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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-05-31 Daily Xml
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Lamerton, Mr R.

Mrs PEARCE (King) (15:18): I want to use this time to honour one volunteer who has made an extensive impact in my local community. A true champion when it comes to volunteering, Rob (Bob) Lamerton passed away earlier this year, but he leaves behind a legacy not only to be proud of but for which we, the north-east community and the SA theatrical scene, are greatly indebted.

Along with his wife, Diane, Bob was a visionary and co-founder of the Tea Tree Players Theatre. He came here to South Australia as an English migrant, settling in Modbury Heights with his wife and young sons. He was greatly passionate about theatre but, with no real opportunity for live entertainment in the area at the time, Bob worked with the theatrical group called the Nomads, performing comedies at the AMP Theatre in Adelaide.

Bob wanted to bring some of that life and culture to our community and worked hard to bring live entertainment to the north-east. He dedicated time to researching local halls and developing plans to eventually launch the Tea Tree Players Theatre. For those who have not been, it is an absolutely beautiful theatre. It is both welcoming and elegant. For those interested, I encourage you to come visit this month for the world premiere of the socially distanced play written by another local legend, Damon Hill.

A lot of work went into turning the old Golden Grove hall into a theatre, and it was not without its challenges. Not having seating, a stage, lighting, sound equipment, props, costumes or scenery meant Bob had much of his work cut out for him. In fact, for a period of time I understand that the seating for the audience needed to be set up prior to each performance, as the hall had many uses at the time.

Bob did not let these hurdles stop him from getting the theatre up and running. He had the vision that the hall would be the perfect fit and he had the drive to bring live entertainment out to the north-east. Bob was absolutely determined to see the Tea Tree Players Theatre become a success. Whether it was facing naysayers at a community meeting—

Mr Pisoni: Mr Deputy Speaker, I draw your attention to the state of the house.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Members, a lack of a quorum has been brought to my attention. An absolute majority is not present. Please ring the bells.

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The minister and members on my left, if they speak again will be leaving the chamber.

A quorum having been formed:

Members interjecting:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Wright and the member for Unley will vacate for 10 minutes.

The honourable members for Unley and Wright having withdrawn from the chamber:

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for King will be heard in silence.

Mrs PEARCE: Whether it was facing naysayers at a community meeting to form the group, finding support to get the theatre going or fires in the hall, Bob never gave up. He even lost employment because of his dedication and time given to the theatre. You see, his boss came to see what he had been up to and, upon seeing all Bob's hard work for the theatre, he concluded that no person could do what he did without having dipped into his work hours, and he refused to believe otherwise.

But even that did not stop Bob from giving up on his vision. He persevered through the toughest challenges to see the Tea Tree Players Theatre group become the overwhelmingly successful institution it is today. Having now been around for 46 years, the Tea Tree Players Theatre has over 1,000 members, staged over 300 productions and sold almost half a million tickets. That all stemmed from Bob's vision and hard work, along with Diane, who both dedicated countless hours to making sure it was a success.

I want to extend my sincerest condolences to Diane, Bob's family and the Tea Tree Players Theatre family. I also want to extend my thanks to Bob for the enormous amount of work he put into the Tea Tree Players Theatre and to the many volunteers like Bob across our state who make an immeasurable difference to our communities every day. For every aspect of the arts to thrive and survive we need people like Bob and Diane.

The arts must be valued for its benefits to individuals, our community and our economy. I know how tough the pandemic has been for us all and recognise that the arts industry was hit particularly hard, which is why I am proud that this government, a Malinauskas government, supports the arts and creative sector to rebound from the impact of the pandemic and once again become a sector in which there is confidence to take risks with new works, festivals and ideas.

We know the seeds of great ideas and future international stars initially grow and flourish in local community creative endeavours. We are committed to supporting and enabling them to thrive.

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