Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today I rise to thank the Governor of South Australia, His Excellency the Hon. Hieu Van Le, and Mrs Lan Le for their visit on the weekend to the communities of Naracoorte and Lucindale in my electorate. I've spoken in this place a number of times regarding the recent Blackford-Avenue Range and Lucindale fires. The recent fires were the reason the Governor attended those communities and why the visit was so gratefully received.

His Excellency's first stop was at the opening of the children's exhibit at the Sheep's Back Museum, which will provide children with interactive learning experiences and enable them to explore the history of their local area. Next, we lunched at Yakka Park with a myriad of extraordinary volunteers, including those volunteering with the CFS, BlazeAid and the Lucindale Lions Club. It was great for the Governor to hear firsthand accounts of the fire and how it could have been so much worse but for the actions of those paid and unpaid professionals and, of course, to hear about the progress of the recovery.

In the evening, the Governor opened the Naracoorte office of the Australian Migrant Resource Centre and launched the Limestone Coast Multicultural Network. The successful settlement of humanitarian arrivals is an issue close to the Governor's heart, with his own personal experience serving as a shining example to all of us. Finally, His Excellency opened the Pearl Continental Restaurant, operated by Hafeezullah, himself a humanitarian refugee. I want to take this opportunity to thank the Governor and Mrs Le for their visit. They're great South Australians and inspirational in every context.

See this speech in context