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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-09-15 Daily Xml
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OPERATION FLINDERS FOUNDATION

Debate resumed.

Mr GARDNER (Morialta) (11:55): It gives me pleasure to speak on this motion, which I imagine will receive bipartisan support in this house. Many Liberal members have already spoken and will continue to speak in favour of the program and I particularly note your support for the program, Madam Speaker, and that of other members of the other side and the Independents. It is an excellent program and one that deserves continued support from the government and I am pleased that it has continued to succeed for 20 years.

The motion congratulates Operation Flinders on its 20th anniversary. That is a record of 20 years of great success. The motion also notes the positive development of personal attitudes, value, self-esteem and motivation that the program has on the participants. It also pays tribute to the staff, volunteers, board members and ambassadors of the foundation, past and present.

I was one of four members of parliament, along with the members for Chaffey, Norwood and Unley, who had the privilege of visiting Yankaninna Station on the weekend and observing some of the activities of the program. I will briefly share with the house some of my thoughts upon the opportunity to see what goes on.

Operation Flinders helps about 400 young people per year. The weekend that we were there, there were eight teams of 10 young people, along with their support groups: team leaders, assistant team leaders, counsellors and peer supporters (people who have previously completed the program successfully and have come back because they want to help the next group come through).

The participants in the program were from different backgrounds. There was a team of 10 young people supported by Disability SA, there were some who had an association with schools and there were some young people who had been sponsored to go by local chapters from Port Augusta, Christies Beach and Bowden Brompton. Chapters exist around the state that are supporting Operation Flinders. I note that the member for Norwood, in particular, is looking at helping some young people from Norwood to go on a trip next year. I think that is a terrific endeavour. Every year, many young people need this sort of support.

When we arrived at Leigh Creek and undertook the bus trip to Yankaninna Station, I did not have a huge understanding of what we were going to be doing for the weekend. We were told that we would go up there, we would learn about the program and that it would be interesting. I was a bit confronted when the first activity they took us to after a very interesting four-wheel drive trip was the abseiling.

The group consisted of the four members of parliament, people from some of the other sponsors of the program and other ambassadors. We were informed that the Leader of the Opposition, Isobel Redmond, had done the abseiling twice. We were informed that other members of parliament had done it. We were informed that the member for Schubert, Ivan Venning, had successfully abseiled down this fairly significant cliff.

From that moment, I can inform the house that none of the members of parliament in attendance on Saturday were willing to say, 'I'm not going to do this. If Ivan can do it then I can do it.' So, member for Schubert, I can say that you are an inspiration to many of us to take on something that we otherwise might have quietly pleaded a sprained ankle or any other number of excuses, but none of us did that because we looked to your example. So, I am proud to say that I have now tried abseiling. I am not sure that I will be doing it again in a hurry.

I can also say that most of the kids who go on the program are not forced to do the abseiling, and the team leaders are very careful and that if any of the participants choose not to do the abseiling then those participants may not be picked on by their peers. Nevertheless, despite that, a majority of the participants who go on the program do the abseiling and, as I understand it, appreciate it.

We had the opportunity to meet with some of the groups as they were going about their business. On the Saturday night, we visited one of the teams who were undertaking an Aboriginal cultural program, eating some bush tucker and learning some of the Aboriginal language from one of the local Adnyamathanha people, which was really interesting. We spoke to the kids about how they had appreciated their trek. We also spoke to a number of the groups on the Sunday, the following day, as we encountered them around the property.

One of the things that was fairly consistent in most of the contributions was when we asked: how was the walk? Depending on the groups (because some of them are, obviously, more physically capable than others), the kids walk between 80 and 100 kilometres over the eight days, as a general rule. A lot of them would not have had much more activity than going down to the deli to get a snack. Some of them were different, and we met one kid who plays under-16 football with one of our clubs, and I will not mention the club because it is a bit embarrassing for that person if they are honest about it. This young Port player was indicative of a number of them who said that the first day or two was a real struggle. They are walking 10 to 15 kilometres a day and over fairly hilly terrain.

