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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-02-08 Daily Xml
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Surf Lifesaving Clubs

S.E. ANDREWS (Gibson) (12:42): I move:

That this house—

(a) acknowledges the important role the surf lifesaving clubs in South Australia perform in keeping many of the state’s popular beaches safe, particularly during summer months;

(b) recognises the many volunteers who dedicate their time to surf lifesaving patrols each weekend and on public holidays;

(c) recognises the important role of surf lifesaving support operations, such as volunteer radio room operators, to keeping beachgoers safe;

(d) recognises the important role that first-aid officers and training officers perform to ensure club patrolling members are proficient each season;

(e) recognises the volunteer junior committees and age group managers that run junior nipper programs teaching the next generation how to be beach safe; and

(f) notes the funding support provided to Surf Life Saving South Australia from the emergency services levy via the Community Emergency Services Fund.

The role of surf lifesavers on our beaches across the state every summer is a crucial one. If you head to our popular beaches at Brighton, Glenelg, Semaphore, Victor Harbor, Christies Beach and so many other locations across our state on a summer afternoon on the weekend, you will expect to see the red and yellow flags. They provide our community with the reassurance that the area between the red and yellow flags is safe and, further, that should you or a family member require assistance and encounter difficulties in the water or on the beach, the surf lifesavers are there to help.

I am proud to have two dedicated surf lifesaving clubs in the electorate of Gibson at Somerton Park and Brighton, and just over the border in Seacliff. It is always a pleasure to visit these clubs and meet with members, or just to see them on patrols as I take Freya for a walk along the beach.

It was a busy weekend on our coast last weekend, particularly at Brighton and Glenelg. I was proud to join with more than 500 women and men who went to Brighton early on Sunday morning dressed up as Marilyn to be a part of the Marilyn Jetty Swim. Together, we raised around $250,000 for Cancer Council SA—all under the watchful eyes of the volunteers from the Brighton Surf Life Saving Club. Thank you for your support and ensuring the event was run safely.

The Marilyns was part of the Channel 7 Brighton Jetty Classic, which saw the Brighton Surf Life Saving Club host 46 different swimming events featuring swimmers from age seven to over 70 years. Congratulations to the winners Hannah Deacon and Harvey Luscombe, who won the City of Holdfast Bay 400-metre elite fast open swims, and Emily White and Clancy Luscombe, who won the Channel 7 BJC elite 1,500-metre open swims.

On Sunday afternoon I was pleased to be at Glenelg witnessing the final round of the SA Surf League, where the SA Surf League high performance athletes competed for the championship. It was great to present the $5,000 winner's cheque to the Pink Team sponsored by the SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre. Congratulations to all involved. It was a fabulous afternoon watching impressive athletes compete. On this rare occasion they did not just compete to represent their clubs but they performed in composite teams, giving athletes who are often rivals the opportunity to compete together and to build camaraderie.

This exciting weekend comes in the middle of a very busy season for our surf lifesavers. I was pleased to attend the launch of the 2022-23 season at Somerton Surf Life Saving Club late last year and also to meet just before Christmas with the Brighton Surf Life Saving Club president, John Cvetko, to discuss the role of his club in our community and how we might expand club membership to better reflect our community's diversity and create inclusion.

Surf Life Saving welcomes everyone regardless of gender or culture to join their patrols or the nippers. You could be one of the hundreds of Surf Life Saving SA volunteers providing beach patrols at 22 locations across our beautiful state between October and April. This is in addition to the 24/7 response team, which includes rescue watercraft, jet rescue boats and, more recently, drone services.

I thank all surf lifesaving volunteers and their families and all the teams that assist them to be on the beach every summer weekend and public holiday. While most South Australians can enjoy these times with their families, the surf lifesavers spend their time away from their families—but with their surf family—to keep us safe.

While we all see red and yellow flags and feel safe, these are not the only volunteers on duty on our beaches. We have the surf lifesaving support operations team at each club that may not take to the surf but are still essential. It may be the volunteer radio room operators maintaining that vital link between the patrol team, the supervisor and other services or the gear stewards, who look after the condition and storage of club gear, including boards, running and flags equipment, tents, buoys, tubes and junior lifeguard equipment.

