Geoff Lyons (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Deputy Speaker Livermore, I acknowledge that this is your first time in the chair and I congratulate you on that appointment. It was with great pleasure that I moved this motion. I am actively involved in surf-lifesaving and have been lucky enough to have assisted in running state, national and international events for surf-lifesaving. Surf-lifesaving has been a large part of my life, providing me with the opportunity to serve as a club secretary at 17 and a club captain at 18 and to have continuous membership since.

Surf-lifesaving experienced continued growth in 2009-10, with a two per cent increase in membership, to just over 153,000 members nationally. Significantly, there were growths in male, female and junior memberships, indicating the growing popularity of surf-lifesaving throughout all demographics. On the beach, surf-lifesaving clubs and the support operations once again performed their service with outstanding success. Surf-lifesavers and Surf Life Saving Australia lifeguards performed an impressive 11,912 rescues and 53,799 cases of first aid and undertook 658,397 preventative actions in 2009-10, exemplifying the challenging role they face in keeping Australia’s largest and most popular playground—our beaches—the safest in the world. The training by surf-lifesaving club members around the country for nippers and juniors provides risk management for Australia’s future.

Surf Life Saving Australia’s service to the Australian people is not without personal risk. In March 2010, Saxon Bird, of Queenscliff Surf Life Saving Club, tragically passed away while competing at the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships on the Gold Coast. Saxon was an extremely talented athlete and a committed surf-lifesaver who represented the very best of what the surf-lifesaving movement is about. Our thoughts will always remain with Saxon’s family and friends and the Queenscliff Surf Life Saving Club.

Competition in surf-lifesaving is one method of developing the skills needed when surf-lifesavers put their lives on the line in the service of others to ensure the safest environment for every man, woman and child that uses our wonderful beaches for recreational purposes. Surf Life Saving Australia has continued to fulfil its role as the peak body for coastal safety in Australia, contributing to a wide range of government reviews on matters as diverse as water safety, emergency management, volunteerism and climate change. It also maintained our standing as a world leader in coastal safety, both through the International Life Saving Federation and directly with many national lifesaving federations around the world.

Surf Life Saving Australia’s contribution to international lifesaving and global drowning prevention continued during 2009-10 with the rollout of several aid programs, primarily in the Asia-Pacific region, thanks to the valued support of the Kevin Weldon AM international aid program. Currently there is some level of Surf Life Saving Australia activity or aid being delivered in 25 countries. Surf Life Saving Australia has adopted a more coordinated approach to its aid programs. This will give greater justification and substance to the aid provided and will look at the future sustainability of these programs. Surf Life Saving Australia has been selected to host the World Lifesaving Championships in Adelaide in 2012 and in the 2009-10 period saw a comprehensive plan developed to deliver this event for the International Life Saving Federation.

The Australian government has continued to be a major supporter of Surf Life Saving Australia’s core business, with increased funding throughout the year. As reported in the last annual report, Surf Life Saving Australia was the recipient of a $4.4 million grant from the government to fund a significant portion of their new information and communications technology system. This technology, once the project is finalised, will have a significant effect on the organisation’s delivery of services. The government’s support of water safety initiatives continued via the recreation and safety program as well as the Saving Lives in the Water program. These significant funds are vital to the service that Surf Life Saving Australia provides. In the 2010 federal government budget, the government announced a significant injection of funds into Australian sport. As a result, Surf Life Saving Australia, like many other sporting bodies, was asked to lodge a submission to the Australian Sports Commission, requesting access to some of these additional resources to support the growth of sport.

In 2010 the National coastal safety report identified that in 2009-10 there were 82 coastal drownings in Australia, below the past five-year average of 88 and a welcome trend reversal from the previous two years. Surf Life Saving Australia acknowledges that there is a lot more to do to achieve the goal of halving drowning deaths by 2020. Surf Life Saving Australia should be congratulated for its efforts to advocate for nationally consistent standards for coastal safety services, systems and signage.