The first day or two was a struggle but we met them on day 3 or 4. Of course, there were three days when the groups arrived, so some of them were at different stages of the program. On the third day, almost universally they were saying that it was much easier going. Some of them had to walk over more hills than others. We noted that in one group the team leader had an excellent idea: every time that a member of the group swore, they would have to walk over another hill rather than going around it. Apparently, the language improved significantly by the middle of the trip.

It was excellent in terms of building the self-esteem and the understanding of the participants that they could achieve these things that at the beginning of the week they felt they could not. It also had some fairly intensive effects on their behaviour. We met one young man who, we were informed later, had actually thrown some rocks at his team leader on the first day when he decided that he did not want to go any further; he was encouraged to keep going, and he responded to that sort of response.

By the time we met the participants, when we spoke to the young man he was the most charming and delightful person, wanting to tell us about all the snakes that he had seen (apparently they were lizards but, nevertheless, imagination is one of the important things that people develop on this program), and he wanted to tell us about the hills that they had climbed and the sights that they had seen. We were told by the team leader that, by that stage, he was pitching his sleeping pad right near the figures of authority.

A lot of the volunteers who participate are former and serving Army people, some police officers and others and from all walks of life, but they are often very strong figures and that sort of role model is very important for some of the kids. In particular, I want to pay tribute to the late Pam Murray-White, whom other members have spoken about and whose idea in setting up the program was so important in the work that she did; John Shepherd, the CEO; Mike Terlet, the chairman of the board; and some of the people who helped us on the weekend in terms of visiting these groups.

There was some fairly entertaining four-wheel drive terrain that we were going over, and some of the drivers were people like Ian Langley, who the member for Fisher talked about—'Langers', as we were introduced and later found out was Gil's son—and also Di Lintern from Variety. Those volunteers were just four among the hundreds of volunteers who help Operation Flinders every year to be the success that it is.

I note that in the coming weeks (the second weekend in October, I think) the Trailblazers walk is coming up. That is one of Operation Flinders major fundraisers for the year. It starts at Pinky Flat, and the first stop-off for those who want to do the walk and raise some money is an 18-kilometre walk to Athelstone. I welcome everybody to my electorate of Morialta and to participate and help the Trailblazers to do their fundraising for Operation Flinders. I commend the volunteers, the staff, the workers, the board members, the ambassadors and everyone else who is involved. I commend the motion to the house.

The Hon. M.J. ATKINSON (Croydon) (12:05): I, too, support the motion. I was fortunate enough to attend an Operation Flinders week at Moolooloo Station, when they were at Moolooloo, a couple of bases back. I think what Operation Flinders does is excellent and worthwhile for the reasons that other members have given. I am reluctant to spoil the unity behind this motion but I think one thing has been left out, that is, that the former attorney-general, Trevor Griffin, left the fate of Operation Flinders—as he left so much—to his chief executive, Kate Lennon, and when I became attorney-general, Kate Lennon was a long way down the track to withdrawing all government funding for Operation Flinders.

Kate Lennon was entirely contemptuous of Operation Flinders. She regarded it as masculine, macho, wilderness therapy, and she had organised, I think, a study by Flinders University academics with a view to closing down government funding for Operation Flinders. If the Kerin government had been re-elected and Kate Lennon had remained the chief executive, the overwhelming likelihood is that Operation Flinders, if it still operated, would operate without government funding.

I do not blame the Liberal Party for that because I do not believe that the Liberal Party agreed with Kate Lennon's world view and, indeed, to the extent that the parliamentary Liberal Party knew about the government in exile which Kate Lennon was running in the justice department during the tenure of the Hon. Trevor Griffin as attorney-general, insofar as they knew about it, they were opposed to it, particularly the weakness on law and order and criminal justice that characterised Trevor Griffin's tenure as attorney-general.

I know that there are some members opposite—not all of them are still here—who privately used to talk to me about their concerns about the Hon. Trevor Griffin's approach to criminal justice. We have made changes and many of those changes that were opposed by Trevor Griffin as attorney-general were, in fact, supported by the Liberal opposition because they knew the time had come for those changes.

