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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2021-10-27 Daily Xml
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Gibson Electorate

The Hon. C.L. WINGARD (Gibson—Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (15:37): I cannot say enough about how privileged I feel to represent such a diverse electorate full of supportive community groups, friendly local businesses and amazing individuals in the seat of Gibson. The Friends of Minda Dunes is one of those fantastic local volunteer groups. The friends last week celebrated their second anniversary of caring for the dunes at North Brighton.

Each week, they weed, plant vegetation and collect rubbish. They protect important coastal vegetation, with the dunes containing some of the last remnant dune vegetation along the coast. Since the Minda Coastal Park path opened in October 2019, and it was a pleasure to be there for that, the Friends of Minda Dunes spent almost 2,000 hours caring for the dunes last year alone. They planted 2,000 coastal shrubs and bushes, and this year they have added many more.

While the friends are made up of too many volunteers to mention here, I want to acknowledge a few individuals who are out there each week, including volunteer coordinator Lindy Lawson, Terry Bruun, Kaye Trezise, Ian and Marilyn Worsfold and Wendy and David Trudgen. The local community owes a massive thanks to the Friends of Minda Dunes for their weekly efforts. I am pleased to add that the friends successfully applied for a grant of $47,000 earlier this year from Green Adelaide.

This funding will support the friends to undergo further education on coastal care, put up plant identification signs, involve contractors in weed removal projects and, of course, plant more vegetation in the area. We love the work these volunteers are doing. I congratulate the Friends of Minda Dunes on their second anniversary and wish them all the best for the future.

Last week, I hosted a community forum for residents in Oaklands Park featuring key speakers from Rail Care and Junction Australia. My team and I put together this forum to tell people about the great local volunteering initiative and to provide information on the state government's exciting housing project, Oaklands Green. It was a pleasure to have John and Pam Culshaw in attendance. John and Pam live in Oaklands Park and volunteer with Rail Care, donating their time to care and spruce up the Oaklands Railway Station. Around the state, Rail Care volunteers like John and Pam are hard at work on train stations making them more attractive places, and they do a wonderful job.

Representatives from Junction Australia shared details about the exciting things that are happening with the Oaklands Green project. The $135 million renewal project at Oaklands Park will deliver 665 homes, including 250 social housing properties while also creating new, affordable and private housing opportunities. The project will also create a greener and shadier place to live, upgraded reserves and improved walking access to local amenities. I want to thank the following residents who stuck around and shared their passion for our local area: Rod Spragg, Tony Jarman, Michael Kohler, Janet Rose and Lyn and Daniel Staltari. Your presence and input on the night were greatly appreciated.

As we approach the warm weather of the summer, I want to acknowledge a few of the small businesses in my electorate that have been operating day after day throughout this year, offering a service to the community and responding to various impacts of trading during the pandemic. I host community catch-ups at different local cafes in my electorate each month, and I want to thank the owners and staff who have gone above and beyond to accommodate these monthly catch-ups. A massive thank you to Kathy Chet from 101 Cafe, Lucy Drazetic from Café Finnis, Tim Harper from Banks & Brown, Ben and Penny Wallbridge from Somerton Kiosk, James Edward from Kushu Cafe and Chris Walsh from Lampshade Cafe.

Each of these cafes has provided a steady flow of coffee, good food and a great space to chat with local residents. That is one of the great things about cafes: they bring people to together in our community. They do more than just provide a business: they actually provide a community service. The feedback I have received from these conversations has helped me to better represent my local electorate, and thanks to each of these cafes for offering the space.

Moving onto another local business, Thats Dancing is a dance studio in Warradale that celebrated its 25th anniversary this year. Thats Dancing was started by studio director, Renee Post. In fact, my girls went to Thats Dancing with Miss Renee. They do an outstanding job, and I want to thank her for all the great work she has done across the time and again congratulate Thats Dancing on 25 years of success.

Brighton Tackle and Bait is another local business that does a great job, especially on social media, and they have been around for some 40 years. They have a great selection of products and, being by the water, of course, their advice is greatly appreciated by the locals. I give a big shout-out to Peter Whiting (better known as Fish), store manager, Riccardo Vozzo and Greg Irving. Between these guys, they have stacks of experience and they are happy to share it with the local community. Get online and follow them because you can get your tips there. Thank you to all those in our community for the great work they do.

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