Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We are privileged in this place to be able to tell stories of remarkable people and organisations who are making our local communities better places to live through their selfless actions. Tonight it's my pleasure to update the House on a couple of those examples in my electorate of Braddon. Laylah Griffiths is a young lady from Somerset. Five years ago Laylah started Laylah's Gifts, a charitable campaign that delivers Christmas gift boxes to organisations such as the Salvation Army, St Vincent de Paul, women's shelters and youth, family and community connections. When I met with Laylah recently it was obvious right away that she is a remarkable person. Laylah has an enormous capacity to care and she has converted her concern into action. This Christmas, Laylah's Gifts will deliver more than 200 gift boxes to those in need. But what makes this an extraordinary story is that Laylah is just nine years old. Well done, Laylah, for reminding us what is really important at Christmas time. I know that we are united in saying how profoundly proud we are of you, of your nan and of your message that it is not about what's in those Christmas boxes but it's about the thought and the love that goes into each and every one of them.

Christmas means summer. With summer just around the corner I'd also like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to our incredible surf lifesaving movement—in particular, to highlight the enormous contribution that this organisations makes in my electorate of Braddon. Surf Life Saving Tasmania comprises 14 surf lifesaving clubs, seven marine rescue units and three support services. These organisations have more than 2,300 members pretty evenly spread across both male and female genders. Of the 14 clubs in Tasmania, half are on the north-west coast. They are the great surf lifesaving clubs of Burnie, Boat Harbour, Devonport, Penguin, Port Sorell, Somerset and Ulverstone. Surf lifesaving has a long and proud history on the coast, with the first club in Tasmania being Burnie, which was founded nearly 100 years ago in 1921. In 1927 the Devonport Surf Life Saving Club was founded, followed by Ulverstone. The Penguin Surf Life Saving Club was founded in 1930. To demonstrate the north-west coast's leadership in the area of surf lifesaving and education, it would be a further 30 years before any club outside the electorate of Braddon was founded in Tasmania. Surf lifesaving is a volunteer driven organisation. Those patrolling our local beaches or taking on roles within our surf clubs give up their time and receive no pay.

Last Sunday the Burnie Surf Life Saving Club on West Beach was a hive of activity. Nippers were running around everywhere having great fun in the sand and the surf, being active, learning great skills, building confidence and developing into leaders of tomorrow. I have no doubt that this level of activity and enjoyment was being replicated on beaches right across the north-west coast. I thank every giving person who heads down to the beach on Sunday mornings and makes this all possible. This summer, if you've been thinking about volunteering, why not contact your local surf club? If that's not for you, you can help out just by taking care in the surf this summer. Know your capabilities. Swim between the flags. Read the safety signs. If you're a surfer or a paddler, make sure you let somebody know where you're going. Make sure you take a mate with you. If you're considering a summer holiday, why not travel to the north-west coast of Tasmania and enjoy the most magnificent and best patrolled beaches in the world at Burnie, Boat Harbour, Devonport, Penguin, Somerset and Ulverstone?