Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It will come as no surprise to the members of this place that Grey covers 92.4 per cent of the area of South Australia and is filled with vibrant communities. The BBRF program represents the regional areas of Australia. We have been great beneficiaries of it over a long period of time, and I'm pleased to report that this latest round is no exception.

In the Clare Valley, Clare Sports Club Inc have secured $2½ million, which is half of the value of developing a new complex and bringing the oval up to AFL standard. I want to tell a bit of a story about that. The Clare oval hosts the north Clare football and netball clubs and the south Clare football and netball clubs. If you know anything about country Australia—and I know you do, Deputy Speaker O'Brien—you know that the two clubs that sit closest geographically are always the most competitive because they're fighting over players. They've come together on this project and they're going to share the new facility. I think that's a great tick, and it's the kind of thing that gives me great confidence that it will be a huge success.

In Cleve, the Cleve Area School has had an agricultural program based on a bequest from a Mr Sims some 30 years ago when he left his farm to the school. They've developed an agricultural program which is drawing people in from right across the west and even the mid-north of South Australia, and their boarding house is full. They've also attracted the Motor Trade Association to set up an apprentice training facility. Their 10-room boarding facility is totally at class. As a result of a $2.2 million grant through the BBRF, they will now have a 35-place boarding facility for the whole region. That's a wonderful outcome not just for Cleve but for all of regional South Australia or certainly the north and west.

In Balaklava, their 50-year-old swimming pool was cracked and irreparably damaged by an earthquake. They get $1½ million to build themselves a new pool. In Roxby Downs, a town that often gets overlooked because of its mining wealth and being supported by BHP, I'm very pleased to see $2.7 million going towards the redevelopment of their sporting areas. Marion Bay, which is right down the bottom of Yorke Peninsula, where the toes are, is getting $118,000 for a playground. I met recently with the young women down there, the mothers that backed that program, and they are just delighted to have landed that grant. In Coffin Bay, the yacht club is getting a new floating pontoon jetty. Coffin Bay is a tourist mecca for South Australia, and I'm sure everyone in this room has tried Coffin Bay oysters at some stage. There's the Port Parham short-stay facility, and then three $20,000 developmental grants for Port Lincoln, Yorke Peninsula and up in the upper north at Lake Eyre.