Forty-nine per cent of drownings during 2009-10 occurred over 50 km from the place of residence of the drowning victim and this indicates that unfamiliarity with local conditions was a cause. Additionally, five people, or six per cent of the victims, were confirmed as being international tourists and 32 per cent were confirmed as having foreign ethnicity. The call of Surf Life Saving Australia for national standards should be supported by all states and territories and the federal government. Whilst Surf Lifesaving Australia’s magnificent activities in patrolling our beaches and protecting Australians should be acknowledged and lauded by members of this House, there is more we, as elected members of this place, can offer Surf Life Saving Australia. The establishment of a bipartisan Friends of Surf Life Saving among MPs and senators would provide the opportunity to keep members of parliament and senators informed about the humanitarian, social and economic value of Surf Life Saving Australia to the Australian community.

There are a number of members in this place and in the Senate who have been or who are currently involved in surf life saving clubs and activities. I look forward to being involved, together with other members and senators, in establishing the Friends of Surf Life Saving. It is with immense pleasure and pride that I commend the motion to the House.

Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Roads and Regional Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Madam Deputy Speaker Livermore, I join with the member for Bass in recognising your new role as a deputy speaker and wish you well in that role. I am pleased to join the debate today on the motion put forward by the member for Bass on surf-lifesaving. In doing so, I acknowledge that the member for Bass is a life member of both Surf Life Saving Tasmania and Surf Life Saving Australia. His modesty prevented him from telling us that. I understand you do not get that in a box of Nutrigrain. I believe the member has served his community and served the surf-lifesaving movement with great distinction over a period of many years. I commend the member for his dedication to what I believe is one of the most worthy causes in the Australian community. In doing so I also congratulate him on his win at the recent election; he had a very strong result.

My personal involvement in the surf-lifesaving movement is far more modest. I have been involved for the past five years in my children’s nippers program. This year all four of my children are enrolled in the nippers program at the Lakes Entrance Surf Life Saving Club and I will continue my role as a bronze medallion holder and water safety officer. It goes without saying that without the volunteer parents to support our young nippers on the beach the program would collapse, but at Lakes Entrance we have more than 100 nippers taking to the beach every weekend and the parents do a magnificent job. Some of us have had to rediscover the ability to swim as water safety officers in order to support the nippers and sometimes you wonder whether the kids will save us or we will save them. Having said that, we do take safety very seriously and there have not been any problems in recent years.

The importance of the surf-lifesaving movement flows beyond the safety issues on our beaches raised by the member for Bass to the critical role of surf-lifesaving in the local economy of many regional communities. Without patrolled beaches, the tourism industry would collapse in many parts of regional Victoria. Parents demand that when they come for a beachside holiday their children are safe. The provision of a patrolled beach is of critical importance to towns like mine, Lakes Entrance, and also to other beaches which are patrolled in East Gippsland at Seaspray and Woodside.

It would be remiss of me today in the nature of this motion not to reflect on some efforts of some of the young people in my own community who quite recently were recognised with Pride of Australia nominations for outstanding bravery in their efforts to try and save two men who got into great difficulty on Ninety Mile Beach last summer. In doing so I would like to recognise some teenage boys who are members of our club, in Oden Shepherd, Connor Dostine, Lucas Webb and also an older gentleman of about my vintage who goes by the name of ‘Surf Shack Phil’. He runs a surf supply business but his real name is Phil McEntee. Phil and the three boys attempted the rescue of two people in quite atrocious conditions last summer on Ninety Mile Beach. Tragically they were not able to resuscitate one of the gentlemen, whom they were able to retrieve. The other fellow could not be located in the surf in the conditions of the day and he also died. But their bravery in the circumstances and the training they put into practice on that day was extraordinary. I commend all three of the young men and also Phil for their efforts on that day.

The member for Bass did touch on what is an important issue in the context of international visitors to our shores and the role the surf-lifesaving clubs play in helping to minimise the drowning risk as much as possible. It is also a significant issue for us with our migrant population. We have more and more people coming to our beaches during the summer season who do not necessarily have the background in understanding conditions and the capacity of beaches to change at a moment’s notice. We need within our surf-lifesaving clubs to broaden our message to people of different cultures who may not necessarily have English as a first language and who may not necessarily recognise some of the symbols we have taken for granted as kids growing up on the beach. For example, the surf-lifesaving movement’s important key message of swimming between the flags may not necessarily be understood by people from different cultural backgrounds. The Gold Coast deals with the issue well by using different languages on their signs. But in some of our regional communities we assume everyone understands what the flags are all about. It is a challenge for us to educate people in that regard and to make sure they understand the need not to enter the water alone, how to understand the surf conditions and the fact that the conditions may change quite dramatically.

