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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-05-30 Daily Xml
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Surf Life Saving South Australia

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (14:43): My question is to the Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing. Will the minister outline the improved services this new government is providing to our surf lifesaving clubs?

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD (Gibson—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (14:43): This is an election commitment we made that is outlined in the budget, and you can read about that. That was a commitment we took to the election. Those opposite will remember March 2017, when we won the election and they lost. Now we are the government and we get to make those decisions. I would like to thank the member for Morphett for the question and note his commitment to surf lifesaving. He is a very active member of the Glenelg Surf Life Saving Club, along with his family. I thank him for his service and thank all the surf lifesaving volunteers out there.

We took an important commitment to the election to improve the safety of beachgoers and to equip surf lifesaving clubs with the resources they need to perform their very important role. I am focused on ensuring our surf lifesaving clubs have access to the best possible equipment and technology. Hearing the Minister for Agriculture talk about the drone technology, I am very pleased about our commitment to drones for surf lifesaving clubs as well. This is going to be a great asset to our surf lifesaving clubs because it will give them a modern technological resource to help them do their jobs.

We know that the rubber ducky goes out to rescue people or someone goes out on a board. In fact, if there is, heaven forbid, a shark in the area, the rubber ducky goes out and the shark is obviously below the water and they can't see where it is. The great thing these drones are going to be able to do is relay and talk to the people in the rubber ducky and tell them where it is. When the shark is under the water, they can't see it, but the people in the drone will be able to see it and talk to the rubber ducky and help shoo the shark away and keep our beaches safer.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER Order!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: We are very excited about this, and I have had a number of constructive conversations with Surf Life Saving SA who are excited about the use of these drones at surf clubs and who acknowledge that they will be a great asset.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER Order!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: Unlike those on the other side, who I don't think spoke to anyone in their time in government but just told people what to do, we are having proactive conversations, which is absolutely outstanding.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER Order!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: Surf Life Saving SA undertake crucial preventative action to keep our South Australian beaches safe, including helicopter patrols for the purposes, as I said, of shark spotting and patrols and rescue efforts. Again, in my local area I have a number of surf lifesaving clubs. I know that the environment minister is a member of the Brighton Surf Lifesaving Club, and I have an association with the Somerton Surf Life Saving Club—great surf lifesaving clubs in our area.

The Hon. S.S. Marshall: I was a little nipper.

The SPEAKER Order!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: The Premier was a Semaphore nipper. It is wonderful to see what these people do. They do an absolutely outstanding job—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER Order!

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: —in our community, as do all our volunteers across so many sectors, such as sport, the community and emergency services. Again, our surf lifesavers, I dip my cap to. They do an absolutely outstanding job.

The Hon. T.J. Whetstone: And they are volunteers, too.

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD: They are volunteers, as the agriculture minister points out, and they do an outstanding job in our community.

In 2016, Surf Life Saving SA patrolling members performed—wait for it—a total of 74,717 volunteer hours. That is absolutely outstanding, Mr Speaker, and I know that you will agree that is absolutely superb. They performed 122 rescues, 912 first-aid treatments and 16,900 preventative actions. They are doing work right across the board. These statistics include 139 shark alarms, and we mentioned the ability that drones are going to have to work with the rubber duckies to make our beaches safer and to help our surf lifesaving clubs.

They performed searches for 94 missing people and 57 lost children. That is a common problem on the beaches: people lose their kids and the surf lifesavers are always there to help out. The value the surf lifesaving community brings to the wider society is immense and their efforts need to be fully supported. On this side of the house, we are very proud to be doing that, and I think that our drone policy will keep our beaches safer and really help our surf lifesaving community. We are very proud to deliver it and it is in the budget.

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens, who is on two warnings still.

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