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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-05-17 Daily Xml
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Volunteer Firefighters Memorial

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA (15:13): My question is to the Minister for Emergency Services. Minister, can you update the council about your recent trip to the South-East?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (15:13): I thank the Hon. Mr Gazzola for his important question. I know he is very keen to see ministers out in regional areas and I am very grateful for him seeking an update on my recent visit to the South-East.

There was a range of reasons why I took the opportunity to visit the South Australian South-East last week, but one of the great pleasures that I had during my visit was attending the official dedication of the South Australian Volunteer Firefighters Memorial in Naracoorte. As members may be aware, Wednesday 4 May was St Florian's Day. St Florian is of course the patron saint of firefighters, and there was no more fitting a day for the dedication of the South Australian Volunteer Firefighters Memorial in Naracoorte.

The memorial is a really moving and fitting tribute to each and every volunteer firefighter who has lost their life fighting for the safety of our state and their respective communities. I have to say that the event was a sombre occasion but one that honoured the memory of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in fighting for community safety.

I really want to make special mention of a gentleman who I think has principally led the charge for the development of the volunteer firefighters memorial, and that is a gentleman by the name of Mr Rex Hall. Mr Rex Hall may be known to some members of this chamber; he is an incredibly good man. I have not had the pleasure of knowing him for a long time but I have had a number of engagements with him in the short time that I have been privileged to be in this office and I have to say that Rex strikes me as being an incredibly genuine and earthy committed character, and we have seen so many like him throughout our volunteer emergency services sector.

Rex has approached this task of the memorial and, indeed, the museum with an enormous amount of passion and dedication, and with that incredible community spirit which I think has resulted in so much of what makes our state so great. My particular thanks go to Rex and his committee for putting the memorial effort together. I am also pleased to inform the chamber that, of course, they have been successful in securing a $20,000 grant through the Fund My Idea initiative to progress future stages of the development that we hope to see down at Naracoorte. I would highly encourage people who are visiting the South-East to take the time to stop at the memorial at Naracoorte and to pay homage to those people who have lost their lives.

I also want to put on the record my thanks (and I won't name all of them) to the various organisations who took time out of their busy schedules to accommodate me and to pass on their learnings that are specific to their needs and efforts: various CFS brigades, SES brigades, and of course SAPOL as well. It was an incredibly productive visit and I think this government remains utterly committed to ensuring that our regions are well represented and that community safety in regions remains just as paramount there as they do in metropolitan Adelaide. I want to thank all the hardworking professionals and volunteers who have a lot of commitment to community safety in the South-East and I look forward to working with them into the future.

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