Andrew Southcott (Boothby, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Primary Healthcare) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to welcome home the Australian Olympic and Paralympic teams and to congratulate them on their success at the 2012 London Olympics. I will begin with a few words on the London Olympics. Very few cities have as many venues as spectacular and historic as London. To watch beach volleyball in Horse Guards Parade, to watch the equestrian at Greenwich Park, to see the marathon and triathlon finishing in The Mall, to see archery at Lords—it really was a spectacular Olympics. And the opening and closing ceremonies were a real reflection of what it is to be British. As good as Sydney was, I think London—in terms of the whole spectacle—was at least its equal. I am sure many Australians across the country spent many a late night sitting up to watch their favourite sports and favourite competitors.

We can be very proud that, of 204 competing nations, we ranked 10th in the medal tally at the Olympics. Australia finished the games with seven gold, 16 silver and 12 bronze medals. While we may not have been as successful in the pool as we had originally hoped, there were a number of Australian success stories which, as a nation, we should be proud of. Our Australian sailors produced fantastic results, with gold in the men's 470, gold in the men's 49ers, gold in the men's Laser and silver in the women's match race.

South Australian physio Jessica Trengrove finished the women's marathon in a time of two hours, 31 minutes and 17 seconds, giving her 39th place in what was only her second ever marathon. The men's K4 1,000-metre crew rewrote their 2008 Beijing result by winning gold at Eton Dorney. Sally Pearson edged out Dawn Harper by two-hundredths of a second in the women's hurdles. Finally, Anna Meares battled long-term arch rival Victoria Pendleton to take the gold in the women's sprint. Focusing on some other athletes—who can forget Usain Bolt in the men's 100-metre, 200-metre and 4 x 100-metre relay events? He is truly the most amazing sprinter I have ever seen.

On a South Australian note, there are a number of Olympians I would like to congratulate. There were 36 South Australians among Australia's 410-strong team in London. The South Australian medallists included Anna Meares, who won gold in the women's sprint and bronze in the team sprint; Sam Willoughby from Hallett Cove, who won silver in the BMX; Jack Borbridge and Rohan Dennis, who won silver in the team pursuit; and Emily Seebohm—although she is from Queensland, she spent her early years in Brighton and we do claim her; her father played over 300 games for the Glenelg Football Club in the SANFL—who won two silver medals.

Abby Bishop and Laura Hodges won bronze in basketball; Annette Edmondson won bronze in the omnium; and James McRae and Chris Morgan—one of whom is a member of the Adelaide University Boat Club, my rowing club—won bronze in the quad sculls. Hayden Stoeckel won bronze in the men's 4 x 100-metre medley relay.

In addition, a number of Olympians spent their formative years attending schools in my electorate. Nathan Roberts and Greg Sukachev both attended Brighton Secondary School—a government school that has a special interest in volleyball. They competed in the men's volleyball with the Volleyroos who finished fifth. It is my understanding that Brighton Secondary will now name a volleyball court after their old scholars. Brad Newley and Joe Ingles both attended Pasadena High School and competed in the men's basketball with the Boomers and finished seventh overall. We are very proud of them; and Pasadena High School had signs on the board outside the school really celebrating their journey with the Boomers. Renee Chatterton, who attended St John's Grammar Belair as well as Highgate Primary and Concordia, rowed in the women's eight in London, the self-styled Motley Crew.

We also must congratulate our Paralympians, who have returned from London. Australia had over 300 Paralympics competitors, competing in 13 of the 20 available sports. We ranked fifth in the medal tally at the London Paralympics. I know that I sat up cheering on our Australian Paralympians in the same way I did our Olympians. The strength, determination and courage that our Paralympians show should make us all proud to be Australian. I would especially like to congratulate Matthew Cowdrey, a proud South Australian and now our most successful Paralympian ever. It has been my privilege to meet Matthew on several occasions. He was a very early and very strong advocate for the state aquatic centre in Adelaide, in Marion, in my electorate. We were very pleased to see that aquatic centre hosting the trials in March for the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. I saw Matthew Cowdrey win his events at those Paralympics trials and he made the point then how great it was to be able to race in his home state—which was something that had not been available for a long time. At only 23 years old, Matt has 23 medals to his name—13 of which are gold. I think he is also a lawyer and he is interested a career in foreign affairs. I certainly wish him all the best. In London, Matt received five gold, two silver and a bronze to become our most successful Paralympian ever. It was also the final Paralympics for Libby Kosmala, who has been a veteran of Paralympics. Libby has decided that this would be her last one. I wish her all the best. She has made a tremendous contribution over a long time for the Australian Paralympic team.

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