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

It is with great pleasure that I move the motion in relation to the outstanding contribution made to our nation by our surf lifesaving movement. In advance, I would like to thank the other speakers who are listed here to speak today. I note they represent many, many surf clubs along the Australian coastline. There were several reasons for my decision to move this motion beyond my role as a member of the Parliamentary Friends of Surf Life Saving and also my roles as club member and volunteer water safety officer for the junior program at Lakes Entrance Surf Life Saving Club, where my four children are all active participants.

I want to give all members a chance to talk about the importance of surf lifesaving in their own electorates. As we approach the warmer months and many Australians flock to our beaches, I want also to be able to assure our professional and volunteer patrol men and women that they have the complete, bipartisan support of the Australian parliament and to assure each and every one of the more than 44,000 patrolling members and the 160,000 or so total adult membership that their efforts are not being taken for granted. I also want to take the chance to highlight the opportunities for governments to work in partnership with this very successful movement to achieve even better outcomes in the future. We have every reason in this place and throughout the Australian community to be very proud of the history of the surf lifesaving movement. Any discussion of the surf lifesaving movement should recognise its remarkable history in this nation, because it dates right back to the early days of the 20th century. As Australian bathing laws were relaxed and there was increased activity on our beaches, concerns were concerns raised about safety. So much so that in October 1907 the Surf Bathing Association of New South Wales was formed, and that was the forerunner of the Surf Life Saving Australia movement.

When you walk into any of the larger surf lifesaving clubs along the Australian coastline, there is a sense of real pride in their heritage. My own club, which was formed more than 50 years ago, is a good example. We endeavour to pay respect to life members, the foundation members, and others who have achieved outstanding results over many years in competition or through their service. We do that with our honour boards and with photographs dating back to the 1960s. I think it is really important that these surf clubs recognise their heritage. It gives the younger members a sense of stability and security—that, when they join their clubs, they have actually joined something that really matters. Naturally, the key role of the surf lifesaving movement is to save lives.

Surf Life Saving Australia is Australia's major water safety, drowning intervention and rescue authority. We have 310 affiliated clubs working to create a safe environment on our beaches and coastline through their patrols, education and training, public safety campaigns and the promotion of health and fitness. But there is a lot more to the surf lifesaving movement than just that. While water safety may be at the core of surf life saving—and, during the 2010-11 season, volunteers were involved in more than 12,000 rescues and professional lifeguards were involved in 2,394 rescues—the clubs are also critical from a social and an economic perspective. The economic importance of surf lifesaving was highlighted during last year, with the release of a PricewaterhouseCooper report which highlighted the importance of surf lifesaving to coastal communities and the wider public. The report valued the drowning and injury prevention efforts of Australia's surf lifesaving clubs at $3.6 billion.

The report went on to highlight the key statistics, which estimated that, without surf lifesavers, there would have been an additional 596 drownings and more than 3,000 additional injuries. It also found that for every dollar the government, sponsors and the community have invested in surf lifesaving, the cost-benefit ratio was 29 to one. There is no doubt that surf lifesaving clubs are critical from an economic perspective. But, beyond that economic value, I want to talk about the role that our surf lifesaving clubs have in developing our young leaders of the future. At its core, the vision of the surf lifesaving movement is to save lives, to create great Australians and to build better communities. It is the best example that I can find of any organisation in Australia that actually introduces young people to community service early in their lives. The program that is provided through the surf lifesaving movement for personal development also allows for a whole-of-life involvement in the club movement.

I have no doubt that the program is in a fun based learning environment. They are out there on inflatable rescue boats or on rescue boards, or learning first aid skills. So, whilst I have no doubt that there is a level of enjoyment for the young people, they are also developing skills that will hold them in great stead later in life. There is competition if they want to be involved, and they can compete as an individual or as part of a team, but they must also fulfil a number of volunteer hours before they are allowed to compete. So they cannot just turn up and be competitors; they have to be making a contribution back to the club. You must be part of something bigger than yourself to be part of the surf lifesaving movement, and the clubs are very good at engendering that team spirit, that pride in the club colours, which is deeply embedded in the culture of the surf lifesaving movement.

As much as I say there are jobs for everyone of all ages in the surf lifesaving movement, there is also a very non-discriminatory environment when it comes to the involvement of men and women. The representation of women in surf lifesaving is very strong: in the 2010-11 key figures there were 70,000 female members and 90,000 male members. In addition to that there were an estimated 60,000 juniors, or nippers as they are commonly known within surf lifesaving. So it does provide a whole-of-family involvement, a whole-of-family activity which provides for sharing for people of all ages. I must say from my own perspective that the young people in my community almost live at the club over the summer months They are learning new skills, they are developing their leadership abilities, they are overcoming their fear and managing potentially dangerous situations, and at the same time they are making a great contribution to our community. It is a extraordinary opportunity to introduce young people to community service and it also keeps them out of trouble and gives them a real purpose to get involved in health and fitness.

