Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Hansard source

I rise this afternoon to thank the wonderful surf lifesaving clubs in my electorate for what they have done over the summer in keeping our beaches and swimmers safe and for what they continue to do as the summer continues. My surf lifesaving clubs stretch from Anglesea in the very east of my electorate right through to Portland in the west of my electorate, and all of the surf lifesaving clubs in between do such wonderful work in keeping our community safe.

I had the privilege to visit the Anglesea Surf Lifesaving Club and hear firsthand about the recent experience they had in saving swimmers who had wandered into a rip at Anglesea Beach. The actions of both the young and older members of the surf lifesaving club at Anglesea saved those lives that day. I would like to thank them, as I am sure the family who they saved on that day would like to thank them, for their quick action in addressing what could have been a situation which led to people dying.

I'd also like to thank the Lorne Surf Life Saving Club just down the road for putting on such a wonderful Pier to Pub event. This ocean swim of 1.2 kilometres is the biggest ocean swim in the Southern Hemisphere. COVID has meant that it hasn't taken place over the last couple of summers, but it was back bigger and better than ever. It was the first ocean swim that I've ever done, and I must say I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it and I didn't drown, which was wonderful. But the way it's organised and the atmosphere and to see everyone and the way that they participate are just absolutely fantastic. I give a shout-out to my son, because we had a bet to see who could swim the fastest. He got me—only by a few seconds, but he got me. But I'm going to come back after him next year.

There's also a wonderful, wonderful swim event which is called the Shipwreck Coast Swim Series, which is put on by Portland, Port Fairy, Warrnambool and Port Campbell surf lifesaving clubs. Although I couldn't do all four of the swims, I was able to do the Warrnambool swim. It's called the Tony Ryan Classic. It was another wonderful event: the way that it was organised, the community spirit of the event and the way everyone came together at the end to share a barbecued sausage put on by the local service club. It was just the community at its best, and I know the other three swims that were put on by the other surf lifesaving clubs were equally good.

We should never, ever forget what our surf lifesavers do for our community, because they put their lives at risk to help protect us and keep us safe, and we know that that can end tragically. We saw that, very sadly, occur at Port Campbell a few years ago. So to all those surf lifesavers, who to this day continue to serve our local communities, can I say on behalf of all our communities in the wonderful electorate of Wannon, but also on behalf of Australia and all those overseas visitors who come and visit our wonderful beaches right across the Wannon coastline: thank you for what you do. You keep our local communities safe, you keep all our visitors safe both from across Australia and internationally, and you make sure that people like me can also have an event to target to make sure that we stay fit over summer and that we haven't indulged too much on Christmas Day. To our surf lifesavers: a very, very big thank you.

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