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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-11-12 Daily Xml
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Private Members' Statements

Private Members' Statements

Mr TELFER (Flinders) (15:38): Thanks to very generous bereavement donations from past members of the community, the Tumby Bay Hospital and Uringa Auxiliary have been able to fund the first stage of an exciting project to build new patient bathrooms onto existing patient rooms at the Tumby Bay Hospital.

You may think that is something that is the responsibility of government: in regional communities, there is so much infrastructure that is funded by the hard work of auxiliaries and the bereavement donations that people make in our incredible communities. This long-awaited project was started in May this year. After years of interruptions and setbacks, it is so exciting to see this project actually delivered and to know that they are looking to the next stage to put these important bathrooms into hospital rooms at the Tumby Bay Hospital.

We are so grateful for the generosity of individuals and families in our community who donate money, who get involved in their auxiliary and share and bequeath for the benefit of others using the Tumby Bay Hospital and Uringa Auxiliary. It is a really key part of our community. Can I just recognise the hard work of the Tumby Bay Hospital auxiliary—president, Cynthia Fulton; secretary, Carolyn Thompson; and treasurer, Bev Ollivier—and I recognise those members who fundraise to deliver such important upgrades to health infrastructure in our small regional communities.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (15:39): On Sunday, I had the good fortune of being part of the 2025 Eudunda Show. I had a stall there so I had an opportunity to meet a whole range of people from the Eudunda and surrounding communities. The weather was a bit inclement but it was a great show. It was full of people. I understand around 1,800 people, plus hundreds and hundreds of children, attended the event. It was a very successful event and there were a whole range of events on at the show. There was the Australian Army Band, a colouring competition, motorcycle trials and dog jumping. The theme this year was A Man's Best Friend and there were a whole range of events related to dogs, including dog races, etc.

I would like in particular to remind the house that this show was put on against the backdrop of a major drought. For this group of volunteers to host such a show was a terrific event. It was a fantastic effort. There are other issues that also confront this community, such as the northern transmission line, etc., but despite that they did a good job in hosting the event. I would like to particularly congratulate the committee—President Garry Schutz, Secretary Melinda Schutz and a number of other members of the committee—on hosting what quite rightly is a highly regarded spectacular event.

Ms PRATT (Frome) (15:41): Today, at a fire danger season briefing to MPs by the CFS I had the opportunity to meet with Brett Loughlin, the Chief Officer of the CFS, to raise my concerns with him on behalf of local farmers who are still waiting for their farm fire unit permits despite applying many months ago through the proper online channels.

With the fire season already on us, this delay is not just an inconvenience, it is a serious safety risk for rural communities who rely on these units as the first line of defence when fire threatens life and property. In the words of some of my farmers, they have advised me that the CFS has still not issued primary producer farm firefighting permit stickers for vehicles. In discussions with other members from different regions, the issue is actually across the board. Farmers in good faith have followed the new procedures to apply online through the CFS website, which a couple of years ago set out how to do it but, for whatever reason, those permits are delayed. One farmer says he has already responded to two fire incidents with a farm unit and it is a matter of high priority. One farmer reports a delay of up to 19 months. He says:

On behalf of my CFS groups, one has received 75 units on the books, but they have only received back 25 permits.

The delays have real consequences. Without a current permit, farmers will face difficulties passing police roadblocks during these emergencies. Many have resorted to displaying expired permits, which we would discourage. At the start of the fire season, we cannot have red tape getting in the way.

The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (15:43): Yesterday, we quite rightly remembered through Remembrance Day those who had fallen. Yesterday was also 50 years to the day when the Whitlam Labor government was sacked, and so we remember also the sacking of the Whitlam government by the then Governor-General Sir John Kerr on 11 November.

It was a constitutional crisis which ultimately resolved itself through the ballot box but this event had a lasting effect on a local 15-year-old schoolboy at Gawler High School. That schoolboy was me and I can vividly remember what I was doing at the time when in the first lesson after lunch the physics teacher at Gawler High School, as it was then known, Mr John Fielding, told the class that the Whitlam government had been dismissed from office.

While I did not fully understand all the politics of the event at the time, I strongly believed it was wrong. There was something wrong about one individual deposing or dismissing an elected government. As I said, the memories of that day are still vivid in my mind. Mr Fielding, my teacher at the time, gave me the privilege of actually coming to the school yesterday to re-enact his announcement to the class and I was able to see him after 50 years at Gawler High School. These events, plus other things, led me to join the Labor Party and to fight for justice.

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