I think the opportunity presents itself for the surf lifesaving movement—and perhaps I issue a bit of a challenge to our clubs here today—to become even more important in the culture of our nation. I think we can play an even great role in building better communities, which is something at the heart of Surf Life Saving Australia's 2020 plan. I think there is a challenge there for us to become even more inclusive into the future, to make sure that we provide an even more non-discriminatory environment that attracts more Indigenous members to our clubs and also people from more diverse cultural backgrounds into our ranks. I am not suggesting for a second that that is something surf lifesaving has ignored in the past—I think we have tried very hard to get Indigenous volunteers and to get people from diverse cultural backgrounds into our clubs—but I do believe it is an area where there are opportunities for us to do it better. I think we can improve as club members in the way that we become more inclusive of those who have perhaps not had a strong background in the surf lifesaving movement.

I think it is at least part of the solution to some of the scenes we saw on the weekend with the racial intolerance and violence in Sydney. Part of that answer is eliminating the cultural gap, and I think the Leader of the Opposition was very accurate—and, incidentally, the Leader of the Opposition is a surf club member—when he said that newcomers to our country must leave their hatred behind. There is no place in Australia for violence. It is not the Australian way to resolve our differences through mob anger or criminal activity, and that is the sort of thing we were exposed to on the weekend. I am not trying to put all the burden on our surf lifesaving club movement but I believe our surf clubs can help to give newcomers to Australia, particularly in urban areas, a sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves. The surf clubs are very good at giving people from all walks of life the opportunity to learn new skills, to improve their health and fitness, to have the responsibility of running a beach problem and to help make a difference by helping others.

So I think we can within the surf lifesaving movement become even more inclusive and attract more young Indigenous members and more members with diverse cultural backgrounds. It will strengthen our clubs, and I have no doubt whatsoever that it will actually strengthen our communities. The people from diverse cultural backgrounds will learn about the culture of the surf lifesaving movement, and our communities will be better off for the experience. So I think there is a win-win opportunity there for us. Perhaps I am an eternal optimist, but I believe that our nation's surf clubs have proven their worth to the nation. I think they are at least part of the solution to more than just surf safety issues in the 21st century. They can continue to bring much more to our nation in terms of linking our communities together.

In the brief amount of time I have left I want to mention that the coalition has committed to providing a $10 million fund, if we win government, to assist surf lifesaving clubs with purchasing vital rescue equipment and first aid and medical supplies and also to extend the beach drowning black spot reduction program. That would partner the already great amount of effort put in by the business community and local supporters and sponsors of our surf lifesaving movement. I think there is a role for government to work with the local communities to improve the infrastructure on clubhouse buildings and associated facilities. I would also like to take the opportunity to wish all members well from my own perspective from the Gippsland region, particularly the three clubs in my electorate at Woodside, Seaspray and Lakes Entrance, as they approach the summer season. I would like to wish all the members well and for a very safe and successful season. As I have said before, perhaps the most important role played by our surf clubs is in helping young Australians to achieve their full potential, and I think the parliament should continue to work with the Surf Life Saving Australia movement to achieve that outcome.

Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am very pleased to be speaking on this motion that recognises the outstanding work of our surf lifesavers within the community. Today I would particularly like to highlight some of that work within New South Wales, particularly in my electorate of Richmond on the North Coast, which has the best beaches in Australia, if not the world. We have a very strong surf lifesaving community there, so I am very pleased to be speaking about their great contribution to our area. I am also very pleased that this government has a strong record in our commitment to water safety by allocating approximately $34 million to water safety over the five years from 2011-12 to 2015-16. This funding underpins the continued operation of major water safety organisations around Australia and also establishes many new projects which target areas such as early education and unpatrolled surf beaches, where we know we can improve water safety. The government is committed to working with local organisations, surf lifesaving organisations, businesses and local communities to improve water safety right throughout the country and will certainly continue to make sure we can improve that.

I turn to the North Coat. We are very fortunate to have outstanding beaches and outstanding surf lifesavers, and this was highlighted recently. Earlier this year I was very pleased to open with the Treasurer and Deputy Prime Minister our surfing centre of excellence, which is the world's first. Our federal Labor government committed $2 million to this outstanding project. To have it at Casuarina on the North Coast in my electorate shows what a strong surfing community we have there, and indeed we are very proud to have the world's first surfing centre of excellence as well. No doubt we will see it continuing the great mentoring and training role that it has shown so far.

Surf lifesaving plays an important role not just in teaching swimming skills but also in developing young people's health, fitness and leadership skills through extensive juniors programs. I often meet young people on the North Coast who gain so much through their involvement in surf lifesaving. I would also like to acknowledge the outstanding number of volunteers who give their time to surf lifesaving. Without them we would not have the remarkable programs that we are all speaking about today, and I am always pleased to have the opportunity to thank them for their great work.

As we know, 'vigilance and service' is the motto of the iconic men and women dressed in their distinctive red and yellow uniforms who patrol our beaches each summer. The motto clearly demonstrates the professionalism and pride in the duties they perform today and ever since the movement's inception in 1907. Of course, at that time, swimming and surfing were growing in popularity and, at the same time, some of the dangers were becoming obvious. In this environment, local groups of experienced surfers began to form themselves into lifesaving bodies to assist those who found themselves in difficult and dangerous situations and required rescuing; thus the formation of local surf lifesaving clubs who performed regular patrols, which was welcomed by the public using those beaches. As these clubs grew in size and numbers, the need for a united front to raise funds and seek assistance from all levels of government resulted in the Surf Bathing Association of New South Wales being formed in October 1907.

