Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Saturday, 29 October I attended the open day of Marine Rescue Lake Macquarie, an organisation of vital importance to the electorate I represent in this parliament. My electorate is situated on the shores of both the Pacific Ocean and Lake Macquarie, and one of the activities which an enormous number of people involve themselves in is recreational boating. Marine Rescue Lake Macquarie is the organisation which keeps people safe when they are out on the lake or the ocean.

Marine Rescue Lake Macquarie has a very interesting story, because it is only a very new organisation. I went to its annual open day this year. I think I have been to four of its open days in total, but the organisation as such is only new. It was formed by the amalgamation of the Australian Volunteer Coastguards Swansea and the Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol, two very dedicated organisations which were very independent and were unique. One looked after people from the channel out into the ocean and the other looked after people within the lake.

These two organisations have come together to form Marine Rescue Lake Macquarie, and anyone who has been involved with an amalgamation knows that an amalgamation is very difficult. When organisations have been operating for a long time, they have their own culture, their own training programs and their own membership, so an amalgamation requires that the organisations involved put away what they have had in the past and come together. This has been a very successful amalgamation. There were some teething problems along the way, but they have been sorted out, and now the two groups have come together as one.

They now look after the safety of boats on the lake—they share that responsibility. They have two bases. One is at Swansea Heads and the other is on the shores of Lake Macquarie, so they are in a really good position to give very good service to the people of Lake Macquarie and the people who come to visit our area. During the Christmas break, many tourists come to the area to enjoy our wonderful aquatic facilities—the lake and the ocean—and they can be confident that their safety is ensured by Marine Rescue Lake Macquarie.

In addition to their primary role of ensuring safety at sea, Marine Rescue Lake Macquarie provide education—boat licence courses, marine radio courses, meteorology and much, much more—to the boating public. Marine Rescue Lake Macquarie are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That means they have to have a considerable volunteer base to draw on, and there is always somebody there to fill a spot on the roster, because these volunteers are dedicated to ensuring the safety of everybody who boats on Lake Macquarie or off the coast. The organisation's area of operations extends from Norah Head in the south to, I think, Port Stephens in the north, so it is a very wide area and there is some crossover.

Marine Rescue Lake Macquarie also hold fishing competitions and other little competitions to encourage people—and young people in particular—to be aware of their activities. I congratulate Marine Rescue Lake Macquarie on their successful amalgamation. I thank them on behalf of every person I represent in this parliament for the fine work they do in keeping our waterways safe.

Main Committee adjourned at 12:59