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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-10-12 Daily Xml
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Lee Electorate

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee) (15:44): Last year, for the first time our community, and indeed communities around the world, celebrated the inaugural Probus Day on 1 October 2020. In the weeks while parliament has not been sitting, once again we have had Probus Day. It has been designed to line up with the United Nations Day of Older Persons, recognised around the world. These international days are used to raise awareness of particular causes and activities for communities, and so it is with Probus Day.

It is an opportunity to remind the community, and also members of Probus clubs, about the importance of social connections and support. While many of us would be familiar with the origins of Probus, or professional business network organisations, how we now experience them are opportunities for older people, perhaps including those who are retired in our communities, to meet, to gather and to enjoy each other's company and social experiences.

I am very proud that in the electorate I represent I have several Probus clubs, including the West Lakes Shore Probus Club, the West Lakes South Ladies Probus Club, the West Lakes Combined Probus Club, the Kidman Park Combined Probus, and the Charles Sturt Probus Club. Of course, there are many more Probus clubs across other parts of the western suburbs.

It has been a great pleasure, as it is with anyone many of us are able to bring into this place, to provide a tour of the parliament for Probus clubs. I have done that with several of the clubs in my electorate, but it was my pleasure last week to have the Charles Sturt Probus Club in for a tour of Parliament House. It is always an important activity for us to lift back the veil of parliament, so to speak, to not only show them around but explain how parliament works and some of its operations and conventions.

I am very grateful that for the attendees—somewhat limited as we continue to be through necessary COVID restrictions—Bob Williams, Grant and Lin Jewell, Mitzi Moyle, Colin and Margaret Bird, Thelma Foxen, Christine O'Connor, Jeff and Halina Parish, Jim and Glynis Pawlyn, Malcolm and Maria Thomas and Lynne Fisher, it was a terrific opportunity to experience just what the parliament has got to show members of our community more broadly.

I also wanted to take the opportunity to speak about another very important group in the middle of the Lee electorate and that is the West Lakes Sports and Social Club. Some of you might not be familiar with that club, but you would be more familiar with those that share and use its facilities. They include, for example, the SMOSH West Lakes Football Club, which is very well known in amateur league, women's football and a junior football circles; the Henley and Grange Baseball Club, a very strong and successful club in Adelaide's baseball competitions; the Port Adelaide Softball Club; and the West AFL Masters Football Club.

This is a facility that is quite literally bursting at the seams with clubs, with players and with activities. Across those four clubs, there are dozens and dozens of teams, particularly at the junior level. That is why over the course of the weekend I was very pleased to commit to SMOSH West Lakes that an elected Malinauskas Labor government would be committing up to $3 million for the redevelopment of their clubrooms. This is a really important investment in the sporting futures of many families in the western suburbs.

Only a few weeks ago—in fact, it was back in May—one night after sitting I gathered here at Parliament House for dinner with some of the representatives of SMOSH West Lakes Football Club, including Scott Fitzgerald; Tara Hancock; Paul Cutler; Brad Smith; the coach of the women's team, Greg Phillips, a very famous Port Adelaide footballer; the president of the juniors, Shane Finney; as well as Dominic Hodges from the Henley and Grange Baseball Club; and Lynn Callaghan from the Port Adelaide Softball Club.

This investment is committed to by South Australian Labor and by me as the local MP quite frankly because those clubs deserve it. They have done an extraordinary amount of work over many years, building their respective clubs into the strong, successful clubs that they are and supporting so many people in the community, with very a strong juniors presence—apart of course from the masters club, as you would expect. There are thousands of families across the western suburbs who take benefit from the West Lakes Sporting and Social Club across those sporting clubs, and we look forward to continuing to support them into the future.

Time expired.

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