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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-11-19 Daily Xml
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Resolutions

SURF LIFE SAVING SOUTH AUSTRALIA

The Hon. J.M. RANKINE (Wright—Minister for Families and Communities, Minister for Northern Suburbs, Minister for Housing, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Disability) (15:56): I move:

That for the purposes of section 13(7) of the West Beach Recreation Reserve Act 1987, this house approves the grant by the West Beach Trust of a lease to Surf Life Saving South Australia Incorporated for a period of 50 years of portion of the West Beach Recreation Reserve, being such portion of the land contained in Certificate of Title Register Book Volume 5867 Folio 283 as is determined by the Minister for Urban Development and Planning, for use for the operation of surf life saving emergency services (including administration, storage of operation craft, life saving academy, communications centre, training rooms, sporting gear and equipment storage) and for the construction of such buildings and other works for that purpose as are specified or authorised in the lease.

The West Beach Trust and Surf Life Saving South Australia is seeking the support of this house and the Legislative Council to pass this motion, which will allow a 50 year lease to be provided to Surf Life Saving South Australia on trust land for the purpose of providing new and more appropriate facilities from which Surf Life Saving South Australia can operate. Surf Life Saving South Australia is currently operating across a range of locations: communications function from premises at Lonsdale; administration operates from cramped facilities at Torrensville; and its vessels are stored at various locations, including the homes of club members and staff.

As South Australians enjoy our beaches they do so in the knowledge that Surf Life Saving South Australia provides a range of vital services that help to keep our community safe—importantly, surf and rescue, but also incident prevention and beach safety education. In order to better assist it in providing these services to our community, the state government announced $1.1 million in the 2009-10 budget to provide for new emergency services facilities.

The board of the West Beach Trust has approved in principle the offer of a 50 year lease to develop Surf Central, a new headquarters bringing together administration, training and delivery of life-saving emergency services on 4600 square metres of land near the corner of Barcoo and Military Roads within the West Beach Recreation Reserve. Surf Central will be a dynamic and inviting building designed to minimise environmental impact in accordance with the environmental principles of the government, Surf Life Saving South Australia, and Adelaide Shores.

The estimated total construction costs are $3.6 million. The state government's contribution of $1.1 million will fund the construction of the operations centre. Surf Life Saving South Australia will raise the remainder of construction costs through the sale of its Torrensville facility, accessing existing reserves, and a loan.

Surf Central will be complementary to existing facilities within the Barcoo Road precinct, which include the South Australian Sea Rescue Squadron. It will create opportunities for Adelaide Shores' accommodation guests from Adelaide and regional areas to develop water safety skills and enjoy our coast in a safe environment.

Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (15:59): The opposition supports this motion, and does so with great enthusiasm, because while many members in here do not have the pleasure of having surf lifesaving clubs in their electorate I certainly do. I do not want to discriminate, but I think we have two of the best clubs in South Australia in my electorate: the Somerton Park Surf Life Saving Club is a matter of metres from my home and only metres from my office is the Glenelg Surf Life Saving Club. The biggest challenge to these to surf lifesaving clubs at the moment is coping with the influx of new members, particularly nippers. There are literally hundreds of nippers coming into surf lifesaving in South Australia. It is a real community push; it is a family push. It is something that deserves all of our support.

It was disappointing to read an article in the Sunday Mail back in February, entitled 'Tin-shed' life savers fear worst: Funding plea for new HQ'. I read from the article as follows:

Surf life savers are being forced to work from tin sheds and keep rescue equipment in their own backyards because their headquarters is overcrowded and outdated. The situation is 'desperate' and could 'severely compromise' rescue efforts in a major emergency, they say.

The article continues:

Surf Life Saving SA general manager Elaine Farmer said the organisation was prepared to put in $3 million if the state government provided another $1 million. 'Our four jet skis are currently in four different backyards,' Mrs Farmer said. 'That means that, in an emergency, we have to contact the people who are looking after them and wait for them to get home before we can access our rescue equipment. Our ability to respond to an emergency could be severely compromised.' The jet skis are stored at homes in Plympton, Huntfield Heights, Port Noarlunga South and West Beach, and are transported back and forth...during major incidents.

