Nicolle Flint (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's only February, but the Brighton Surf Life Saving Club has had a very busy and hugely successful start to the year. On Sunday, 6 January the club officially opened their new surf lifesaving tower, which provides much better visibility of the beach for lifeguards on patrol. It was wonderful to join President Chris Parsons, Billy Jackson, Craig Caldicott and other volunteers, along with my state colleagues Corey Wingard and David Speirs, to celebrate the completion of the tower. The tower helps keep our volunteers out of the elements and gives them a much better view of the beach. I was delighted to secure $40,000 in federal funding towards the tower. And I thank President Chris and the club for working with me to achieve this.

I was also delighted to hear that the tower will be named after club member Billy Jackson. Two decades ago, Billy came to Australia from Scotland and quickly joined the club to help overcome his fear of the ocean. In 2015, he was awarded Australian Lifesaver of the Year in recognition of his leadership and countless volunteer hours dedicated to surf lifesaving. Billy, on behalf of our community, thank you for everything you have done for surf lifesaving and for demonstrating leadership in volunteering. I'm so pleased that your efforts will be permanently recorded by the plaque under the tower. President Chris also told me that within days of the tower opening, lifeguards helped a swimmer they would not have otherwise been able to see, so the investment in the tower has already paid for itself.

Not long after the tower opening, I joined the South Australian Governor, His Excellency the Hon. Hieu Van Le and Mrs Le; my state colleagues Corey Wingard, Stephen Patterson and David Speirs; and Mayor Amanda Wilson and councillors from the City of Holdfast Bay for the opening of this year's Brighton Jetty Sculptures on 23 January. I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of the artists who entered the competition and whose artworks provided beautiful decoration for the beach. Thank you, especially, to the sculptures committee, chaired by Glen Millar, and all of the volunteers who helped put on another very successful event, which is a really important fundraiser for the Brighton Surf Life Saving Club. The record 205 entries attracted an estimated attendance of over 180,000 people and is a true credit to the incredibly hard work of these amazing volunteers.

Over the Australia Day long weekend, the surf club once again hosted swimmers for the Australian Open Water Swimming Championships. Thank you to those volunteers who then also supported the Brighton Jetty Classic on 3 February, which features the famous Marilyn Jetty Swim, founded by Sarah Tinney. All of these events benefited from the incredible safety provided by the tower, and I once again congratulate and thank the club and every single volunteer for making the tower possible and for all they do to keep everyone safe on the beach each summer.