House debates

Thursday, 10 August 2023

Statements by Members

Pearce Electorate: Surf Lifesaving

1:43 pm

Photo of Tracey RobertsTracey Roberts (Pearce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | | Hansard source

Congratulations go to the Quinns Mindarie Surf Life Saving Club, President Nathanial Lee and team, for their remarkable achievement in winning the Woodside Nippers Club of the Year award. The nippers program stands out for its excellence in safety and quality and its ability to connect with young people and families alike.

Congratulations also go to club member Richard Swinnerton, who won Woodside Nippers' Volunteer of the Year. Always the first on the beach, Richard provides hours and hours of service to ensure the safe and professional delivery of the club's nippers program. The long-term aim is to equip these young nippers with skills that will seamlessly guide them into the youth program and into lifelong surf lifesaving membership.

Emphasising individual safety, nippers warm-up routines include beach-specific signals, which foster a grasp of effective communication at the beach. Weekly sessions with nippers and parents also encompass vital SunSmart messages. Knowledge of key beach features, to improve surf awareness, forms a pivotal aspect. Grasping concepts like rips, beach types and basic weather conditions is paired with age-appropriate entry techniques such as wading, dolphin dives and bunny hops. The club's continued remarkable growth clearly indicates the need for increased space to enable our youth to access important lifesaving skills. I am a staunch supporter of the club as well as the broader Quinns Mindarie community and surrounding areas, who are united in preserving the remaining beach foreshore as public open space, catering to the present community and the generations to come.