How times have changed, though. Since February we have had terrific movement on this. The federal government has put in $10 million nationally to promote surf lifesaving, and that is a very good move. Just here in South Australia, I thank the Minister for Emergency Services. I wrote to him earlier this year in April seeking his support and lobbying on behalf of Surf Life Saving for support for funding. The Minister for Emergency Services wrote back and pointed out that the state government was putting in over $1 million to help build a new state headquarters for Surf Life Saving in South Australia.

What we are doing today is making sure that that happens adjacent to my electorate in the member for West Torrens' electorate at West Beach. The facilities there include the Sea Rescue Squadron, a boat storage centre, the Adelaide Sailing Club and also a couple of marine dealers. I have seen the artist's impressions of this centre at a presentation at the Glenelg Surf Life Saving Club a few weeks ago and it will be an absolutely first-class centre for surf in South Australia.

Just a little bit of history on what has brought this about: Surf Life Saving's first office was an old house on Seaview Road at Henley. That suited its requirements until the early 1970s when Delfin Realty donated some land at the southern tip of West Lakes at a time when there was no other development within 500 metres of the site. How things have changed!

A new headquarters was built by the late 1990s. It was obvious that we had overcapitalised and were quickly outgrowing the building. Investigation began regarding the sale of West Lakes and the purchase of a more suitable property to house current and future needs. This resulted in the purchase of our property on Henley Beach Road, Torrensville. We were able to purchase the building for approximately $600,000, allowing us to distribute funds back to clubs so as to support them in their efforts to deliver the badly needed front-line services.

We relocated to Torrensville in 2004. However, it was only considered to be an interim move while we took the opportunity to consolidate, build and grow our club base. I will read from the submission that was given to me by Elaine Farmer regarding their lobbying for this new centre, which they are calling Surf Central, as follows:

Since the move into Torrensville, a number of things have transpired with the result that we had outgrown these premises.

1. Our 'On the Same Wave' program continues to grow. This initiative is aimed at teaching the tens of thousands of overseas migrants, of refugees, students and tourists about how to survive in any aquatic environment, particularly the ocean.

2. The support of the State Government through its operational funding has been instrumental in getting our 'Beyond the Flags' initiative off the ground. Beyond the Flags is aimed at taking our services outside the normal patrolled area to where the public is using the beaches but this means more equipment, and therefore, housing.

3. The State Government finances that support the FMG program has seen a number of Clubs already rebuilt or refurbished and this has had an enormous impact on our membership numbers with in excess of 6,500 members—

which is something to be proud of in South Australia. I know down at Somerton and Glenelg every weekend they are out there in numbers and doing a fantastic job supporting the community and making sure our beaches are safe—

This goes against the current trend of most other organisations but increased membership directly correlates to increased administrative workload. It means there is a huge additional cost to the organisation because we reach a certain level and then the overheads dramatically increase commensurate with the number of people.

4. We have an urgent need to establish a suitable communications facility because we are running our entire communications network from our gear shed at Lonsdale.

5. Because of our desperate need for space, we have had to enclose the side veranda at Henley Beach Road to give us a greater storeroom area. This is now used for storage, as well as the garage to the rear of the property.

6. We have increased our state services fleet of two jet rescue boats and one inflatable rescue boat to include four water rescue craft...which are housed in four separate locations (including the homes of members). In an emergency this could cost valuable time.

7. The federal government grant of $10 million to establish the National Lifesaving Academy, on the understanding that after three years it would be self sustainable. Part of the agreement was that there would be a centre of excellence established in each state. This meant that the boardroom/meeting room at Torrensville had to be converted into offices to house academy staff. As a result, all meetings now have to be held at whatever locations can be found off-site evidenced by the fact that our August 2007 SC meeting was held in a boat shed at Somerton SLSC.

8. We have, at this point in time, no area to run our training courses, a requirement under the grant. We are not allowed to use the grant for facility funding.

9. With the increased obligation for our clubs to comply with legislative requirements comes the need to provide additional support to the clubs which has put increased pressure on the state centre's financial resources.

The need is emphasised in the submission from Surf Life Saving SA as follows:

Because we are dealing with the lives and safety of the public we need to be able to adequately, promptly and properly respond. We need to be adequately and properly trained. And we need to be able to deliver services to the community.