I mentioned the role of young people in my own surf club at Lakes Entrance and it always amused me that the local police would say that the young people from the surf-lifesaving club have never caused any trouble. I do not know if that is because we work them so hard on the beach all day and they are that tired by the end of the day that they cannot get out and cause much mischief, but I would like to think it is more positive. They are learning a culture of community service and learning that they can have an important role in our community. As the member for Bass indicated, as a 17-or 18-year-old he was taking on senior roles in his own club with leadership responsibilities as secretary and as club captain. We have that today in Lakes Entrance where we have young people stepping up to the plate and taking on very senior roles within the organisation.

The young people are not only participating in community service but also participating in a healthy lifestyle and they are learning skills that will serve them well for the rest of their lives, whether it is learning how to use the surf craft and inflatable rescue boats or whether it is first aid or simple surf safety techniques. They are not only learning skills for life but also learning the importance of being a part of a team and of being a part of something that is bigger than themselves. They are able to look outside their own particular interests and work as part of a team to achieve great things in the community. One of the great things about the surf-lifesaving movement is what it does for young people in boosting their confidence and giving them the self-esteem they so desperately need to then take on other challenges outside the beach environment. I have no hesitation in saying that many of the Australian leaders of tomorrow are on our beaches now enrolled in nippers programs. It is that important to us.

My home club has been around for 50 years. I note that in the member’s motion he reflects upon the fact that the surf-lifesaving movement is defying the trend of getting more members involved. It is a similar experience in Gippsland where the Lakes Entrance club, the Woodside club, and the Seaspray club are all growing their memberships and getting a new breed of younger people involved. And it is not just in the nippers program; they are keeping youth involved in the 13- to 17- and 18-year-old mark, and it is often really difficult to keep those young people involved in the community. I think the surf club environment is a very healthy one and because it challenges kids it is managing to keep them involved for a lot longer. I think it is one of the great things about the surf-lifesaving movement.

The Lakes Entrance club in particular has had a lot to celebrate in recent years. In 2009 it was recognised as the Australian Surf-Lifesaving Club of the Year. It also hosted the Victorian junior titles in 2008 and both the senior and junior titles in 2010, and we are looking forward next summer to hosting both the senior and junior titles again on our beach in March. One day we aspire to perhaps host the Australian titles, and maybe with a bit of home beach advantage we may be able to pick up a few medals. It is always very difficult to win those medals at the Australian level.

The government, to its credit—and in particular I refer to the state government—this week is opening new facilities at the Lakes Entrance Surf Life Saving Club. A grant in the order of $400,000 was given to help provide the second stage of the development of the clubhouse. Unfortunately, I will be here in parliament on that occasion, but I am sure that there will be time to celebrate with the members over the summer months.

I will not name the individuals who have been involved in that program because there is always a risk with surf-lifesaving clubs where there are so many people doing so much behind the scenes. But I will give genuine credit to the committee that has worked very hard to achieve that redevelopment and also the members who will be putting on their caps this summer and supporting not only their own children in the nippers program but also the touring public and the local residents who have come to expect safe beaches at Lakes Entrance and Seaspray and Woodside.

I think it is worth noting, in the time that I have left, that to the best of my knowledge there has never been a drowning on a beach in Victoria when a person has been swimming between the flags. I am almost positive that is a fact, and it is a very proud record that the surf-lifesaving movement has. The safest place to be on any beach is where our volunteers are patrolling. It is not just my club at Lakes Entrance; the Seaspray club and the Woodside club are also gearing up for a busy season. Even though we are only about an hour apart, there is a great spirit of competition, and the kids all compete quite fiercely. But at the end of the day there is a barbecue and the social environment and I think it is a really positive environment for young people to be in.