When we look at the situation today we see that the New South Wales surf lifesaving mission statement is very clear: 'provide a safe beach and aquatic environment throughout New South Wales'. This mission is understood by the state's major water safety and rescue organisation and its 72,000 members, all of whom are volunteers. The 129 surf lifesaving clubs in New South Wales protect over 1,500 kilometres of coastline, from Fingal Beach in my electorate—the states most northerly club—to Pambula Beach in the south, and of course they all take their primary role of surf lifesaving and saving lives very seriously.

During the 2011-12 summer season New South Wales clubs were responsible for more than eight million beachgoers and performed over 8,000 rescues. Of course, since the late 1970s surf lifesaving's evolution has been very significant. Whilst women have always been associated with the movement, it was not until the 1980s that we saw so many more women involved. It is just fantastic. We also saw the rise of senior and junior Australian iron man championships, which are fantastic events. We saw it change and grow as we saw the volunteer movement grow as well, and this movement has given us so many household names associated with surf lifesaving: Grant Kenny, Trevor Hendy, Guy, Leech, Karla Gilbert, Renee Corbett, the Mercer brothers, Ky Hurst and current superstar Shannon Eckstein. There are certainly a lot of them.

As a local representative in my area of Richmond on the North Coast, we are fortunate to have access to some world-class beaches, and I am proud to be associated with surf lifesaving as an honorary patrol of the Far North Coast branch, which recently celebrated its 75th season. Of course, the Far North Coast branch is made up of 10 local surf lifesaving clubs, seven of which are in the Richmond electorate.

Cudgen Headland Surf Life Saving Club—of which I am also very proudly the patron—is a wonderful example of that great motto, 'Vigilance and service.' I was pleased to be advised that last year's patrol season at Cudgen Headland Surf Life Saving Club was a very successful one, with over 128,000 people visiting their beautiful beach and very few major incidents and, thankfully, no lives lost—a remarkable contribution by those involved with the club. Those volunteers who support the local clubs give up their time on weekends and school holidays during the patrol season, which of course runs from September through to April. Remember that in our area it is not just the locals; we have many, many visitors coming to our beautiful beaches as well, so they are kept extremely busy during that time. Of course, the community receives such an enormous benefit from this contribution that they make.

There are many hardworking volunteers at Cudgen Headland Surf Life Saving Club, and I would like to make particularly mention of one of those volunteers. Gary Cain, who announced his retirement this year, has been president of the club for 10 years. Gary has overseen a great many changes within the club and has been really inspirational in strengthening the competitive teams and the morale amongst his band of volunteers over that long period of time. His personal endeavours are reported to be extraordinary in preparing the club for the two consecutive surf lifesaving titles the club hosted in 2010 and 2011. Both were outstanding successes. Thanks to Gary for that great role. In fact, his efforts were recognised both by his club, when he was awarded their coveted Blue of Blues Award, and when he received the New South Wales Sports Federation award for outstanding volunteer for the year in 2011—a remarkable achievement by Gary. Indeed, I would like to congratulate all volunteers involved in surf lifesaving not just throughout my electorate but through New South Wales and, indeed, right throughout the country. They make a remarkable effort and I would like to commend them for the time that they put in—as I say, weekends and also school holidays.

We are very proud as a government, as I said at the beginning, of the continued work that we do in working with Surf Life Saving Australia and other water safety organisations and also local businesses and business organisations in providing support and funding for a whole host of water safety measures right throughout the country in terms of the coordinated efforts. As I mentioned earlier on, this government has committed approximately $34 million over that period of five years to make sure that we can have in place a whole range of water safety messages that are so important, particularly for those of us that are very fortunate to live in beautiful parts of Australia like mine—Richmond and the North Coast—that have a very strong and active beach culture. We are very much aware of all the safety elements as well. I am sure that we will see it continue to grow in the coming years. As we have many more people visiting our area, we will see people continuing to increase their volunteering capacity in these roles as well.

I would also like to speak a bit more about the surfing centre of excellence that we have at Casuarina and also acknowledge the wonderful role that Surfing Australia play right across the country, but especially in relation to this surfing centre of excellence. They drove this particular project for many years and there was commitment from many people involved. They wanted Australia to have the world's first surfing centre of excellence to showcase the remarkable abilities of our world-class surfers and to provide a training and mentoring base for so many people around the country, particularly, and also from overseas, so that people could come to one spot to gain expertise in surfing. We have many world champions who come there all the time, and we had a number of them at the opening as well. They will come to the surfing centre of excellence at Casuarina at different times and provide courses and training for a whole range of people. When we had the opening there were some young people there from Western Australia who were there for a couple of weeks and who gained invaluable insight into surfing skills and training. I think Layne Beachley was taking that particular class then. So it is a remarkable opportunity and we are very proud on the North Coast to be home to that surfing centre of excellence. We are very proud of that because of the great beaches that we have.

I would like to finish by congratulating all those volunteers who give their time. We want to keep working closely with them to achieve the great results that we do, particularly because, as I say, it is not just the safety and the skills that our kids learn. The health and fitness side of it and the teamwork that they gain from being involved with surf lifesaving are truly invaluable. They are a real credit to our community and we are very proud of all of them. Congratulations.

Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to rise and speak on the motion that the member for Gippsland has put forward. This is an area that plays a very crucial and critical role in the educational and awareness-raising of Australians in respect to water safety. I served in the Mullaloo Surf Life Saving Club in Perth, Western Australia, and I saw every aspect of the vigilance and service to the community that used the Mullaloo Beach. The volunteers who contribute every weekend are not only those on patrol but also those who administer the functions of the club and who are part of the wider organisation in terms of Western Australia. And they are only a part of the 150,000 members and 310 affiliated surf life saving clubs around Australia.

The work they do is an incredible challenge. What people do not appreciate is that on a beach you have those who swim competently, understand the flow of water and rips and how to manage themselves in those circumstances through to those who come down under the influence of alcohol and think they can spend some time in the water, but eventually need rescuing, to those who never swim but venture out with the aid of a floating object, only to find themselves separated from the floating object and then having to be rescued.

One of the key things about the surf life saving club that I was involved with, and the many others I was affiliated with, including the Dee Why Surf Life Saving Club in Dee Why, is the passion and commitment that people have to the giving of their time to ensure the safety of our beaches and to enable the public to come and spend leisure time and swim on those particularly hot days. They also accommodate the surfers who are often in areas nearby. One of the things I found most interesting when being a patrol member was the quality of the equipment. Your equipment was certainly valued and respected, but wear and tear has its impact on all the equipment that surf life saving clubs have. When you consider the combination of fine sand and salt water, the need for cleaning and maintenance is slightly higher. So we would fundraise to replace vital equipment that was needed to protect the swimmers and the public using those beaches. This was particularly true in those times when we had a rip, and the IRB would be out in the water much more than normal, and patrols would be stretched. The capacity to fix and do running repairs was an incredible aspect of the club because it took a range of different people with different skills to be part of all those patrols.

One of the things that was important in all of this was the Nippers and the younger groups that we focused on. Through providing those opportunities a number of things are created. One is the cohesiveness within the community. There is a camaraderie among parents and also a competitiveness. It was tremendous to see the number of people, certainly within the Mullalloo Surf Life Saving Club, who on a Sunday morning or Saturday afternoon would be down there for the various functions and events. When you have a couple of hundred nippers participating then your equipment stands additional pressure in terms of wear and tear. The coalition is committed to providing an additional $10 million to assist surf life saving clubs across Australia purchase much needed equipment and to extend the beach drowning blackspot reduction program.

The other element I was fascinated with when I first joined the surf life saving club, other than getting myself fit to be a surf lifesaver, was the stalwarts of the club. I always remember a woman called Peg. I did not know her last name; I just knew her as Peg. She had been with the surf life saving club movement as a young woman. She was certainly way past retirement age. But she is a stalwart who sits at that club and inducts new members. She takes the registrations. She asks, 'Why do you want to do this? You know it is hard.' But she encourages. It is stalwarts like her and others I have met who have kept the surf life saving movement around Australia both stable but expanding. Their passion has been about getting the resources to make sure the club has the right equipment for the right conditions and that it is in good working order to rescue those when a rescue needs to happen. We never know when an event will occur on a beach that is both dangerous and life threatening. People who body surf certainly take a risk in terms of spinal injuries. The work that the surf lifesavers have done over a period of time has stabilised individuals and ensured that they received the right level of support. I remember the training I undertook, even in first aid and in the use of the equipment, which meant that I was also using the same equipment that we used on a weekend during training. We had a high use of it, but it gave me a knowledge and understanding that was absolutely vital in the rescuing of people on beaches.

Another thing is that if we were to factor in the cost of every volunteer associated with surf lifesaving it would be in excess of $3.5 billion. That is only a conservative measure of the amount of time that is given by so many in our community to ensure that their clubs are vital. The equipment also includes not only the stuff you see on the beach; it is also the radios, the more specialised equipment for the resuscitation of people. And they cost. As time goes by, what you spent three years ago in costs will have escalated because of a number of factors.

Nevertheless, governments and parliaments really need to commit to an organisation that develops not only safety and service to the public, with vigilance, but also the education and awareness aspect that go with it. When they align with other groups, at least we reach a point in which water safety becomes foremost in the minds of people. We will never counter those who are foolish in some of their activities. We only have to watch the program on television featuring Bondi Beach to see where some people take unnecessary and stupid risks that then require surf lifesavers to rescue them in very challenging contexts and situations. On that basis alone it is beholden upon us to ensure that they have the right equipment and that they have the capacity to replace equipment that is not only well used, well cared for and maintained but the basis for which rescues are often mounted.

Surf lifesaving in this nation, with its 158,000 volunteers, has had a tremendous place in the history of this nation. Certainly, under the member for Bass, the Parliamentary Friends of Surf Life Saving hope to continue the work in highlighting both the importance and the relevance of the work being undertaken by surf lifesaving. They have prevented a number of drownings over a period of time, not to mention the rescues that occur that we never hear about. Often there are rescues which do not reach media coverage. Nevertheless, there is a life or a body plucked from the ocean, brought in on a board or an IRB, resuscitated and the life extended because of unselfish people who, every weekend, are prepared to undertake patrols of the beach, aided by the equipment they have.

Certainly, the coalition will honour its commitment of $10 million that will go to surf lifesaving clubs. If we consider the number of clubs, that will mean about $5,000 per club, which will enable them to replace equipment that is in need of replacement but, again, will also support them in the work that they do.