For any successful organisation to continue to operate in this current economic and litigious environment, it is essential that it be managed properly and effectively. Kitchen table administration is no longer good enough, particularly if that organisation is one that is totally reliant on an army of volunteers providing a free emergency and community service to the public.

SLSSA can provide substantial evidence to demonstrate that since its inception in 1952, it has been brilliantly efficient (financially) for both the government and the taxpayer. Its incomparable volunteer record of saving lives, preventing drownings, and educating the community is unparalleled in this state.

But whilst the government and community support being thrown behind our organisation has tended to make it flourish, it has also brought with it a whole new set of responsibilities and a greater need for volunteer support. That support simply cannot be sustained in a building where we can no longer even hold a meeting.

Because of our work within the schools and community there is an expectation by the public for us to have first-class facilities to be able to organise volunteers on the beach over the patrolling season. They expect us to have the helicopters, jet rescue boats, jet skis and other vessels in the water over the patrolling season. Plus those people who are actually involved in our organisation as either volunteers or participants...are also putting a huge impost on the surf life saving structure.

The success of our Beyond the Flags program is dependent upon the construction of Surf Central because it will centralise and house our communication centre. This will allow the central response node of the planned three nodes along the coast, with each node housing our support services rescue craft and ATVs.

The communication centre will link the clubs and state support services to enable a quick response in an emergency either from craft on patrol or in the surf central node. This will provide the best, most cost-effective service to the community.

We are currently working with the SES and VMR on signing a memorandum of understanding for SLSSA to be a secondary responder in times of emergency. As a secondary responder, it is essential that we have the ability to respond in a timely, adequate and professional manner. The MOU will reflect the agreement we already have in place with St John.

We are also keen to provide the necessary comforts for our after-hours callout personnel (e.g. hot showers, kitchen, toilet, and change rooms). At the current jet rescue boat shed at Barcoo Road we have one toilet and no shower. This is inadequate when you have five or six personnel that have been out on the water for hours and need to strip down and warm up. This problem is exacerbated now that we have both genders operating these craft. There are no kitchen facilities available other than a power point for an urn.

The lack of space available at Torrensville means that we are unable to conduct any training at this venue. We need a proper training area which has sufficient space and equipment to train our volunteers to a good standard; a standard the public has come to expect of our surf lifesavers. At the moment we are required to train at any location we can find, and whilst the level of training is first class, the facilities are somewhat third class.

Part of our requirement for a facility is to help us deliver our school program promptly, adequately in a proper environment with the appropriate training personnel and equipment. We also conduct community education for which we need community education equipment. All of the items necessary for the school and community education programs are currently stored at a staff member's house.

Lives can be saved with a centralised facility to house the communications and the surf rescue equipment. With equipment currently at different geographical premises/location it means that in a coordinated rescue situation we have people launching rescue vehicles from various locations, with our communications facility at Lonsdale and our back up administrative resources at Torrensville.

The submission points out the opportunities that will be realised by this motion today and the grant from both the federal and state government. The submission continues:

For the past 18 months Surf Life Saving SA has been working closely with Adelaide Shores about the opportunity for us to be part of the precinct development at Barcoo Road, allowing us immediate access to the boat ramp in times of emergency.

There are major cost efficiencies in using the SAFECOM building designs that are the basis of SES and CFS facilities in both metropolitan and rural locations. We have been working closely with the SAFECOM Asset Manager so that we can use their cost-saving designs but ensure they meet our requirements.

What is the cost of one life saved is the question in this submission. I will not read the rest of the submission, suffice to say that this motion today needs to be supported so that we can go ahead and make sure that surf lifesaving has Surf Central as soon as possible. The surf lifesaving organisation is an iconic organisation in South Australia. As I said, in my electorate of Morphett I see them every week during the summer time, and at other times as well. In fact, at six o'clock this morning I was up, and the boat crew from Somerton were already practising and doing their rowing for one of the upcoming comps.

This state administration and education centre at the West Beach Trust is well overdue. I congratulate surf lifesaving and what they are doing and Elaine Farmer for the hard work she puts in. Shane Daw and Steve Cornish, the two presidents of the clubs at the Bay and at Somerton, work exceptionally hard. I know that Shane is working with Elaine on many of these programs, and I congratulate them for what they are doing. This is an overdue reward for a job well done. We support the motion.

Motion carried.

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