The plan that the member has put forward here for the establishment of a bipartisan Friends of Surf-Lifesaving association amongst members of parliament and senators is, I think, a great idea. I am not sure where the idea came from but, if it was the member for Bass’s idea, I think it is a great idea and I congratulate you for that. I look forward to being a part of that association in the months and years ahead. Our surf-lifesaving volunteers right across our nation do such an extraordinary job. It is a task that is often dangerous—and you referred to the death of the young fellow at the Australian titles this year. While it is a task that can be dangerous, the members are always up to the challenge. When given the training and support by governments in terms of new facilities, new infrastructure and new equipment when required, I think it is such an important task they fulfil. As governments, by supporting our surf-lifesaving clubs, we are also sending a very positive message to our young people again that their role in those clubs is valued—and that is something I will never argue against in this place; that is for sure. Any funding that can be made available to Surf Life Saving Australia and its member clubs, I think, will be unanimously supported on both sides of the House. So I congratulate the member on bringing the motion to the House. (Time expired)

Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too rise in support of this motion today. Like the member for Bass, I too come from a coastal electorate where surf-lifesavers are the lifeblood of the community. I think it is also particularly fitting that we acknowledge the contribution of surf-lifesavers in the lead-up to summer when clubs are preparing for a busy beach season.

We are lucky here in Australia to have a magnificent coastline, great beaches, beautiful sand et cetera that we can enjoy and call, as we heard earlier, ‘our playground’. But that also means many thousands of kilometres of coastline for surf-lifesavers to patrol and hundreds of thousands of beachgoers who need to be kept safe and who may need assistance when they encounter a problem.

I would like to share with the House a surf-lifesaving story from my own electorate of Hindmarsh, an incident which happened at Henley Beach in November 2009. Henley Surf Life Saving Club is one of six different surf-lifesaving clubs in my electorate, which is bordered by the coast on its western side, stretching from Semaphore South right down to Somerton Park. It was on a warm November Saturday around lunchtime at Henley Beach in November 2009 that four of the Henley Surf Life Saving Club’s nippers, who were aged nine and ten at the time, spotted a woman struggling in the surf. Even though as nippers they had not yet begun learning official surf-lifesaving skills, they thought very quickly and went to help. Three of the boys managed to keep the woman afloat and her head above water while another went to shore for help. The woman was then attended to by senior surf-lifesavers and made a full recovery. The story was broadcast everywhere from the ABC to the Sydney Morning Herald, the Adelaide Advertiser and the local papers. The nippers’ bravery and intelligence at such a young age is testament to the culture of Surf Life Saving Australia, and it reinforces the notion that everyone can be a contributor to water safety with a little bit of know-how.

This rescue at Henley Beach was just one of the thousands of rescues performed by surf-lifesavers across Australia. In the first half of 2010 surf-lifesavers performed 9,420 rescues. Each rescue, like the story I just told, was quite literally the saving of a life. Imagine if there had been no-one there to help on those 9,420 occasions. Unfortunately, not everyone was so lucky as to be among them. Surf Life Saving’s 2010 coastal safety report tells us that in 2009-10 there were 82 coastal drowning deaths in Australia. Eighty per cent of the victims were male and the most common time of the day was the late afternoon or early evening.

Around one-third of the deaths were of foreign citizens, so we know there is more work to do in terms of water safety for migrants and refugees, as well as short-term visitors from overseas. One of the most successful programs helping to address the problem of high risk among newly arrived migrants and refugees is the Department of Immigration and Citizenship’s program On the Same Wave, which has been run in partnership with Surf Life Saving Australia. The On the Same Wave program is aimed at culturally and linguistically diverse communities, especially new arrivals, urging them to become surf-lifesavers and to learn surf safety. This program has been a great success in South Australia where communities have embraced the opportunity to participate in the program, and Surf Life Saving have been able to ensure maximum participation by making culturally appropriate adjustments to their program.

It is programs like these that now enable every Australian to participate in surf-lifesaving, whether it be through fundraising activities, joining a club, learning first aid or just swimming between the flags. The output of the organisation is astounding. In 2009-10 more than 1.3 million preventive actions were conducted by lifesavers. There were over 117,000 first aid cases, 21,622 rescues and 97 people resuscitated. Those 97 people would not be with us today if we did not have surf-lifesaving.

