Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Roads and Regional Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr Speaker, and I take this opportunity to wish you and all other members in this place all the best for the new year.

The Australia Day awards in the East Gippsland region were a time of great celebration for my community. In particular, I would like to take the opportunity tonight to congratulate our Citizen of the Year, a lady by the name of Kristine Cordery. Kristine is well known to the people in the Lakes Entrance district for her involvement with the Lakes Entrance Surf Life Saving Club. Those members who have a surf lifesaving club in their electorate will understand well the important role that the surf lifesaving movement plays right throughout Australia.

In our club in my home town of Lakes Entrance, where my four children are actually involved in the surf lifesaving program, we are very passionate about our surf lifesaving club. We are very proud of the achievements of the young people in our ranks and also in this case our more mature members of the club and our office bearers.

Kristine is one of a great team at the surf lifesaving club in Lakes Entrance. Having taken on the role of treasurer for many years and a range of important positions in the club, she has been instrumental in our club lifting itself in terms of professionalism for a volunteer organisation and also in lifting its professionalism to go on to be recognised as the Australian Surf Life Saving Club of the Year just a couple of years ago. That came about after Lakes Entrance hosted the Victorian junior titles in 2008. Then, in 2010, the club hosted both the junior and senior Victorian titles—the first time in history that those two titles have been held on the one beach on the one weekend. In just a few weeks time, on the March long weekend, Lakes Entrance will again host the state junior and senior titles. As I said at the outset, Kristine Cordery, our Citizen of the Year, has been instrumental in helping our club deliver those programs.

I believe that the surf lifesaving movement is, without doubt, one of the great movements across Australia. What I particularly like about the surf lifesaving clubs is the structure that they provide for young people. Many of our other community organisations do not have that capacity to get young people involved at a very early age. We have nippers on the beach from the time they are seven years old, and from that they progress through the ranks and learn skills. By the time they are 13 these young people are actually doing patrols on the beach and have the capacity to save lives if they are called upon. I think that is a great thing to teach young people at such an early age. It is a fun way for them to get out and enjoy the beach but also to make a contribution to their community. I am particularly impressed with the way the Victorian surf lifesaving movement operates.

In my electorate I am fortunate to have three surf lifesaving clubs: the Lakes Entrance one, of which I am a member, and also the Seaspray club and the Woodside club. I happened to be present in Seaspray on Australia Day, when the club hosted their own junior carnival. It was a great occasion for the Seaspray club as it was also the day that the new Victorian police and emergency services minister visited and announced funding for an upgrade of their clubhouse. I think that is a great thing, and I think it is a great thing that the current Victorian government has actually taken up what the previous Victorian government was doing in investing in new facilities for our surf clubs. It is such a critical thing for the young people involved and also for the senior members to realise that the government actually recognises the contribution they make to the community by being prepared to give them decent facilities.

Our surf clubs not only rely on government funding but also rely very heavily on the goodwill of donors and businesses in our community. There are many businesses that go out of their way to make a contribution to the surf lifesaving movement because they recognise how important it is to provide safe patrolled beaches in our coastal towns. (Time expired)

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! It being 8 pm, the debate is interrupted.