Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to be speaking on this motion that recognises the outstanding work of our surf lifesavers within the community. Today I would particularly like to highlight some of that work within New South Wales, particularly in my electorate of Richmond on the North Coast, which has the best beaches in Australia, if not the world. We have a very strong surf lifesaving community there, so I am very pleased to be speaking about their great contribution to our area. I am also very pleased that this government has a strong record in our commitment to water safety by allocating approximately $34 million to water safety over the five years from 2011-12 to 2015-16. This funding underpins the continued operation of major water safety organisations around Australia and also establishes many new projects which target areas such as early education and unpatrolled surf beaches, where we know we can improve water safety. The government is committed to working with local organisations, surf lifesaving organisations, businesses and local communities to improve water safety right throughout the country and will certainly continue to make sure we can improve that.

I turn to the North Coat. We are very fortunate to have outstanding beaches and outstanding surf lifesavers, and this was highlighted recently. Earlier this year I was very pleased to open with the Treasurer and Deputy Prime Minister our surfing centre of excellence, which is the world's first. Our federal Labor government committed $2 million to this outstanding project. To have it at Casuarina on the North Coast in my electorate shows what a strong surfing community we have there, and indeed we are very proud to have the world's first surfing centre of excellence as well. No doubt we will see it continuing the great mentoring and training role that it has shown so far.

Surf lifesaving plays an important role not just in teaching swimming skills but also in developing young people's health, fitness and leadership skills through extensive juniors programs. I often meet young people on the North Coast who gain so much through their involvement in surf lifesaving. I would also like to acknowledge the outstanding number of volunteers who give their time to surf lifesaving. Without them we would not have the remarkable programs that we are all speaking about today, and I am always pleased to have the opportunity to thank them for their great work.

As we know, 'vigilance and service' is the motto of the iconic men and women dressed in their distinctive red and yellow uniforms who patrol our beaches each summer. The motto clearly demonstrates the professionalism and pride in the duties they perform today and ever since the movement's inception in 1907. Of course, at that time, swimming and surfing were growing in popularity and, at the same time, some of the dangers were becoming obvious. In this environment, local groups of experienced surfers began to form themselves into lifesaving bodies to assist those who found themselves in difficult and dangerous situations and required rescuing; thus the formation of local surf lifesaving clubs who performed regular patrols, which was welcomed by the public using those beaches. As these clubs grew in size and numbers, the need for a united front to raise funds and seek assistance from all levels of government resulted in the Surf Bathing Association of New South Wales being formed in October 1907.

When we look at the situation today we see that the New South Wales surf lifesaving mission statement is very clear: 'provide a safe beach and aquatic environment throughout New South Wales'. This mission is understood by the state's major water safety and rescue organisation and its 72,000 members, all of whom are volunteers. The 129 surf lifesaving clubs in New South Wales protect over 1,500 kilometres of coastline, from Fingal Beach in my electorate—the states most northerly club—to Pambula Beach in the south, and of course they all take their primary role of surf lifesaving and saving lives very seriously.

During the 2011-12 summer season New South Wales clubs were responsible for more than eight million beachgoers and performed over 8,000 rescues. Of course, since the late 1970s surf lifesaving's evolution has been very significant. Whilst women have always been associated with the movement, it was not until the 1980s that we saw so many more women involved. It is just fantastic. We also saw the rise of senior and junior Australian iron man championships, which are fantastic events. We saw it change and grow as we saw the volunteer movement grow as well, and this movement has given us so many household names associated with surf lifesaving: Grant Kenny, Trevor Hendy, Guy, Leech, Karla Gilbert, Renee Corbett, the Mercer brothers, Ky Hurst and current superstar Shannon Eckstein. There are certainly a lot of them.

