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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-06-02 Daily Xml
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Elder and Davenport Electorates

Ms CLANCY (Elder) (14:56): My question is to the Minister for Human Services. How is the Malinauskas Labor government delivering on its election promises to foster communities and improve disability access in Davenport and Elder?

The Hon. N.F. COOK (Hurtle Vale—Minister for Human Services) (14:56): I thank the member for Elder for this question and for her relentless advocacy, along with the member for Davenport, in relation to improving community facilities and access to those within their communities. This question does sound a lot like the very tough questions being asked this week by those opposite, giving us an opportunity to talk about all our election commitments and how we are going to deliver them over the next few years. It provides a great opportunity to contrast Labor's comprehensive, deliverable, effective policies with those that were missing prior to the election.

In the lead-up to that election, I spent many weeks, months and years knocking on doors and talking with people in both of these incredible members of parliament's electorates, listening to the voices of community members, listening to things that mattered and things that they wanted improved in their communities. I talked about many things that we could do to make their community better. We made many significant commitments in housing, health, education, industry and the environment, but we also made promises about their local communities.

In the heart of Davenport, we have committed $1.5 million to upgrade the community centre at Aberfoyle Park. This provides many opportunities every week for hundreds of local people, some of whom are quite senior, to gather and connect to alleviate some of the loneliness that exists in homes across the suburbs. We will be increasing floor space at the centre, further developing the facilities that are already available there for many other great programs.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The exchange between the member for Schubert and the member for West Torrens will cease.

The Hon. N.F. COOK: These include arts programs, youth programs and, as I said, seniors' programs. Within that centre there will also be $40,000 committed to provide a space to undertake men's sheds activities, which was asked for by many, many people in the area.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Schubert and member for West Torrens!

The Hon. N.F. COOK: People in our community who have a disability do face enough barriers to access and inclusion, so when that happens at a place like a library it becomes very obvious that something must be done about it. We have committed $250,000 to be invested in the access to the Aberfoyle library, where it can currently take five to 10 minutes for someone with a mobility issue to get to the door. That will make a huge difference.

In Elder, there is going to be a brand-new community centre. This community centre is being established in partnership with the newly elected federal Labor government. I can't wait to see the City of Mitcham and their plans, to see the Pasadena Community Centre be built and then populated by people in the local community who can use the fully equipped kitchen, function space and storage centre. It will be a place where the whole community can get together and alleviate loneliness, build relationships and improve their lives.

We know that as we recover from COVID this is more critical than ever. If I can steal a quote, which I have heard from our Premier many times, we talk about COVID being the earthquake with mental health being the tsunami. That is going to be manifested in situations such as loneliness and other secondary health incidents that we see occur in our community. I know that community centres will be able to be part of what is a solution for these terrible consequences of the global pandemic.

The SPEAKER: Before I call for a final question, I update members in relation to questions asked in this session of parliament—160 questions have been asked: 34 by government members, 124 by members of the opposition, two by the crossbench and a further question today.

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