Let me conclude by saying that often a lot of unmet need is met through donations. Surf lifesavers in their outfits stand on street corners rattling tins, hoping to raise sufficient funds to help them. It is not about the glamour or the competitive nature of the ironmen or ironwomen; it is about a community service based on that vigilance and based on that ethos of service to those who use Australian beaches.

Janelle Saffin (Page, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to thank the honourable member for Gippsland for providing members with the opportunity to talk about surf lifesaving clubs. It is not the first time I have talked about them in this place and I know it will not be the last, because there is always so much that they are doing in the community and particularly in my local area in the seat of Page. I can attend functions with them, including the far north coast branch and its Surf Life Saving Awards of Excellence. There are just so many other opportunities to extol the wonderful work that they do.

I wholeheartedly support the thrust of the honourable member for Gippsland's private member's motion, which notes that there are over 150,000 members. I noted on their website that there are up to around 156,000 members and 310 affiliated surf lifesaving clubs. The motion states that surf lifesaving is the largest volunteer movement of its kind in Australia. In fact, it is unique. I do not see it replicated around the world. Of course, there are volunteer movements in many countries and neighbouring countries but this one is rather a unique volunteer movement to Australia. I would also like to read into the record another couple of points in the motion. Point (2) states:

(2) recognises the outstanding contribution made to health and safety of beach goers by volunteer and professional surf lifesavers …

It goes on:

(3) highlights that the economic value to the Australian economy of surf lifesaving's coastal drowning and injury prevention efforts in 2009 10 was independently assessed to be $3.6 billion …

That is a huge investment of volunteer time from the Australian community and from surf lifesaving into the drowning and injury prevention efforts. Many volunteers in Australia put in a big investment into our community, making our community better and safer. It is also an investment of an economic kind.

Point (4) states:

(4) supports the important role played by surf lifesaving clubs in developing young people's health, fitness and leadership skills through an extensive junior program …

What a wonderful program that is. We have all seen the young kids at the beach, out in their colours of surf lifesaving: red and yellow. When you are at the beach it is just wonderful to see them and know that that is a tradition that we have in Australia that will be continued by some really dedicated people.

The honourable member goes on in points (5)(a) and (5)(b) and refers to a coalition commitment. I shall, understandably, refer to commitments and support that has already been given by the government. I want to, firstly, put on record my appreciation to all those Australians who put on the uniform and cap and who go out on weekends and holiday times to help make us safer at the beach. I say this to all involved in surf lifesaving—not just the ones who do put on the uniform and the cap but everybody who is associated with surf lifesaving, including members of the community and all the people, particularly the many parents, carers, grandparents and everybody else who gets involved to make this movement work.

I would like to note here the local clubs in my seat of Page and in my area of the far north coast. The far north coast takes in about 10 clubs but there are five directly in my seat with some spillover into the seat of Richmond. I heard the honourable member for Richmond talking earlier to this motion.

The five surf lifesaving clubs in my electorate are: Yamba; Lennox Head-Alstonville—Lennox Head is actually in the seat of Richmond and Alstonville in the seat of Page, so it is a combined one— Evans Head-Casino; Minnie Water-Wooli, which goes also into the seat of Cowper, but there is some spillover into my seat of Page; Ballina Lighthouse and Lismore, which is based in Ballina. There are two things that I want to say about the Ballina Lighthouse and Lismore Surf Life Saving Club. Just recently, the Ballina Lighthouse and Lismore Surf Life Saving Club won New South Wales Club of the Year. They were absolutely thrilled and very excited, as I was. The club won the title at the annual Surf Life Saving New South Wales Awards in Sydney.

As you can imagine, this received extensive media coverage in coverage locally and also on our local ABC. I will just read a little bit from here; it was prepared by Justine Frasier and Samantha Turnbull. Chris Beavis is the club president and he was talking and said that he was thrilled with the award, particularly as they had been operating out of shipping containers while waiting for the new headquarters to be built. I have been in the shipping containers, so I know the conditions they are working in, but it is not because they do not have something fabulous happening—they do, and I will talk to that—it is while all the planning and the development work is going on so they could get to build the new facilities. Chris Beavis went on to say, 'It was not about the facilities around you; it was about how you use the facilities.' Indeed, surf lifesavers can work anywhere and have done for a long time, but it is incumbent upon all of us at all levels of government—local, state and federal—to try and make the conditions they work under just that bit better. Chris Beavis went on to say, 'My sense is we do that type of stuff very well,' and indeed they do do it very well.

The other exciting thing that I want to talk about that is happening is with the Ballina Lighthouse and Lismore Surf Life Saving club. Just recently—I think it was 4 September—I went with the now retired Mayor of Ballina Shire, Phil Silver, and Chris Beavis, the club president, and we turned a sod of sand where they are going to build the new surf lifesaving club. I was able to secure $2.3 million towards the $5.8 million project. I secured that some time back. It has taken a while to work out the whole development processes, and they have done that extremely well. Not too many clubs will be situated right on the beach, but they are building where the old club was in a shipping container. I was really pleased to be able to deliver on that, and it came through the fund of the Department of Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government, initially under the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure and now the Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government.

