Joanna Gash (Gilmore, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am sure that every member of parliament has heard the comment, 'The government ought to do this and the government ought to do that; otherwise someone else will do it.' There is a village in my electorate, Sanctuary Point, where the people have decided that enough is enough, that they are that 'someone else' and that they will do something about it. Six months ago Sanctuary Point was plagued with serious issues of graffiti, vandalism and questionable council maintenance. These problems had all slowly contributed to Sanctuary Point becoming something much less than a sanctuary.

Dennis and Kate Williams are long-term residents of Sanctuary Point and like many others in Sanctuary Point they were concerned, sad and angry to witness the negative outlook their town had developed. Fed up with seeing their village degrading into something unrecognisable, Mr and Mrs Williams took it upon themselves to change their town back to the sanctuary it once was. Firstly, they wrote to every single one of their government representatives. They wrote lengthy letters that detailed their objections to what their town had become and, most importantly, they had suggestions on how to fix it.

After the letter campaign they designed a newsletter that explained their plight. They had it printed and then hand-distributed it to every business in town. The response to their campaign was incredible. Instead of waiting for council or someone else who ought to have been doing it, a call was made to the local 2ST radio station for a public call to arms which recruited a local councillor. Very quickly, a group of local residents gathered—armed with lawnmowers, gloves and sponges—who all wanted to clean up the town and restore it to what it once was. Together they cleaned out weeds, mowed nature strips, removed litter, cleaned pavements and more. Even the council stepped up its maintenance regime and restored areas that had not been tended to for years.

In only a matter of weeks after the Williams's began their campaign, the village of Sanctuary Point started to look like it deserved its name once again. There is a lot more to be done but it goes to show that due to some local leadership from two ordinary residents who had decided to take matters into their own hands an entire community has regained its pride. Well done, Mr and Mrs Williams and Councillor Proudfoot. You have restored my faith that people really do want to participate. There are other villages that come to mind with many volunteers who do not wait for someone else to do it for them. We all have an obligation to look after what our great Australian community has to offer.

On the subject of volunteering, it is not often that we give a bouquet to our local councils but last weekend was Graffiti Action Day. Again, there were locals who were prepared to rejuvenate the areas covered by graffiti throughout their village. I thank Glen Elliot from the council who was well prepared with paint and brushes. I also thank Mr Bert Hawke who turned 76 last week and outlasted many younger people. I am so proud of you all. My thanks go to the lady who turned up out of the blue with morning tea. It goes to show that not everyone waits around for someone else to do it. We still have many good people in our community who just do it without thought of reward or recognition. It is no wonder that I am so proud to be the member for Gilmore.

See this speech in context