As a local representative in my area of Richmond on the North Coast, we are fortunate to have access to some world-class beaches, and I am proud to be associated with surf lifesaving as an honorary patrol of the Far North Coast branch, which recently celebrated its 75th season. Of course, the Far North Coast branch is made up of 10 local surf lifesaving clubs, seven of which are in the Richmond electorate.

Cudgen Headland Surf Life Saving Club—of which I am also very proudly the patron—is a wonderful example of that great motto, 'Vigilance and service.' I was pleased to be advised that last year's patrol season at Cudgen Headland Surf Life Saving Club was a very successful one, with over 128,000 people visiting their beautiful beach and very few major incidents and, thankfully, no lives lost—a remarkable contribution by those involved with the club. Those volunteers who support the local clubs give up their time on weekends and school holidays during the patrol season, which of course runs from September through to April. Remember that in our area it is not just the locals; we have many, many visitors coming to our beautiful beaches as well, so they are kept extremely busy during that time. Of course, the community receives such an enormous benefit from this contribution that they make.

There are many hardworking volunteers at Cudgen Headland Surf Life Saving Club, and I would like to make particularly mention of one of those volunteers. Gary Cain, who announced his retirement this year, has been president of the club for 10 years. Gary has overseen a great many changes within the club and has been really inspirational in strengthening the competitive teams and the morale amongst his band of volunteers over that long period of time. His personal endeavours are reported to be extraordinary in preparing the club for the two consecutive surf lifesaving titles the club hosted in 2010 and 2011. Both were outstanding successes. Thanks to Gary for that great role. In fact, his efforts were recognised both by his club, when he was awarded their coveted Blue of Blues Award, and when he received the New South Wales Sports Federation award for outstanding volunteer for the year in 2011—a remarkable achievement by Gary. Indeed, I would like to congratulate all volunteers involved in surf lifesaving not just throughout my electorate but through New South Wales and, indeed, right throughout the country. They make a remarkable effort and I would like to commend them for the time that they put in—as I say, weekends and also school holidays.

We are very proud as a government, as I said at the beginning, of the continued work that we do in working with Surf Life Saving Australia and other water safety organisations and also local businesses and business organisations in providing support and funding for a whole host of water safety measures right throughout the country in terms of the coordinated efforts. As I mentioned earlier on, this government has committed approximately $34 million over that period of five years to make sure that we can have in place a whole range of water safety messages that are so important, particularly for those of us that are very fortunate to live in beautiful parts of Australia like mine—Richmond and the North Coast—that have a very strong and active beach culture. We are very much aware of all the safety elements as well. I am sure that we will see it continue to grow in the coming years. As we have many more people visiting our area, we will see people continuing to increase their volunteering capacity in these roles as well.

I would also like to speak a bit more about the surfing centre of excellence that we have at Casuarina and also acknowledge the wonderful role that Surfing Australia play right across the country, but especially in relation to this surfing centre of excellence. They drove this particular project for many years and there was commitment from many people involved. They wanted Australia to have the world's first surfing centre of excellence to showcase the remarkable abilities of our world-class surfers and to provide a training and mentoring base for so many people around the country, particularly, and also from overseas, so that people could come to one spot to gain expertise in surfing. We have many world champions who come there all the time, and we had a number of them at the opening as well. They will come to the surfing centre of excellence at Casuarina at different times and provide courses and training for a whole range of people. When we had the opening there were some young people there from Western Australia who were there for a couple of weeks and who gained invaluable insight into surfing skills and training. I think Layne Beachley was taking that particular class then. So it is a remarkable opportunity and we are very proud on the North Coast to be home to that surfing centre of excellence. We are very proud of that because of the great beaches that we have.

I would like to finish by congratulating all those volunteers who give their time. We want to keep working closely with them to achieve the great results that we do, particularly because, as I say, it is not just the safety and the skills that our kids learn. The health and fitness side of it and the teamwork that they gain from being involved with surf lifesaving are truly invaluable. They are a real credit to our community and we are very proud of all of them. Congratulations.

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