It was great to be there to turn that sod, because the project is constructing a new two-storey surf lifesaving clubhouse and car park. The clubhouse will have uninterrupted views of the beach and feature a control room, function rooms, cafe, first aid room and gym. It will replace the old shed and shipping container that has been serving as the club's facilities. The cafe that will operate on the ground floor will be for locals, and that will go back into maintaining the building. That is one of the things Ballina Shire Council are very good at: working with surf lifesaving, making sure that what they do has sustainability built into it, because that is always a key factor when we are building new buildings and building infrastructure. They are particularly good at that. The Ballina Lighthouse and Lismore Surf Life Saving Club is putting in $300,000, and the Ballina Shire Council provided $3.2 million. It will support local jobs during construction. Bennets, a local firm, got the contract, which was great to see, and it will be wonderful for members and the volunteers to continue the work that they do there.

I would like to, in the few seconds I have got left, mention the $34.32 million that has been allocated by the government to water and safety initiatives. That will go to a whole range of activities right across Australia, including saving lives in the water program. Thank you.

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Communications and Broadband) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I congratulate the members who have just spoken, in particular the member for Gippsland, on moving this motion about the surf lifesaving movement.

I am honoured to represent some of the oldest surf clubs in Australia, in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, and, indeed, the oldest surf club in Australia. However, it would be a controversial statement for me to say which of the several claimants to be the oldest surf club was indeed the oldest surf club. Bronte surf club has a very good claim to have been founded in 1903, although we note that the first recorded minutes of its meeting are in 1907—although the minutes claim to be the fourth meeting, so presumably it was founded in 1903—and lifesaving training began at Bronte in the late 19th century, in fact, modelled on English lifesaving techniques. Also of course there is my own club, founded in 1906: North Bondi surf club. Bondi surf club, which is the club in the middle of the beach—or Bondi Surf Bathers' Life Saving Club, to give it its full name—also lays claim to being the oldest club, but it was founded in 1907. Tamarama was founded in 1904, and, just south of the electorate, literally just on the other side of the boundary, is the Clovelly club, founded in 1904, and Coogee, founded in 1907. So surf lifesaving began really in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney in the early years of the 20th century, but the mists of time, and the tact required to be the local member, requires me not to go any further into resolving the controversy. I can only say that my own club does not claim to be the oldest club, so I am quite impartial about it.

The work the surf lifesavers do in making our beaches safe is of enormous importance to our recreation, to our physical fitness—to our whole Australian way of life. Without diminishing the lifestyles of people who live in the inland, most Australians live on the coast and most Australians have a really symbiotic relationship with the water. This was a big change, of course, because, when the country was settled and certainly when the settlement was established in Sydney, the Aboriginal inhabitants were not keen swimmers. They were terrified of sharks—quite rightly so; that is why you see, in Sydney Harbour, plenty of points and beaches and islands called Shark this and Shark that. A lot of them have had their names changed, presumably to promote tourism, but there are a lot of places named after sharks. And there are a lot of sharks, so there was a fair bit of anxiety. But we have progressed from that and become absolutely connected to the water.

All of my earliest memories of growing up in Sydney involve swimming, surfing, paddling things, sailing on things, riding on boards—constantly in the water. I was inducted into the North Bondi surf club literally as a baby. By the time I could barely walk, my father, Bruce, was taking me down to North Bondi surf club, and it was there that I did my bronze medallion and my instructor's certificate. I even saved someone's life on one occasion, which was a remarkable experience.

They are remarkable institutions, you know, the surf clubs, because they are completely egalitarian. Of course they are now co-ed; they were not in my day, but there are now men and women members. They connect the oldest members. Some of the old members of North Bondi Surf Club were old men when I was a kid—or at least I thought they were they were; they were probably about my age now! Anyway, they are still there, preserved by the salt air. Then of course, you have the nippers, the very young kids.

The interesting thing from a social point of view, I always used to find and I still do, is that, in a surf club, you get people from every single background and, because they are either in their swimming trunks or wearing nothing in the showers, no-one can put on any side. It doesn't matter whether it is a Supreme Court judge or a captain of industry, or a garbo, a teacher, a policeman, or someone in the schmutters business—there is a big Jewish membership in my electorate. So you get a complete diversity, and it was that sort of diversity that I grew up with. If there was one social experience that made me what I am today, it was my involvement with the surf clubs, because I literally met, from being a little boy up to a man, people from every single background. There was nobody—you could not think of a profession or a racial or religious background—that was not represented in an environment where everyone had a common interest. It was what Robert Putnam, the great American sociologist, called bridging social capital, because—instead of reinforcing people's particular groups, like a Catholic group or a Jewish group or lawyers or doctors—you brought everybody in together and we were all mixing together. So the surf lifesaving movement, apart from the lives that are saved and apart from the millions of people that enjoy our beaches and are able to do so safely because of the work of the lifesavers, is one of the key elements in that egalitarianism that is so important for our Australian society. It is that non-deferential culture of Australia that lifesaving really enables. In a way, because of the environment, because of the common cause and because of the inevitable informality of associating with people in swimming, surfing and so forth, it really breaks down all sorts of barriers. A number of times I have bumped into people that I know from the beach in town. You do not quite recognise each other. A number of times people will say, 'Yes, of course; I didn't recognise you with your clothes on.' A passer-by might read something improper into that, but it is a wonderful thing.

