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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-05-06 Daily Xml
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AUSTRALIAN BLIND BOWLERS ASSOCIATION NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (17:28): It is my privilege to rise today on the first day of the 52nd  parliament to thank the electors of Florey for placing their trust in me to again represent them in this place and to pledge myself to their service and to be true to the values of access and equity. Madam Deputy Speaker, on behalf of the electors of Florey I congratulate you and the Speaker on your historic appointments.

I acknowledge that we gather on the traditional lands of the Kaurna people and I pay my respects to them as the custodians of the Adelaide Plains. I look forward to the day when the place of First Australians is acknowledged in all parliaments every day of sitting.

I place on record my congratulations to all the men and women who participated in the 31st Australian Blind Bowlers Association (ABBA) National Championships held recently at Salisbury Bowling Club. As patron of the South Australian Blind Bowlers Club I was honoured to accept the invitation to attend in order to deliver, on behalf of the Premier, the message at the opening ceremony last month.

Since its formation in 1977, the association has played a vital role in providing sporting and social opportunities for blind and vision-impaired people, none of which would be possible without the efforts of the fantastic volunteers who support the association, including my local residents Ray and Jill McKay. Although South Australia did not win the championships, we did not come away empty-handed. We had several people win awards: a silver in the mens' B2 singles to Brian Cameron; a gold in the mens' B2 pairs to Neil Cundy and Brian Cameron; a silver in the B4 ladies' singles with Rebecca Arbon's performance; and a gold in the ladies' B4 pairs to Marylyn Koch and Rebecca Arbon.

I would like also to put on the record the outstanding performance in his first appearance in the association's championships by Des Warner, who won the Encouragement Award. I would also like to pass on the thanks of the association to the Premier for his message and for his funding, and also to the Salisbury Bowling Club, which graciously let its wonderful clubhouse and greens to the blind bowlers; and I thank John Cooper for his graciousness at the closing ceremony. Also, I thank Jean Jackson and the kitchen and bar crew for their fantastic hospitality and feeding so many people so well for the entire week.

Also, I thank Ron Peters, who was on loan from the Hope Valley Bowling Club in my electorate, and to the other people from other clubs who acted as umpires. I thank the raffle sellers who made sure that everyone helped with the fundraising effort and Richard Berry, the MC for the whole week. Many great contributors are part of the Blind Bowlers Association. South Australia's own Kath Murrell is stepping down after competing in 31 nationals and acting for five years as vice-president and a delegate and 10 years as South Australian president. Dr John Vance from New South Wales will assume the role of ABBA President, and he has asked bowlers to assemble again in Rosehill, New South Wales, in 2011.

I would also like to mention the Western Australian and ABBA Treasurer, Bobby Tanner, who has been blind for 18 months. He has been involved since 1984 and in executive roles between 1990 and 2004.

On the subject of healthy lifestyles, which is what blind bowlers encourage, I would like to mention the Grains and Legumes Health Report which was recently launched in Adelaide and which concluded that eating two to three slices of wholegrain bread each day could reduce heart disease and diabetes by up to 30 per cent. Wholegrain consumption has been shown to be linked to improvements in body mass index, insulin sensitivity and diabetes, all of which are important risk factors for health and heart disease.

Including wholegrain breads regularly in a balanced diet could cut Australia's annual health bill by $1.2 billion, and this is something worth bearing in mind when we host or attend community sausage sizzles. It has been my quest for some years now to insist on or ask for wholegrain bread, which is not readily available; so I urge all members to encourage all their clubs and associations to make that bread available. While my campaign has been going for some time, as I said, I have met with a great deal of cynicism, and this new report will, I hope, change acceptance of the science and change the eating habits of people.

This breakthrough follows my speech on broccoli last year—the importance of that best of all vegetables being reinforced by a study noted in today's Advertiser announcing findings about its cancer reducing properties. Florey will be holding its annual Cancer Council morning tea shortly, and this year I hope that all members will be involved in those sorts of events in their electorate.

I would like also to talk about other issues, which I will in my address in reply, but I want to assure members that I look forward to working with them on all the wider issues that impact all our electorates. In my electorate particularly, I look forward to the works on the Modbury Public Hospital taking place. The recent campaign announcement of $44 million for funding for the hospital and its services secures its future and will provide all people in the north-eastern suburbs with fantastic service delivery.

Along with the anticipated GPS Plus centre things look very good for health in the north-eastern suburbs.

Time expired.

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