Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak about a fantastic event that occurred in my electorate: the launch of a new vessel for Marine Rescue at Brunswick Heads. That occurred today at the Brunswick Heads Boat Harbour. This new vessel is a $340,000 offshore rescue vessel which really boosts the emergency capability of Marine Rescue New South Wales volunteers on the New South Wales North Coast. The formal commissioning of this new vessel, which is called Brunswick 30, was a great event. The commissioner, Stacey Tannos, was there. Representatives from the Byron Shire Council attended. It was great to see that a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council, Amanda Fazio, also attended.

Brunswick 30 forms a really important part of Marine Rescue's strategic safety net of offshore rescue vessels covering the New South Wales coastline. It really is a significant investment in the safety of local and visiting boaters. The vessel was built by local boatbuilders Yamba Welding and Engineering—a great effort by them. Our Brunswick unit commander, Owen Danvers, has said that Brunswick 30 provides the unit's volunteers with a really fantastic, lightweight, speedy and highly manoeuvrable vessel. It is a great asset to them and also for all the boaters that use the region. It allows a much faster response team.

I would really like to commend the unit commander, Owen Danvers, for the remarkable work that he does. I also commend all the volunteers with Brunswick Marine Rescue for the remarkable work that they do. They do an outstanding job in volunteering their time to assist people in our waters and also attending training in assisting people in our community.

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