Tom Venning (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Seventeen years ago Sunny Singh arrived in regional South Australia with little money and few connections. Today he's a justice of the peace, an elected member and a community leader, and for years he has been quietly raising the issues that matter most to the people of Giles. The Liberal Party chose him for a reason. Giles deserves a representative with proven dedication and real roots in the community. That person is Sunny Singh, and he has my full support.

On Monday, 16 February, I had the privilege of attending the annual Bushfire Resilience Day at the Wasleys Bowling Club. I was joined by my friend and colleague the member for Frome and candidate for Ngadjuri Penny Pratt. Together we spent the morning listening to the lived experience of those who survived the Pinery bushfire, and the choice of the venue was no coincidence. Ten years ago, the Pinery fire tore through our region with a ferocity that changed lives forever. I'd like to acknowledge the deaths of Allan Tiller and Janet Hughes. The Wasleys Bowling Club was destroyed—reduced to nothing but charred remains. However, the story did not end in the ash. Penny and I stood in a facility that not only has been rebuilt but is currently thriving. At Wasleys, resilience is not a buzzword. It is the lived reality. It is the grit of the volunteers and the determination of a community which refuses to be defined by disaster. I want to extend my gratitude to the CFS for organising this commemoration. We honour the memory of what was lost, and we celebrate the strength found in the aftermath.

The west coast is the best coast. I had the privilege of spending a lot of time out there in the last few weeks, travelling from Port Lincoln to Ceduna, Penong and Port Augusta, meeting with councillors, small-business owners, farmers, miners and community leaders. These people are the people who run this nation, often without the recognition or adequate support. I visited the South Middleback mine, the future of Whyalla, a place that is thriving and is full of possibility but also a business that is struggling under power prices plus green and red tape.

I met with small-business owners in Port Augusta, who are working incredibly hard for their slice of the Australian dream but feel crushed under power prices, rising crime and a police presence that is simply not good enough. Sunny and I met with Ben at SportsPower and Anne from Harvey Norman and with many other businesses in that community. I heard from remote and regional councils starved for funding by a city-centric Labor government, which is passing the burden onto regional ratepayers, but I also witnessed something extraordinary—a space launch facility at Koonibba partnering with companies across three continents and Penong footy club, a team undefeated for three years.