funding tends to grab all the headlines, as, indeed, it should, a lot of other assistance is given which sometimes goes relatively unnoticed. Funding for local community groups is just one example. Since 2006, the Rann government has granted over $1 million to community groups in my electorate—and that is more than a quarter of a million dollars every year. There are more than 165 groups within my electorate, and I work very hard to ensure that they are all aware of any funding opportunities that arise. Therefore, I am pleased that so many of them do apply for funding and that so many of them are successful. There is no better feeling for a local member than handing over a cheque to a group knowing that extra funds will mean that they will be able to deliver an even better service to the local community.

As you are all aware, South Australia leads the nation in volunteering rates and I am proud that the groups in my electorate play a large part. It was wonderful to see so many community groups being represented at the recent community cabinet which was held in the eastern suburbs, and I am extremely pleased that my friendship and association with them all has never been stronger. I have given many speeches in parliament congratulating the groups in my electorate and today I pay tribute to them once again. Thank you to all of you for providing support, assistance and a helping hand, and empowering all of us to become an active participant in local affairs.

Another quiet success story in Norwood over the past year has been the Premier's Reading Challenge. In 2004, 609 local students completed the challenge. Every year since then has seen a significant increase in numbers, and 2009 celebrated 2,447 students reading more books than ever before, including 158 students who, for the first time, received Legend medals. During the last week, I have been attending the school ceremonies to present students with their certificates and medals and, as always, I was delighted to see the joy that students are gaining from reading and that this activity is now considered acceptable and cool. Of course, I particularly rejoice in that as a former librarian of the State Library.

I must also now congratulate a six year old reception student from Trinity Gardens Primary School who read 340 books during the challenge. Well done to Chantel Filipowicz. This achievement was very important, and I am proud of all the teachers and parents who have supported their students and children in turning Norwood into a literary playground.

I could go on talking about the success stories in Norwood this year but, as always, time is against me. However, one story I would like quickly to mention is the Tour Down Under. This was a stunning success for South Australia this year. It was fantastic to host stage 1 of the tour outside the Norwood Town Hall; and 2010 promises to be even better, which will happen in Norwood on 27 January. Norwood will be the home of not only stage 4 of the race but also the Mutual Community Challenge, where individuals and teams can ride the same route as Lance Armstrong in the morning.

I say that 2009 has been a great year for Norwood, and I have enjoyed every minute of it. Thank you to all the residents who have attended my street corner meetings, and thanks to the many groups and volunteers who contribute so much to the diverse and accepting community which I am proud to represent and which I call home. I thank my staff—Paul Edwards, Alex Baker and Sean Bennett—for the great work they do. I also add my thanks to Lea, Trish and all the others who are leaving this parliament. I wish them well in the future.

Time expired.

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