Madeleine King (Brand, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I've never been known as a revhead, and so a Perth car club's invitation to join them on a Sunday afternoon to witness a world record attempt was always going to be a new experience for me. And this record attempt was something else indeed! Alongside a crowd of enthusiasts at a warehouse in Kwinana, I watched more than 60 electric cars—including Tesla, BMW, Mitsubishi and Nissan models—attempt to break the world record for the biggest electric vehicle charge. The attempt was the first of its kind and all of those involved worked hard to make the day a success.

Jon Edwards from the Tesla Owners Club of Western Australia is one of those people who are passionate about what they do. He is passionate about the difference electric cars and electric vehicles can make and is keen to share their benefits with the wider public. On this particular day, he invested his time and money in ensuring the event went off without a hitch—which it did. He worked hard to get all the cars there and to make sure there were enough power points for the cars.

On the day, 62 electric vehicle owners from around Perth gathered to try and set the world record for the biggest electric car charge, with the most vehicles charged simultaneously in the same place. I'd like to thank Jon Edwards as well as David Lloyd, also from the Tesla Owners Club of Western Australia, who have been most generous in taking me out for a couple of rides in their respective Tesla cars—remarkable vehicles, including the 'insane mode', which absolutely takes your breath away. I have no doubt electric vehicles are the future. It's up to parliaments likes ours, as well as others around the world, to measure up to that future and make positive policy settings that embrace and encourage electric vehicle ownership.

On the Australia Day weekend, I was very fortunate to go out to the Sandgropers Land Yacht Club to sail on a land yacht on a 430-hectare dried out salt lake known as Lake Walyungup in my electorate. The lake is between Warnbro, Waikiki and Baldivis. The Sandgropers club meet on Sunday afternoons when the lake is dry in the summer. People from all ages come from around the state to sail or pilot their land yachts on this lake. People even came from Kalgoorlie for this Regatta. I'd really like to thank Jay, who took me out on a double-seater land yacht for the first time. I've driven past this salt lake and witnessed the sailing for years—since I was a child growing up in Baldivis—but I had never taken the journey out to where they sail and I had certainly never sailed on that wonderful salt lake. So I was very pleased to do it. It was a little bit frightening and a little bit thrilling. I really hope the members of that club continue to enjoy it. They've been there since 1979, and they get many new members to enjoy the speeds of up to 100 kays an hour that these land yachts can travel at.

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