House debates

Thursday, 14 February 2019

Statements by Members

Nangwarry Football Club

1:56 pm

Photo of Tony PasinTony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

Nangwarry is small town of around 500 people in the south-east of South Australia, and what it lacks in size it makes up for in community spirit. The Nangwarry Saints football club was once a powerhouse of the Mid South Eastern Football League, winning four flags between 1993 and 1999. Sadly, it's been more than four years since they've won a game, and in recent times their average losing margin was some 195 points. Almost as if to rub salt into the wound, on 9 January fire destroyed the Saints' clubrooms, which they share with the Saints Netball Club. It's a suspected case of arson—not confirmed. But I've got to point out that the $500,000 worth of damage is real. And it's not just the clubrooms. It's not just the bricks and mortar. It's 54 years of memorabilia lost. Nangwarry has been the target of a number of arson attacks. Indeed, there have been 10 fires since 2015. I very much hope that the criminals who are lighting these fires are brought to justice soon.

I want to put a shout-out to the other teams in the league, who are coming together to support the Nangwarry Football Club. Recently we had members from the eight other teams supporting them at a training event. Our community is coming together to help the Saints rebuild, and I'm looking forward to doing everything I can to help them get their first win in a long time and to rebuild their clubrooms.