Can I just say a couple of things about a particular matter, on a somewhat more political note. The North Bondi Surf Life Saving Club is the largest surf club in Australia. There are two surf clubs on Bondi Beach, which is obviously the biggest beach in terms of patronage and notoriety, fame or whatever. It is certainly the most visited beach and therefore the most challenging from a management point of view. There are two surf clubs: North Bondi at the north end of the beach, naturally, and Bondi in the middle of the beach next to the pavilion. North Bondi's building has been falling down for quite some years, and the club resolved some time ago that it really needed to replace it. As the discussions and the planning were getting underway, in 2007 John Howard, then Prime Minister, pledged $1.7 million to that rebuilding program, which was a very, very good commitment. I think it would have created a fantastic precedent in terms of strong federal support for surf lifesaving. Regrettably, in what I can only describe as a spiteful decision, that grant was revoked and nothing was put in its place. The club, undaunted by that, has raised $5 million: $750,000 from Waverley Council, $450,000 from the state government and the rest from private donations and fundraising done by the club. I should disclose that Lucy and I have supported the club as donors. The project is going to cost $6.2 million, so there is still more money to be raised. It will be an iconic building. It will be a very elegant building, but on a important location. I might say that the club has over 540 patrolling senior members, 1,000 nippers and an overall membership of over 2,000. This is a big club doing a big job on a big beach, but it is going to be able to do that through the generosity of the community and of its members.

All around Australia, surf clubs are facing these sorts of challenges. It is a matter of great regret, I would say, that at the time the Rudd government was spending money on stimulus and building school halls and so forth, whether they were needed or not, it did not put some substantial funds towards the surf clubs of Australia. (Time expired)

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

I rise to speak on the motion proposed by the member for Gippsland. It is well known in the House that I have a great love for surf lifesaving. I am a proud life member of Surf Life Saving Australia. I am a volunteer and still do patrols. I am absolutely wrapt to be involved in the organisation. I am also the chair and founder of the Parliamentary Friends of Surf Life Saving. Our movement prides itself on offering mateship, education and experience and, in doing so, gives back to the community. I am a proud member and chairman of two clubs: the Bridport Surf Life Saving Club and the Launceston Life Saving Club in Tasmania. I stand here today to recognise the outstanding contribution made to the health and safety of beach-goers by our volunteer and professional surf lifesavers.

Beach and surf lifesaving is a part of the Australian identity. Over the last two centuries, the Australian bush has been central to the way Australians have viewed themselves, yet the images of rolling waves, white beaches, families soaking up the sun and surfers now have the most resonance. These are, without doubt, very much at the heart of how we are and how we are seen by others. Australia has 11,000 beaches and 37,000 kilometres of coastline. The vast majority of Australia's population lives in cities or towns near or on the coast. The beach is, and always has been, the place where millions of Australians escape to relax, swim and play. Surfing and the beach brings together a diverse range of people—and I agree with the member for Wentworth. Unlike other places around the world, we do not have privately owned beaches. In Australia, the beach is a public place. With a long history and tradition, the surf lifesaver has a unique role in Australia's culture—to save lives and to prevent injuries. For people who visit our beaches their role is essential.

More than 153,000 members spread across over 300 clubs make Surf Life Saving Australia our major water safety and rescue authority. Between 2002 and 2010, growth in membership outstripped the increase in patrolling members, with membership growing at approximately six per cent per annum from 106,000 to 153,000. During the same period, our patrolling members increased by five per cent per annum. This is significant, especially in an age where people are not really joining community groups. The PricewaterhouseCoopers' report, released in 2011, found that surf lifesavers completed almost 12,000 rescues in 2009-10 and, through preventative actions, avoided another 6,000 rescues across Australia. It is estimated that, absent these activities, an additional 596 drowning deaths would have occurred on our beaches and in our coastal waterways and 555 people would have suffered permanent incapacity. These figures show just how important surf lifesaving is. The Pricewaterhouse report also found the cost benefit for every dollar invested in surf lifesaving—in terms of the value of lives saved and injuries avoided—was 29.3 to one for our volunteer surf lifesavers. It concluded that the benefits of surf lifesaving far outweigh the cost, further proving its unique and significant value to the Australian community and economy.

The Australian government has allocated a total of approximately $33.65 million to water safety over four years from 2012-2016. This is significant. This funding underpins the continued operation of our major water safety organisations around Australia, such as Surf Life Saving, Surfing Australia and Royal Life Saving. It establishes new projects in target areas such as early education and unpatrolled beaches where we know we can improve water safety. Through the Minister for Sport, Kate Lundy, the Gillard government has proudly announced the following policies this year alone to help water safety efforts. While it is good that the opposition acknowledge the importance of water safety, it is a shame they are providing false promises to some of our most respected national organisations. The opposition cannot be allowed to make uncosted promises on top of the $70 million black hole. All I ask is that the member who proposed this motion inform the parliament as to where he will find the next $10 million.

We also know that water safety is important. Every parent wants their child to lead a happy, healthy and active life. I believe that there is nothing better than introducing them to Surf Life Saving and the Nippers. Nippers is a junior program that introduces children, aged five to 13, to surf lifesaving. It is all about fun, outdoor activities that grow a child's confidence and that teach valuable lifesaving skills and knowledge. Every surf lifesaving club around Australia, to some degree, offers a Nippers program. There are now over 40,000 junior lifesavers in Australia, which is truly fantastic. The aim of the junior program is to give children surf awareness and surf skills so that they can keep themselves safe at the beach.

