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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2022-09-27 Daily Xml
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Seacliff Surf Life Saving Club

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (15:28): It gives me great pleasure to be able to make a contribution today in my capacity as a local member of parliament in this place. Those who know me know that representing my local community is the greatest privilege of my life and I greatly love talking about good things happening in the area.

I want to talk about surf lifesaving today and that iconic Australian institution, in particular the success of a local club recently, that is the Seacliff Surf Life Saving Club. It is a great club, it is a growing club, it is a vibrant club, and it is the 2022 Club of the Year, as awarded in the recent surf lifesaving awards. It is a club that welcomes anyone in the community through its doors and onto the beach, and we know that when those red and yellow flags fly on the beach that is the safest place to swim and that is the safest place to play in the water.

At Seacliff, it is all about inclusivity. In 2016, it was such a pleasure to work with Seacliff on the Beach Access for All project, to welcome people who have mobility challenges, who are often in wheelchairs, to the beach and do so in a safe way with that accessible mat that we rolled out there in 2016. Earlier this year, we upgraded and renewed Beach Access for All, and it was so good to see the club embrace this program and celebrate being a truly accessible beach.

The club is under the leadership of Jacinta Day, the president, and Dr Glen Patten, the vice-president. I can run through other names: Andrew Chandler, Kristie Meier, Gareth Gray, Tanya Evans, Bly Bayliss, Vickie Gregory, Matt Salier, Derek Bowden, Suzette Gloster, Paul Bastiaans and Sarah Warriner—great people on the committee who are making this club what it is because people are what secure organisations and institutions like Surf Life Saving. They provide a great service to our community, but it is all about people.

Seacliff is punching above its weight. Not only is it 2022 Club of the Year but it also has other award winners: Hayley Hosking, the vice-captain of the club, who won Youth Life Saver of the Year; Tom May, who won Athlete of the Year; and Darryl Pope, who was inducted into the Surf Life Saving Hall of Fame under the administration category. This is an organisation, an institution, that I want to celebrate as the local member and thank them for what they do to keep Seacliff beach and our wider community safe, while also welcoming people with disabilities safely onto the beach.

I also want to take the opportunity today to celebrate another club. This is not a club in my electorate; in fact, it is a club in your electorate, Mr Speaker—and excuse me for one moment while I become possibly the first person ever to wear a Lobethal Tigers scarf in the chamber. I know that both you and the member for Morialta proudly celebrate that community.

Of course, the Lobethal Tigers—and thank you, Kathy Huxter, for this scarf, which I may keep—won the Hills footy league premiership a couple of weeks ago. I am a big fan of this club, and I have lots of friends in this club, under the leadership of President Travis Blundell. They managed to secure the premiership, defeating Hahndorf by three points in a goal that occurred in the last minute. It has been a 20-year hiatus since their last premiership, and what a win it was.

I want to give a big shout-out to all the players in this premiership team under captain, Alex Georgiou, and vice-captain, Mitch Jenkin. There were also James Elliott, Jake Auricht, Jack Bampton, Riley Skinner, Joshua Sewer, Mitch Grigg, Mitchell Carter, Jacob Collins, Cooper Luke, Tim Jenkin, Cooper Skinner, Sean McWaters, Matthew Scroby, Peter Bampton, Matt Fuller, Ben 'Pringy' Pring, Aidan Riley, James Braidwood, Jack Stafford, Jack Maxwell and, of course, the famous Steve Huxter.

It is an incredible win for this club after a 20-year drought. I want to congratulate them all and say loudly and proudly, 'Go the Tigers'.

The SPEAKER: It would be remiss of me not to observe that I, too, saw the grand final—an amazing win in extra time. It was good to spend time, as well, with the players and other members of the club at the clubhouse afterwards. The celebrations were long and hard; I did not, perhaps, involve myself quite so much as the players did, but they had well-deserved celebrations.

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Yes.

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