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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-06-19 Daily Xml
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Autism Strategy

The Hon. E.S. BOURKE (16:35): As we have heard from the Hon. Justin Hanson, today has been an incredible day for the autistic and autism community. I have often said, as a member of this incredible building, Parliament House, that it is one of the greatest privileges to watch the power of complete strangers come together bound by a sole and uniting purpose, and there has been no greater privilege than watching this come together with the autistic and autism community. Complete strangers have come together bound by a purpose to build knowledge, understanding and belonging in our community.

Today, we got to see the outcome of that privilege, with over 1,300 voices captured in our state strategy, our very first autism strategy that was launched this morning by the Premier. When I looked around the room this morning, at the Adelaide Zoo where we held this launch, the many people who were there were strangers to me only 18 months ago. It was a great privilege today to know that each and every one of them who were there had provided a piece of knowledge and a piece of understanding to help us become a better state.

One of the people seated near the front was Colin, and he provided a letter to me that was handwritten, which is always a concern. You never know what that is going to result in, but it was a positive handwritten letter. Colin wrote to me within the first few weeks of me becoming the Assistant Minister for Autism and said that he was diagnosed at the age of 65 and that his life had been a life of challenge and it would have been better if people in his world had known what it is to be autistic.

He wrote in great admiration for this government taking the step to help build that knowledge, and I am really proud that Colin is now on our autism advisory committee to help guide us as a government with lived experience. Colin said that having the diagnosis at the age of 65 gave him the confidence to go on and feel he can belong in our community.

Getting the feedback from people through 25 forums in three weeks, through countless post-it notes that were dotted around the rooms at our forums, and through street-corner meetings and shopping centre visits, the autistic and autism community created an incredibly powerful document, making it one of the most engaged disability-focused documents in our state's YourSAy history. It has also given us as a government the confidence to know that it is the voices of the autistic and autism community that will pave the way for how we move forward as a government. It will not be the agenda of a politician; it will be the voices of the very people it seeks to support. That is an incredible achievement that has been made possible by so very, very many in our community.

I want to quickly move on to another topic and, in doing so, give recognition to a good person and an unwavering trade unionist, because in coming weeks we will not have the opportunity as parliament is rising for the winter break. I was keen to put this on the record before the winter break. I am, of course, referring to Smithy, the retiring secretary of the Transport Workers' Union South Australia and Northern Territory branch, Mr Ian Smith. Ian has led the TWU SA/NT for the last seven years, but his roots at the union go so much deeper.

His connection began while he was working as a pickup delivery driver at TNT in 1994. He joined the TWU, beginning a journey with the union that would see him through three decades of life as he went from truck driver to TWU recruitment official to assistant secretary to branch secretary in 2017. Ian led the union, bringing it together to win some of the most significant changes to the public transport bus drivers' agreement in South Australia. He was also part of the national decision for the TWU to take on Qantas' illegal sacking of over 1,700 ground staff, leading to a spectacular win in the High Court.

He should be intensely proud, as are many in his community, of what he has been able to achieve for his members. To quote Matt Burnell, the member for Spence in the commonwealth parliament, 'Smithy does what good leaders do. They build up those around them without fear. Why? Because, ultimately, the union is bigger than any one person.'

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