But make no mistake about Operation Flinders: it was about to have its government funding withdrawn and what saved it was the change of government, and what saved it was my ability to stand up to a rampaging chief executive who, when I arrived in my portfolio, basically ran the show.

Mr GRIFFITHS (Goyder) (12:09): I also wish to make a contribution on this. In relation to the comments by the member for Croydon, I am not personally aware of the history on which he reflects, but I can confirm that, after my election in 2006, and holding a youth portfolio, I met with Mr John Shepherd at their offices at Port Adelaide. While I have many recollections of that discussion, he said to me that it was Michael Atkinson, as attorney-general, who ensured the funding continued for Operation Flinders, so I am prepared to acknowledge that. I do not know about the other history which the member for Croydon referred to, but I do acknowledge that.

In about 2007, my wife and I had the opportunity to be on one of the trips and not only were we treated wonderfully well by our hosts but it was the opportunity to be with these young people for two days.

Mr Venning: Did you go over the edge?

Mr GRIFFITHS: Yes, I did, and even my wife did. The member for Schubert asks, 'Did I go over the edge? I said, 'Yes, I did, and my wife did,' and she has a great fear of heights, member for Schubert, so it was a brave move by her.

I just want to reflect upon a story which I feel illustrates the difference the program makes. We were with some young people, and I was told a story by one of the adult supervisors about an instance on a previous trip where a young man who was around the campfire one night took a shovel to go out to do what the supervisor thought were his ablutions. He was gone for some time and was noticed in his absence. One of the supervisors went out to look for this young man and found him digging a hole. The supervisor thought the hole was a bit bigger than what he would need for his ablutions—what was he doing?

The young man said that, in the five days he had spent on the trip up to that point, he had realised the folly of his previous ways and the poor direction he had taken in his life, and that he had to change if he was going to have a future. This young man said to the supervisor, 'I'm digging a grave to bury the old me.' It was a really emotional message. He was burying the old him—a symbolic gesture—digging a hole big enough for a person to be interred, and then he filled it in and walked back to the campsite as a new person. I think that is a fantastic story.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

Mr GRIFFITHS: That's right. Indeed, it is an example of what Operation Flinders does for so many people from all around South Australia who are in some need of guidance. John Shepherd is a passionate man who is very hard to say no to. No matter what your political persuasion, you will, by nature, support Operation Flinders. Quality people are involved in the program; there is absolutely no doubt about that. Be it at the board level, at the corporate fundraising level, or the people who go on the trips, or the people who arrange it all—a lot of ex-military and ex-police are involved—these people are all dedicated to ensure that our next generation of community people have a future, so I commend them for that. I commend the member for Schubert for the motion, and I hope that government support long exists for Operation Flinders.

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (12:12): I, too, rise in support of this motion. Operation Flinders has had 20 very successful years of operation up in the northern Flinders. One week ago, I experienced just what Operation Flinders offers to so many of the less fortunate children that have, over a period of their life, experienced doubt, hardship and a lack of leadership. For one reason or another, they are a very much disadvantaged sector within our communities. It is very sad that we have these young children who are so inept at knowing just what a standard day of a normal person's life is.

I acknowledge John Shepherd as a very passionate CEO who has been there for a number of years now. In watching him operate and address the group—a group of eight of us were up there—every time he explained what part of the operation was about, you could see passion just oozing from him, because he could see the opportunities that this operation gave those young kids. I would like to acknowledge his vision and his group's vision. They are there on a voluntary basis, giving these young unfortunate kids some real-life experience.

What I noticed while I was up there for those two days was that it is about giving those kids a really good scope of what imagination is all about. When you look into the eyes of some of these young kids, you can see that they have never had the opportunity to use their imagination; the guidelines of discipline have been almost non-existent. It gives them an opportunity to work as a team. I think that is a very important part of life: to be able to experience team bonding, to be able to experience how to work as a team and to experience how much better it can make your life to have someone help you get up when you fall down, to have someone give you a bit of an opinion or an answer to something that you are not sure of. For them it is learning about what newly found values can do to your self-esteem, your self belief.