There are the competition officials who provide assistance so that lifesavers can practice their skills in sports carnivals that contain many events. The officials set up the courses, start the races, record the results and assist with marshalling. I would also like to send a shout-out to the SA Surf Boat State Team, who will compete at the 2023 Surf Boat Interstates, being held in New South Wales this Friday. The teams include the Brighton Bulls and Brighton Broncos, the Chiton Rocks Monsters, the Glenelg Grenades, Moana Sandy Cheeks, the Grange 57s and South Port Swell. I wish team manager Natasha and the competitors the best of luck.

Volunteer roles include overseeing the activities and management of the club which includes overseeing all club activities, sponsorship and grants, members and records, functions and food and beverage and so much more. I thank all these volunteers for their work behind the scenes to ensure that the patrol members have the best skills, commitment and support to serve the community.

For first-aid officers, they might come across a young person with some sand in their eye, a nibble from a fish, a nasty sting from a jellyfish or, more extremely, a near drowning. There are so many different scenarios that first aid officers see each year, and I thank them, too, for their work.

No patrol crew member hits the sand without significant training from the education team in each club; it may be the Surf Rescue Certificate, the Bronze Medallion, the IRB crew training, the Silver Medallion, the first aid training or the other courses that are delivered in local clubs across the state. I thank the education teams for their commitment to their work and for ensuring that every surf lifesaver has the latest training and is proficient and confident in performing their role.

All children who have swimming skills can join their local nippers program and participate in surf safety, surf swimming, flags, march past, rescue and resuscitation, wading and running, and board paddling. It sounds like a great way to spend an afternoon, and I encourage all parents in Gibson to speak with their kids about their local nippers program and how they might participate.

When children attend nippers they are split into appropriate age groups and then undertake activities that are organised and conducted by their age group managers. These are also volunteers, who have undertaken training and accreditation to do this role. Most age group managers are parents or carers of our nippers, who volunteer their time to teach our next generation of surf lifesavers. I thank the age group managers and the junior committees for their work in planning and running the nippers program, and additionally thank all the parents for their support of our nippers in all our surf clubs.

I am proud that the Malinauskas Labor government is recognising the work of surf lifesavers by providing all 22 Surf Life Saving South Australia clubs with $5,000 grants to purchase or upgrade key rescue and emergency response equipment. The funds will ensure emergency services are provided to the public, including beach patrols and surf rescues. Examples of equipment the grants will go towards range from new club vehicles to rescue boards and tubes, beach buggies, IRBs, first aid kits and lifejackets.

Funding support is provided to Surf Life Saving South Australia from the emergency services levy via the Community Emergency Services Fund. Current grant funding from the fund has been allocated to reflect the vital emergency service that Surf Life Saving South Australia provides as South Australia's leading coastal safety and drowning prevention authority. To support them in this function the service has received $5.34 million in capital grant funding.

Across our 22 clubs there are now 9,000 volunteer members in this state keeping our beaches safe for swimmers. Each year surf lifesavers perform over 80,000 volunteer patrol hours, conduct on average 150 lifesaving rescues, and undertake thousands of preventive actions and first aid treatments across the coast.

The Australian surf lifesaver is iconic, humble and ready to act, and most South Australians, particularly those who live in our coastal regions, visit the beach over the summer. I thank our surf lifesavers for their service, and commend this motion to the house.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Ms Stinson): Thank you, member for Gibson. That brings back lots of memories of being a nipper many, many years ago.

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (12:52): Here in parliament today I take the opportunity to acknowledge the incredible work of surf lifesaving clubs here in South Australia, and in fact all the clubs around our state's precious coastline. South Australia is blessed with beautiful beaches, and we all flock to them during the warmer summer months. Glenelg Beach, which is part of the Morphett electorate, is certainly no exception.

The mission of surf lifesaving is to save lives, create great Australians, and build better communities. Here in South Australia there are 22 surf lifesaving clubs in both regional and metropolitan areas. Each club relies on volunteers to patrol some of Australia's fantastic beaches.

The Surf Life Saving South Australia 2021 annual report indicates there were just over 2,500 patrolling lifesavers who, between them, provided over 80,000 patrol hours, performed over 150 rescues, and 20,143 preventive actions. There were also 200 hours worth of helicopter time and 41 drone flights. Of course, those drones were delivered by the Marshall government, and are a great piece of technology that will provide another fantastic way to safely monitor our beaches. I am extremely thankful for the dedication and commitment of all patrolling members for their volunteer services.