This is only possible through the strong membership of surf-lifesaving clubs around Australia. The number of which is growing every year, as we heard from the member for Bass. For several years now in my electorate Surf Life Saving Australia have been trying to secure funding to build new headquarters, Surf Central. Elaine Farmer and Shane Daw, the CEOs, have come up against several brick walls. Having lobbied very hard for months, I was extremely proud when the Gillard Labor government committed the necessary $1.5 million to build the facility in my electorate. (Time expired)

Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Obviously five minutes is not long enough to talk about surf-lifesaving in Australia, as each member has found out to their own detriment. I commend the member for Bass for this motion. I also recognise his own record in surf-lifesaving. Having absolutely none myself but being a swimmer of some note in my own mind, I would like to take this opportunity to commend the surf-lifesaving community in my electorate, which I pay very careful attention to.

Having some 300 kilometres of coastline in my electorate and four surf-lifesaving clubs patrolling those beaches, conservatively close to 100,000 people come to enjoy the activities that our coastline has to offer at Waratah, Venus Bay, Cape Paterson and Inverloch.

Waratah Beach Surf Life Saving Club situated at Sandy Point overlooks the beautiful Wilsons Promontory, the prominent piece of land on the south coast of Australia to Tasmania. I think the member for Bass is my neighbour across the water. Of course, it is the most southerly surf-lifesaving club on the Australian mainland.

Venus Bay faces directly onto Bass Strait. Standing on the beach at Venus Bay you can see for miles in either direction. There for as far as you can see are kilometres of rolling and roaring surf.

I try to attend the AGM of the Cape Paterson Surf Life Saving Club each year. This group of people show such great honesty, dedication and interest. They are a good group of people. I endeavour every year to go to their annual meeting. This club has served the people of South Gippsland for many years. As you stand on the cliff face and look down you see the waves break evenly between two rocky outcrops. That view is enhanced by the sight of hundreds of families with boogie boards, flippers, umbrellas and the whole lot.

The most exciting development along our coast, however, is the building of the clubhouse for the Inverloch Surf Life Saving Club. Since its inception some years ago the club has operated out of three shipping containers situated in the car park at the surf beach. After years of fundraising under the presidency of Mr Philippe du Plessis construction on the new purpose-built facility is expected to be completed prior to the busy summer period.

This club has 150 volunteers who patrol the surf beach at Inverloch, where it is estimated some 45,000 visitors come to enjoy their summer holidays. Most exciting is that there are 140 young people aged between six and 13 who are taught water awareness and swimming and who will form the basis of the next generation of surf-lifesavers. It is an absolute delight to see these little nippers early on a summer’s morning on the beach, learning the skills they need to be in the club.

Mr du Plessis pointed out recently that the club has a volunteer group that performs many vital roles, including providing a safe beach environment and rescue services for the local community and visitors, as well as providing training and leadership skills for young people. I congratulate the club and its membership for the wonderful work they have done in providing this facility for the community. I would also like to extend my congratulations to the new president, Mr Alan Bolton, as he, along with other members of the executive Trevor Dando and Barry Hughes, take the club forward. Special wishes go to Nicholas Leman, the club captain, and instructors Chris and Angela Malan.

Australia is known worldwide and is the envy of the world for its image of sun and surf—which we all suffer from, as we have bits cut out of us when we get to this age. It is endowed with thousands of kilometres of coastline. The work that is done right across the country around our coastline is really important. In the building of the new surf-lifesaving club down at Inverloch the state government has put in some $500,000. I think it is important that we recognise that state governments have a role to play here. The local government has also put in money. As the previous speaker mentioned, the federal government put in money. That must have been because of something about the electorate, because that does not happen in every electorate. I am sure the electorate of Bass did not get that amount of money thrown in to build a facility. If there is a chance where the federal government can have an input through the political process then I am not going to knock that. But basically the responsibility goes back to the community that supports the surf-lifesaving club. I have always said to my lifesaving clubs, ‘If you are supported by Woolworths, Coles or Safeway then go back into Woolworths, Coles or Safeway and say, “I’m buying my stuff here because you support my lifesaving club.”‘ (Time expired)

Kirsten Livermore (Capricornia, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.