Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am going to report to the House about a very important event—the Balaklava Cup. It is a great race day, held in my electorate of Wakefield. Over 10,000 people are making their journey to Balak for a great racing occasion, held on 3 September this year. This is a great day of racing and community activity. It is where people can have a good time at a reasonable cost. I have to thank the Balaklava Racing Club Committee and the officials: CEO Doug Hall; administration officer Lee-anne McCracken; chairperson Wayne Henson; and deputy chairperson Trevor Sampson. Also, all the committee members: Richard Green; Harold Lane; Ian Ravenscroft; Andrew Manuel—who is a good friend of mine—Don Triggs; Craig Wissell; and Kym Hume.

It is important that we acknowledge that it was Doug Hall's 14th event. It is not easy to organise a race day and to have such a successful one. I note the headline on the front cover of the Plains Producer, 3 September, is 'Our big day'. The Plains Produceris a great paper for the Adelaide Plains. It reported about Doug Hall and his very important role, taking over the reins in May 2001, and successfully building this event over that time and making it such an important event for the local community. Doug came off a farm near Grace Plains. He is one of those very Australian characters; living a very Australian life. Another headline is 'Last of the scallywags our cup's hallmark'. It certainly tells a story about a very important event and a very important man, doing a great job for the local community. I would like to congratulate him and the committee on what will be a continuing great event for Balaklava.

When we talk of Balaklava it is also important that we also acknowledge the retirement of Mayor James Maitland, who was mayor of the Wakefield Regional Council for 17 years, which is certainly a long innings in anybody's experience. He has had 27 years experience of local government. James was a farmer, living near Blyth, for the whole of that time. He is a very upstanding individual of the community and very well respected. I have certainly relied on him for his advice on one or two occasions. We also had great success in opening a water pipeline that goes from Auburn down to Balaklava. That is James's legacy to the area, amongst many other things. That initiative will help to fund growth in Balaklava for years to come. I congratulate Mayor James Maitland. Interestingly, he has moved to Tanunda, with his wife Pru, who should also be acknowledged, but he has not given up on local government. He is going to run for the Barossa Regional Council. So that is a big effort.

When we talk about the Barossa council, one has to talk about Mayor Brian Hurn OAM, who is retiring after an epic 37 years in local government. He spent 10 years as chairman of the Angaston council. He joined it as the CEO and at a time when, as he described it, a couple of ladies ran the council. It is now a much bigger organisation in Tanunda. Brian Hurn became the mayor in 1997. There are so many things I could say about Brian. He is not only a great footballer, a great state cricketer for South Australia but also was a great mayor. I have worked with him on things such as the Gawler to Tanunda bike track event, which is a great event. He created a community facility with a pool and recreation centre that is now used by 20,000 people every month. He hands a terrific legacy to the Barossa. He should indeed be acknowledged as a great citizen of the Barossa.