I looked into the eyes of a lot of these young ones, particularly our first group on the Saturday night around the campfire, and they really had this very vague reflection in their eyes of just not knowing where to go to next, not knowing who to turn to for answers or who to turn to for some reassurance that they are real. It is a program that gives these young kids more belief every day that they are there. It was eight days' experience.

It was unfortunate that on day one these kids would get out of the bus, look around and there was nothing in sight—nothing but raw landscape. They had a backpack that would have been considerably heavy to some of these young 13 year-olds who might have weighed half as much again as the backpack that they just put on. You can see that they aspire to look to someone who they actually believe, someone they can go to and look for some real values of life.

Again, as I said, hopping out of that bus there were some who did not believe they could continue any further than the 10 steps out of the bus and not want to be a part of that program. Some of the children would run off, some of them would sit down and say, 'I'm not going a step further.' But I think through some reassurance and leadership from the group's leaders they eventually would get up and take those first few steps that would ease them into the program.

As the member for Morialta explained, some of them rebelled and some of them did not have the belief that the program would be of benefit and, yes, they did stone the leaders. That was very sad to hear. We did not witness it but we saw the results. Some of the leaders had some severe bruising and swelling because these non-believers as kids stoned their leaders because they did not understand the support they were about to be given over the next eight days.

Sitting around the campfire it was about individuals sitting at one end of the camp and other individuals hiding in their tents, other kids sitting around behind trees. As a group, when we got there, we went and embraced those young ones, had a talk to them and gave them some reassurance that we were there to support them and to make sure that this operation continues to be funded and that it is there for the betterment of their experience over this eight days—also of the impact it will have on them perhaps for the rest of their lives.

We had some really funny singalongs around the campfire. The kids experienced cooking kangaroo, some vegetables and making damper. They were proud that they could actually have accomplished a bush meal and then presented it to the group of eight of us. They proudly said, 'I've cooked this. What do you think? What does it taste like? This bush tucker tastes alright.' As the night progressed, we went back to camp and we had some bonding. We ate some very nice food.

Unfortunately, for some of the members who were there with me, they said to me, 'That lamb roast was nice,' and I said, 'Lamb roast is nice, yes, but you have just eaten goat.' Much to their disbelief they went back into the kitchen and said, 'Tell me that wasn't goat.' I said, 'I'm not going to tell you that it wasn't goat, but yes.' It was very nice. The vegetables were not like home-cooked vegetables but they had that element of eating out in the bush and just experiencing what Operation Flinders is about.

I would like to acknowledge my predecessor the Hon. Karlene Maywald. She was a pioneer in endorsing local regions, local chapters if you like, to support this operation and raise funds within the community to support what Operation Flinders is all about. Each chapter would go out and speak to service communities, speak to their council, speak to business people and speak to leaders within the communities, to come on board and give some financial assistance and, if it was not financial assistance, maybe they needed to go up to the Flinders and experience just what this program was all about.

Like myself, the members for Norwood, Unley and Morialta have experienced it, we support it and we are endeavouring to put in some financial support, as we ask the current government to give continued support. If there is capacity to give it even greater support financially, it is money well spent and it is giving some hope to a sector of our state's communities and it will give some hope to those disadvantaged children.

Yankaninna Station is a beautiful property and is full of mystique at the moment after experiencing some 28 inches of rainfall last year. On average it experiences between three and five inches in a normal year, so there are a lot of wild flowers and ground grasses. Trees were looking spectacular, but we saw that rugged landscape, rugged terrain of majestic red gums in the river valleys. We looked at the harsh rock landscapes that were absolutely picturesque and really do take away your breath.

Again for me it was a great experience and something I want to experience again and perhaps be given the opportunity to go up there in a leadership role. I support Operation Flinders. I will be looking to start up the Chaffey chapter to give it some financial support from the electorate of Chaffey, because it will benefit some of those disadvantaged kids within the electorate of Chaffey. Every member in this house should support it and look at how it will advantage their disadvantaged children.

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