Surf lifesaving clubs also compete in junior and senior state championships, as well as Masters championships for those over the age of 30. These championships give competitors a great chance to showcase their skills, the underlying purpose of which is of course to develop and refine their skills to then perform them as a surf lifesaver and, ultimately, to contribute to Surf Life Saving's mission, which is to reduce drownings in South Australia.

One of those Masters competitors is Glenelg icon, Dave Hutchison (Hutch), who in recognition for his years of outstanding achievements at both state, national and international level, was inducted into the Surf Life Saving South Australia Hall of Fame for his achievements in surf sports, notably in the beach sprint and beach flags events. Not only is Hutch a fantastic competitor, he also puts in countless hours coaching the Glenelg nippers on the beach alongside two other club beach legends, Leigh Bowbridge and Peter Sage.

Every Saturday, the nippers are on the beach training. Hutch takes them from the tiny tots right through to the under 13s and improves them. It is certainly no coincidence that Glenelg performs extremely strongly at carnivals and state championships on the beach because of the tireless efforts of these three club legends. In fact, all my four kids have been coached by Hutch, and I would like to take the opportunity in parliament today to thank both Dave Hutchison and Leigh Bowbridge for their dedication and selflessness to coach the next generation of surf lifesavers.

Talking of success on the beach, 2022 also saw the Glenelg Surf Life Saving Club win the Junior State Championship for the second year in a row, this time on Glenelg Beach. It was a fantastic day. It is a tribute to not only the nippers for the countless hours put into all those hard, thankless training sessions but also the age group managers, who tirelessly give up their time every Saturday afternoon to help train these nippers to make them the best they can be.

The president of the club, Mick Billing, has done a fantastic job while he has been in charge for the last few years. In fact, we have both been on the same lifesaving patrol for a number of years, and I look forward to continuing to work with Mick. Other important members of the committee are deputy president, Andrew Simpson; secretary, Neville Brookes; treasurer, Leanne Rouvray; junior chairman, Dave Visockis; and lifesaving manager, Rob Warne.

The 2022-23 surf lifesaving patrol season commenced quite a long time ago it seems, on Saturday 8 October 2022. Volunteers serve on these patrols each weekend and also on public holidays, with Australia Day being the most recent where the beach was quite busy. That will continue to occur over the coming summer months.

Overall, the Glenelg Surf Life Saving Club has 11 patrol teams that operate so very diligently. While not being able to acknowledge all of the approximately 150 volunteer surf lifesavers, on behalf of their teams I would like to acknowledge the patrol captains: Grant Macauley, Dan Everett, Ursula Simpson, Shane Limmer, Angus Stevens, Dave O'Shaugnessey, Damian Fox, Lincoln Jeffrey, Shane Harris, Neil Mangelsdorf and Benn Findlay.

The importance of these patrols was brought home early last year when both Glenelg Surf Life Saving Club Nippers and lifeguards during a patrol were able to save the life of a woman who found herself in trouble just off the Glenelg breakwater. They sprung into action, bringing the woman into shore, and administering lifesaving CPR and managing the scene. Well done to Dan, Lachie, Tee Yee and Chris and everyone else involved. Lachie Larven explained it perfectly when he said, 'You get reminded why I'm here, why I'm doing this—to serve and help our community'.

Members may remember the name Lachie Larven from previous contributions I have made here in parliament, for Lachie was also involved in a rescue back in 2020 with a number of other junior surf lifesavers from Glenelg who rescued two South Korean tourists who were drowning in a rip off the beach while he was out training. Again, congratulations Lachie on your fantastic efforts.

May 2022 saw Glenelg Surf Life Saving Club's annual award nights. I congratulate Cath McCarthy, who was this year's winner of the Remeljej Award. I could give many more congratulations, but we are running out of time, so I just say thank you to all the fantastic volunteers at Glenelg Surf Life Saving Club and to all surf lifesaving clubs here in South Australia.

S.E. ANDREWS (Gibson) (12:59): Thank you to the member for Morphett for your contribution to this motion. As a neighbouring surf lifesaving club it is interesting for me to hear more about the particulars of your community as well. In closing, I commend the motion to the house.

Motion carried.

Sitting suspended from 13:00 to 14:00.

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