Kirsten Livermore (Capricornia, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Education) Share this | Hansard source

I also wish to support the member for Moncrieff’s motion on surf-lifesavers. I am delighted to have this opportunity to record my appreciation and admiration for the contribution that the surf-lifesaving movement has made to our Australian way of life.

This year marks the centenary of surf-lifesaving in Australia—and what a proud history it is. One hundred years of volunteers patrolling our beaches, educating us about how to enjoy the water safely and putting their own lives at risk to perform rescues. It is a fitting tribute to the thousands of volunteer lifesavers, who have kept our beaches safe in that time, as well as the current members, that the 100-year milestone has been marked by the declaration of 2007 as the Year of the Surf Lifesaver.

There is no doubt that the Australian surf-lifesaver is a true national icon. As a nation we love the beach, and the image of the bronzed Aussie lifesaver in his or her red-and-yellow cap brings together two of our most celebrated national characteristics—our love of sport and the spirit of volunteering: getting in and helping others. The story of the beginnings of surf-lifesaving lives up to that image. In the early years of last century the ban on swimming in daylight hours was lifted, and going to the beach became a very popular pastime. With so many poor swimmers getting into trouble in the water there was a need for stronger swimmers to be ready to rescue them. Groups started to form to carry out that service on beaches around Sydney. The Surf Bathing Association of New South Wales formed in 1907 with a grand total of nine clubs. There are now over 300 surf-lifesaving clubs with 113,000 members. In that time 500,000 lives have been saved on Australian beaches. That is an incredible achievement and something we should never take for granted.

I am proud to say that surf-lifesaving is in my blood and was a big part of my early life. My father is a life member of the Mackay Surf Club and some of my earliest memories are of following him around on the beach and trying to run up sand dunes when he was training his surfboat crew. As soon as surf-lifesaving was opened up for female members in 1980 my sister and I were signed up to be nippers, and I continued as an active member of the Mackay club and then the Yeppoon club until a couple of years ago. I am not sure whether the Yeppoon club accept this as an excuse, but I am afraid that the demands of this job and a growing family finally got too much and something had to give. Sadly, at the moment, it is my weekend patrols, but I hope to be back on the beach one day.

When most Australians think of surf-lifesaving they immediately think of the lifesaver on patrol, and that is undoubtedly the public face of the lifesaving movement and part of its enduring strength and appeal. But we should never forget the other volunteers who do so much to keep clubs going—the administrators, trainers and fundraisers. I know from my experience at the Yeppoon club that those tasks are never-ending and absolutely essential if clubs are to continue operating so that each weekend our beaches can be patrolled by members with up-to-date qualifications and with access to reliable rescue equipment.

As we have heard from the other participants in this debate today, every club has those people—the stalwarts who sell raffle tickets, organise cent sales, do the bookwork and staff the canteen every weekend. There are also the trainers and examiners, who make sure that every lifesaver on patrol can carry out the demands of rescue and resuscitation if they are required to do so. When I think about the level of commitment that is required, and the level of commitment that is embodied in the surf-lifesaving movement, I can think of no greater example than a gentleman who is very well known to me and to those throughout Central Queensland—and that is Ron Harding. He is a fantastic example of the finest traditions of surf-lifesaving. Ron Harding is known to everyone in lifesaving as ‘Speed’. Speed has been a member of the Yeppoon Surf Club for over 50 years and his dedication to surf-lifesaving is legendary.

Now in his seventies, Speed is at the pool in Rockhampton before five o’clock every morning ready to train any lifesaver brave enough to try one of his sessions. He spends his weekends at the club training members in rescue and resuscitation and is always encouraging them to upgrade their skills. It is a labour of love for Speed, but it still amounts to a huge sacrifice of his personal time to further the cause of surf-lifesaving in Central Queensland. To Speed and the countless other dedicated volunteers like him who have built this unique Australian organisation over the past 100 years, we say thank you.

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