Matt Thistlethwaite (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week I was saddened to learn of the tragic drowning death of a man at Little Bay, in Sydney's south-east. As a local to the area I am very aware of the dangers that await the thousands of visitors and locals that are drawn to our coastline each year. Be it on the beaches, in the surf or on the rock shelves, the Australian coast is a treacherous place that is often breathtaking one moment and life-taking the next.

On Sunday, 11 November, three men were fishing off the rocks at Little Bay when they were swept into the ocean by a large wave. A golfer at the nearby Coast Golf Club saw the incident and rang 000. Of the three men just one wore a life jacket, and it is no coincidence that man was able to save himself and one of his mates from certain death. The third angler, a 39-year-old from Warrawee, was not so lucky. It is common for people to talk about luck in moments of tragedy, but on this occasion bad luck should simply not have been allowed to come into play.

Since arriving in the Senate I have worked to raise awareness about the many ways in which people can run into trouble while enjoying our nation's coastline. One issue that I have devoted much of my time to has been improving safety around rock fishing. More than 150 people have drowned while rock fishing in New South Wales over the past 20 years, and many of those incidents could have been prevented with the right safety equipment. Anglers should wear correct clothing and footwear, and should always wear a life vest.

They should avoid fishing alone and even stay at home if the conditions are not right and the swell is too rough.

These are simple safety messages that have the potential to save lives, so I urge all rock fishers to heed these messages and, if they are able, to spread the word throughout the angling community.

On 12 October I was joined by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bob Carr, and the member for Moreton, Graham Perrett, to launch a national surf safety awareness campaign in Australia's Chinese community. Surf Life Saving Australia's 2011 drowning report shows that, of the people who drowned on our nation's coastline in 2010-11, 35 per cent were from a non-English-speaking background and, of that 35 per cent, 85 per cent of those were from the Asian community and that in fact most of them were rock fishing. Representatives from Surf Life Saving Australia, the Australian National Sport Fishing Association and the Royal Life Saving Society have supported this campaign and were at the launch on 12 October. They also administer a couple of very informative websites on this subject, which provide information for people from a non-English-speaking background regarding safe fishing and beach going. Those websites are beachsafe.org.au and safefishing.com.au.

A lack of appropriate safety equipment was not the only force at play on Sunday, 11 November. When the three men were washed into the ocean at Little Bay they had minutes, perhaps seconds, in which to be rescued or to rescue themselves before they succumbed to the raging swell that was threatening to force them under and drive them against the rocks.

Lifesavers are desperately aware of the crucial nature of the first few minutes of any incident and are trained to react accordingly with a high degree of urgency. In this case, however, tragically, the channels of communication between emergency response teams and a breakdown in those communications meant that these men were left to fend for themselves and, in one case, unfortunately to drown without any hope of rescue. Member for Maroubra, Michael Daley, who spoke to witnesses of the incident, said a call was placed to triple-0 soon after the men were washed into the water, but the ambulance helicopter took 35 minutes to arrive at the scene. Mr Daley said onlookers were shocked to watch the man struggle in the water for 15 minutes before he lost consciousness and was washed back up onto the rocks.

As a long-time local of the area, Mr Daley was also appalled at the tragic lack of cooperation between emergency services in respect of this incident. He said:

Had emergency services contacted Maroubra Surf Club, South Maroubra Surf Club, or the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service, this man might still be alive …

And further:

Either of the two surf clubs could've had jet skis or IRBs—

that is, inflatable rescue boats—

to Little Bay in minutes, or Randwick City Council lifeguards could've been there in five minutes on similar equipment.

There was also a state-of-the-art jet rescue boat in the water, literally some 800 metres away, 60 seconds away, from this man, performing training routines. But they were not notified by ambulance services under their protocol. I joined with Mr Daley last week to voice my disgust at the response to this incident. There was simply no good reason why so many alternatives and, in some respects, better placed emergency options that could have saved this man's life were not alerted to this emergency and allowed to do what they are trained to do. In this case the protocol let down this man, his family and our community. 'We have some of the best lifesavers in the world, so let's use them,' Michael Daley said last week, and I completely agree.

Efficient, effective management systems for emergency services are vital not just to ensure that surf lifesavers are notified quickly of any potential rescue but to allow paramedics and ambulance officers the best chance possible of saving lives. When it comes to rescue responses the chain of action means that those emergency teams further down the line have no chance of rescuing a victim if the first response team fails to notify them and fails to engage the most appropriate first contact. We have many heroes in emergency response, but they are all reliant on each other and, importantly, on the system in place that alerts them to the incident. If the chain of action is broken, the rescue will fail and deaths will occur. We need to get it right so that our emergency response teams can continue to show their skill, courage and effectiveness under deadly circumstances.

Following the Little Bay incident, the New South Wales Minister for Health, Jillian Skinner, has sought to overhaul the way the ambulance service deals with potential rescues and has asked the Chair of the State Emergency Management Committee, Mr Phil Koperberg, to oversee the implementation of new emergency response protocols for inshore water rescues. I also note that a coronial inquest into this tragic death will be undertaken. Incidents such as these and drownings such as these should never occur again. Unfortunately, a review and an inquest are far too late for this man's family.

It was also revealed last week that this is not the first time that such an incident resulting from poor cooperation by emergency services in New South Wales has taken place. Just eight months ago, in the same area, not far from where this drowning occurred at Little Bay, another man was swept off the rocks and died after Ambulance New South Wales failed to notify nearby lifesavers of the incident. The skills of our lifesavers are second to none. They are admired the world over for their bravery and their professionalism in the face of extreme conditions. They have the expertise and the training to deal with situations involving difficult surf conditions and, in particular, rock-fishing accidents and people being swept into the ocean in difficult circumstances. But they need to be notified to ensure that their services can work. Lifesavers need to be alerted to these coastal incidents so that they can do what they are trained to do and work to save lives.

We need better coordination of our emergency services in New South Wales and I hope that the Koperberg review will ensure better communications and better outcomes when it comes to coordination of emergency services and that tragic incidents such as this never occur again. My sympathies go to the man and his family.

Stephen Parry (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Thistlethwaite, for a very poignant contribution.

Senate adjourned at 22:30