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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-04-10 Daily Xml
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Waite Electorate

Ms HUTCHESSON (Waite) (15:17): I would like to take this opportunity to talk about a few excellent things that have been happening in my electorate. Over the Easter weekend, one of our newer community groups, WRAG, held their inaugural Easter egg hunt at the Woodlake Reserve within Craigburn Farm. The Woodlake Reserve Action Group were formed when committed locals came together with a joint passion to improve their reserve for the whole community to enjoy. They have worked hard to convince council to support them in this mission, and council have begun to oblige.

The community group have drop-in sessions and working bees. They have a fairy tree, and they have organised an Easter egg hunt. Angela Hills, Sophie Mavroudis and all of the WRAG volunteers hid over 500 plastic bags for children to find and then exchange with their parents for chocolate ones. Plus, the Easter Bunny arrived with a whole lot more extra chocolatey goodness. There was a colouring-in competition, the Waite badge maker was there, and the children and their parents and whole community just loved it. A huge congratulations to all involved on organising this event, and I thank them on behalf of the whole community for all the work that they are doing in that space.

Last night, over 150 community members joined the Mitcham and Hills Wellness Education session. Last year, I visited the Green Dispensary to make a contribution to a fundraiser that was happening to help a community member who had lost everything in a house fire. That is when I met Tracey Yeend. Tracy has been an excellent community advocate for many years, and we started talking about a forum to have a health discussion with our community, and it grew and grew and now it is a monthly event.

Every month we have a different speaker who is from a different health professional background. Last night we heard from Wendy Hall, who works to help people with dementia and their supporters. Wendy spoke last year at our very first session and returned last night with a session called Remembering 2 Remember. It was excellent. All who attended thoroughly enjoyed the presentation and the opportunity to take part in a few games that helped them remember.

As I mentioned, we have heard from many health professionals over the past year, and we have many more to come. I encourage members of our community to book ahead. Last night we were at capacity, and we are already halfway there for next month's, even though it is a whole month away.

I extend a huge thank you to everyone who is involved in bringing these sessions to our community: to Tracey for all the work that she has done in organising not only the speakers but also sponsorship for the events. We are very fortunate that Simon Doyle from Green Dispensary and Peter Alexandrou from Harris Real Estate both came on board. Both are excellent businesses, and through their support for these sessions we can continue to provide them.

I also thank the Blackwood Uniting Church, especially Peter and Peter, who are always there to help us get set up; Miles from The Blackwood Times, who promotes our sessions; as well as our retirement villages and helpers who distribute the invitations; my staff and volunteers who give so much and make the night run smoothly; and our community who show up to support it. It has been wonderful, and I look forward to next session, when SAAS and the 000 call operators are coming to talk to us about what happens when you call an ambulance.

The History Festival is fast approaching. The Blackwood Action Group has a history group led by Pauline Dodd and they have a wonderful list of events coming up for our community. There is a 'Travel back in time…by train' event, which sees attendees boarding the train at Belair and heading to some of our stations to learn about the history of the Belair line. That includes a Devonshire tea, which is very exciting.

The Belair heritage walk along Sheoak Road is also part of their offerings. Sheoak Road is home to some very impressive historical properties, and there will be refreshments at the Belair train station. And of course there is the Belair National Park tour called 'Off the beaten track', where attendees hop on a minibus and tour around Belair National Park, hearing about not only the current history but also the significance of the area to the Kaurna and Peramangk people. This one includes refreshments as well.

Still with history week, and the Women's Memorial Playing Fields Trust will host 'A living memorial to our brave nurses', which is a presentation at the playing fields about the annual Bangka Day memorial service, reminding ourselves about the peril of war and those sacrifices made by the nurses on that fateful day in Bangka Strait.

The ever beautiful Carrick Hill is hosting 'A home not a museum: pictures in English country house', where Susan McCormack, Director of Carrick Hill, will explore the collection and display of paintings in the English country house and its influence on the Carrick Hill collections.

If you can come and try Scottish dancing at the Mitcham Cultural Village, you will be in for a treat, with the 'Auld Lang Syne' come and dance Scottish. It is not the Highland Fling; it is something completely different that has developed and evolved over years, and everyone is invited to come along. Just wear comfortable shoes. The City of Onkaparinga has also organised a Coromandel Valley history walk, taking attendees through Watchman House and some of the other historical properties within Coromandel Valley.

Finally, do not forget every Saturday morning Park Run is on at Belair National Park, where over 250-plus locals come with their dogs and their kids. They run—and you can definitely walk—around the old golf course. There are so many exciting things happening in the seat of Waite within our community, and I encourage my community to get out and get into it.

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