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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-11-13 Daily Xml
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Grievance Debate

Local Government Elections

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (15:56): I rise today to speak about a couple of things, but first of all I would like to take this opportunity to extend my congratulations to all those candidates who were successful in the local government elections over the weekend. I look forward to working with local government over the next few years. I believe they are an important sphere of government and certainly the closest sphere of government to the people. The local councils actually do have quite a bit of influence on the day-to-day life of local government, and I think that is why some people often get quite cranky with them. That is why it is important that we work with local government to make sure that they are the most effective they can be.

I would also like to thank for their service those candidates who did not renominate for re-election and all those candidates who were defeated at the council elections. I put on record my thanks for their work in their local communities. Having been in local government myself, I know it is rewarding but also very challenging to work in the communities. I would like to congratulate Mayor Glenn Docherty on winning the City of Playford mayoralty. He did very well there. I would also like to congratulate Mayor Karen Redman and Mayor Bill O'Brien, who got in unopposed. These are the three councils that cover my electorate.

I recently attended the Dalkeith CFS open day. The Dalkeith CFS is a very important CFS; it is the one closest to my house. In fact, it is only about a kilometre away from home, and they will be there should I ever need them. Well, they are partly there; they are in a different zone, so I would actually have to rely on the Gawler MFS first and then the Dalkeith CFS, even although the MFS are further away.

As usual, they put on an excellent open day, showing the community the sort of work they get involved in, from road accident issues to dealing with various hazardous substances. The CFS in Dalkeith is a very strong CFS, well led by Clint Marsh, the brigade captain, who also happened to be a candidate at the elections. I do not think his results have been announced yet, so I wish him well in the council elections.

One thing that does disappoint me a bit is that the future of the Dalkeith CFS is a little uncertain at the moment. I know that the volunteers are unsettled because of the lack of certainty about their future. Apparently, they are part of a review. What has been conveyed to me by members on the ground is that the level of engagement with them has not been the best it could be and that they are not sure in which direction they will be going. For the record, I indicate that the Dalkeith CFS is probably one of the busiest, if not the busiest, CFS brigade in this state and that they do a wonderful job. I would like to see them do well in the future.

Like every member here I am sure, on Sunday I was able to attend a Remembrance Day service. The service I attended was in my town of Gawler—and it was probably the best attended Remembrance Day service—to mark the centenary of the signing of the armistice in France. Part of the service was also to dedicate the new memorial, which has been built in Pioneer Park. I would like to congratulate the Gawler RSL sub-branch and their members, who do a great deal of work throughout the whole year to support veterans in their community, on the various commemorative services they run.

In particular, I would like to put on record that it was great to catch up with Reg 'Swannie' Swanborough, who is a young 96-year-old veteran. He is incredibly fit. Although a little bit senior to me, he is actually probably a lot fitter than I am. He goes to the gym three days a week and does hundreds of exercises every week. He is an impressive man. The other young veteran in the town is Sid Ey, who is only 102 years old. I believe that Sid is now the oldest veteran in this state. He may be a little bit old in age, but he is certainly quite sharp.

I would also like to mention that today is the 110th birthday of the Gawler sub-branch of the ALP. We have been around for 110 years serving the community and I look forward to their being around for another 110 years.

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