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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-09-12 Daily Xml
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GILES ELECTORATE

The Hon. L.R. BREUER (Giles) (15:36): I am not sure what is wrong with the opposition today but its members have done nothing but whinge and complain all day, so I will talk about some good news in my electorate and lift the tone of the place.

First, I want to talk about the opening I attended last week of the Minya Murray project in Whyalla at Stuart High School. Stuart High School is an amazing school in my electorate. It has a principal, Veronica Conley, who does wonderful work with the students there, many of whom come from very hard backgrounds. The children there are nourished, they are encouraged, and they are able to develop way beyond what anybody would ever comprehend. It is a very good school.

Last week they opened a project called the Minya Murray project, which is a replica of Australia's River Murray. The replica was built to allow students to learn about natural plant life, as well as animals such as Murray cod and yabbies. I know the school's Assistant Principal, Steve Walker, was very instrumental in getting this going, because he believes that the benefits to the students, and the way they would learn, would be vastly improved by this project. The learning resource for students was high because the high-end kids would be able to do things such as water sampling, water chemistry, flow rates, pressure pumps and that sort of thing while other kids might just want to enjoy it for its ambience, or pot a few yabbies or do a bit of basic biology, depending on the student's abilities.

The project's coordinator is Tamy Pond, and she has been working as hard as she possibly can getting this project going, encouraging people, getting the students there and keeping them there, keeping them going. So I want to congratulate Stuart High School for a wonderful project, something that is different. It will be working in conjunction with their aquaculture and horticulture projects there, and I look forward to going back in a few months to see the plants that are growing there, which will include bush medicine.

A couple of weeks ago I also attended the opening of the Gabmididi Manoo Children and Family Centre that was opened by the Minister for Education. Again, that was an exciting day. The Barngarla people are the local people in our area, and this centre, which is a children's and family centre, is a wonderful achievement. I omitted to mention that Senator Alex Gallacher also attended the opening.

It is an amazing place, and I thought the decor was wonderful. It was designed, and a lot of the artwork was done, by local Aboriginal artists. It is a wonderful centre for our Aboriginal community to attend, and a wonderful example for our community of how we can work together in reconciliation as a community. The Centre director is Kellie Bails, and I want to congratulate her on the centre's appearance and decor, the way it is operating and the fact that numbers are increasing every week.

I also attended during the break a wonderful photographic exhibition at the Middleback Theatre, which was set up by our local Whyalla Photography Group, which the President, John Murray, hosted. A lot of people from the community attended that exhibition because it was a world-class photo exhibition. There was a vast range of subjects, including people, places, our local scenery and historic photos. I was extremely impressed with the whole project. I thought it was wonderful. I know they sold a lot of photographs. I bought two, myself, on the night. I wish them well. Of course, it was held in our first-class Middleback Theatre in Whyalla.

I also noted with interest the Whyalla Pink Spirits Breast Cancer Support Group has established its wig library. What on earth is a wig library? This is for people who have cancer and are having chemotherapy. Of course, one of the side effects of chemotherapy is that people very often lose their hair. Losing their hair has a shocking impact on them and their family, and brings home the enormity of the cancer diagnosis, so it is obvious to everyone that you are unwell. Being able to use the disguise of a realistic wig helps remove the obviousness of the illness and treatment, as well as providing a much-needed boost to self-esteem.

Most members of our local Pink Spirits Breast Cancer Support Group are survivors of breast cancer. They do wonderful work in our community. They have established this off their own bat. They have a number of wigs, and they are also available to men as well as women. I want to congratulate them on the wonderful work that they do. Finally, I want to recommend to everyone that they read the letter from Bishop Eugene Hurley to Tony Abbott regarding the plight of refugees in Australia, and I will discuss that another time.

Time expired.

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