Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Sustainable Development and Cities) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I rise to speak in support of the RACV Energy Breakthrough. It is a joint initiative of the Country Education Project, the Central Goldfields Shire Council and the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria. It is an exciting program designed to provide opportunities for students, teachers, parents and local industry to work together to design and construct a vehicle, a machine or an innovation in technology that will represent an energy breakthrough. It began in 1992 with the Country Education Project trying to seek new ways to engage young people in regional Victoria with a wider range of challenges.

Entrants need to come up with a human powered vehicle. They need to design, build and compete using a vehicle powered solely by human power. There are specifications for the construction of the vehicle, including specifications on safety, dimensions, steering, lighting and warning devices. Leading teams can complete almost 900 kilometres in 24 hours with advanced materials such as carbon fibre, Kevlar and titanium infiltrating vehicle designs. But it is not just about the cutting edge; it is about participation, fun and learning new skills. It is a cross-curricular activity.

I am delighted that the Peninsula School in my electorate entered two vehicles this year, ‘Sirocco’ and ‘Mistral’. After great determination, skill and commitment from the school community, in extreme weather conditions—it was extraordinarily hot at Maryborough—this year the Peninsula School came home with the bacon. The year 6 human powered vehicle team participated, and the school is proud to announce—and I am very pleased to support that announcement—that Sirocco was placed first overall and Mistral was placed a commendable sixth overall. This is an outstanding result, the best result the school has had in its primary section. It is a reflection of the outstanding commitment made by everyone towards the event.

I particularly want to pay tribute to the five dedicated staff who showed incredible commitment—and a slight disconnection from the real world!—in their involvement in this program. I pay tribute to Robert Ogle, John Howard-Jones, Jeff Welsh, Jennifer Kimpton and Virginia Sugars, as well as to all of the 23 students from the Peninsula School who devoted 10 hours a week over the past six months to construct and design the vehicle, to develop their skills as riders, to do the drama rehearsals that are part of it and to do the pit crew training. It was a great effort, with an extraordinary outcome for students, parents, staff and sponsors. It is not just a once-a-year event; it is a six-month commitment that involves a 30-minute drama presentation, scrutineering of the vehicle by RACV engineers and a 14-hour road race on a closed street circuit in a very hot part of Maryborough. So congratulations to all of the kids.

That initiative started in 1992, and it is terrific. Something else terrific started in 1992 at the Peninsula School, and that is Ray Hille. Ray Hille became principal at the Peninsula School in 1992. He is about to retire. He has done a remarkable job. His commitment to teacher and student development, to pedagogy and to delivering a program of academic and personal development through the Peninsula School has shaped remarkable kids at that school. I say to Ray and to Jennie: enjoy the golf courses. You have done a remarkable thing getting the school into a wonderful position, recognising that good management, strategic planning, leadership and careful resource management are a crucial part of delivering an outstanding educational and teaching environment. Congratulations to Ray and Jennie, and to Ray particularly for his wise counsel on education policy over many years. I value him as a friend and as a source of great guidance and insight into education policy. I hope he hits the ball straight down the middle in the many days of golf ahead of him.

In the last minute that is available to me I want to touch on a trend that is quite disturbing—that is, drunken and disorderly behaviour on the great beaches of the Mornington Peninsula. Madam Deputy Speaker Burke, you must look with envy down towards the Mornington Peninsula. If it is not God’s country, it is only a local phone call to God. It is a wonderful place. We are seeing people flocking to the beaches. Summer has started early. It has been hot down our way. But we have seen some disturbing trends. I thank Andrew and Mary Helen from Mornington, who contacted me about the deteriorating amenity at Mills Beach. Mills Beach has been a favourite for generations, but early in this summer we have seen a large number of mainly young—sadly, some not so young—people on the beach consuming way too much alcohol, behaving appallingly and making it very unpleasant for the many families who have grown up enjoying Mills Beach. I urge the council and the local police to come together. I will provide my support. There is scope to work through the local laws of the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council. We have deployed technology in other parts of the community that has made a real difference. I think we need to tackle this now and make sure it does not become the scourge of this summer.