They also participate in board riding, paddling, surfing, swimming, running, wading and other activities and games. These are the skills that allow children to compete in club, regional and state surf-lifesaving carnivals. I am proud to assist the Nipper program of my local club.

The youth of today are the future of surf lifesaving and the Nippers' pathway teaches lessons and skills, allowing them to continue in lifesaving and sport as they grow older. Australia's beaches remain the country's largest playground, with more than 100 million visitations every year. We all need to play our part in ensuring our beaches are safe.

With rising coastal populations and international visitor numbers, keeping people safe in the water is an increasingly difficult challenge. It is a tribute to the dedicated skill of surf-lifesaving volunteers, who are able to save so many lives, prevent so many injuries and make such an important contribution to our nation.

Volunteering delivers a number of benefits to individuals, including personal satisfaction, helping others and the feeling of fulfilment from doing something worthwhile for the community.

Take Josh Barnett, a member of the Bridport Surf Life Saving Club. He joined the Bridport club about a year ago. It is a new club, which only started two years ago. He learned some skills and he actually performed CPR on a child whilst on patrol for the Bridport club last season. Subsequent to that, he resuscitated an infant, away from the beach, also saving that child's life.

There are significant benefits for young people volunteering, as there are opportunities for self-development alongside valuable perceptions of community citizenship. In addition to these personal benefits, volunteering provides positive aspects, specifically relating to surf lifesaving, to our society and the local community. There are non-quantifiable benefits, from creating a more cohesive community to quantifiable economic benefits from improving beach safety awareness and the prevention of drowning and other injuries.

Over 70 per cent of surf lifesavers volunteer more than three hours a week during the summer. Fifty per cent patrol between three and 10 hours per week. Almost 25 per cent donate in excess of 10 hours. This shows their tremendous commitment to the movement. I do about 80 hours of patrols during the year and I get more out of it than I put in.

Volunteering is a perfect vehicle to discover something you are really good at and to develop a new skill. As Mahatma Gandhi said, 'Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.' I believe that it is never too late to learn new skills and there is no reason why you should stop adding to your knowledge just because you are in employment or have finished your chosen training or education.

With the summer fast approaching, the first patrols of the season are about to commence. Surf Life Saving Australia is now recruiting new members. Contact your local club for details. You could help save a life. Someone close to you might need your assistance. I encourage you to stay safe on the beach, donate, or participate in surf lifesaving around the country.

Every Australian should be a swimmer and every swimmer could be a lifesaver. Every Australian can help save a life. So whilst I support the sentiment of the motion, I do not support the motion in its current form, specifically point (5).

Paul Neville (Hinkler, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It gives me great pleasure today to acknowledge this motion, moved by the member for Gippsland, and the outstanding contribution made to the health and safety of beach goers of Australia by volunteer and professional surf lifesavers. As the member for Gippsland has noted, there are more than 150,000 members in 310 clubs across Australia, making it the largest volunteer movement of its kind in the country. It goes without saying that the image of the bronzed surf lifesavers patrolling hundreds of beaches around our coastline is one of our iconic symbols of Australian lifestyle.

However, the surf lifesaving movement is worth much more than that. As the official website of Surf Life Saving Australia states:

When Australians decided to embrace the ocean as a site of active recreation in the early part of the 20th century, our love of the beach emerged. The need for a lifesaving movement—to protect and save lives—grew, and from that day onwards, Surf Life Saving became part of the fabric of our country.

Australia's first volunteer surf lifesaving clubs appeared on Sydney beaches in 1907, after laws banning bathing in daylight hours were gradually repealed; although, as the member for Wentworth said, clubs were forming up earlier than that in the period from 1904 to 1906.

As the beach culture began to develop, beachgoers entered into the surf, rapidly escalating the numbers, but many of those who took to the surf could not swim. Sadly, there were drownings, and consequently rescue attempts escalated. By the summer of 1906-07 the population of Sydney was obsessed with the question of safety in the surf. It was in this environment that surf lifesaving clubs emerged, their regular patrols a welcome relief to local authorities and nervous bathers alike. On 18 October 1907, representatives of these Sydney clubs, with members from other interested groups, met to form the Surf Bathing Association of New South Wales, the organisation now known as Surf Life Saving Australia.

In my home state of Queensland, the 'sunshine state', home of some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, the surf lifesaving movement began in 1908 when an old line and belt was brought to Tweed Heads by Sydney dentist Harold Bennett for the purpose of forming a lifesaving club. Not long after that, the first qualified surf lifesavers practised at Greenmount Beach, a little to the north. On 21 February 1909, the first recorded rescue using a lifesaving reel was performed in the surf off Greenmount. Lifesavers rescued four young women and a young man who had been swept out in a rip. Surf Life Saving Queensland was formally established in 1930 and is now the governing body for surf lifesaving in that state.

Some of the major milestones within surf lifesaving in Queensland include the introduction of red-and-yellow flags in 1935, the adoption of expired air resuscitation—otherwise known as mouth-to-mouth—in 1960 and the beginning of the Westpac helicopter in 1976. Perhaps one of the more momentous occasions in the association's history was in 1980, when all surf lifesaving clubs welcomed female members. A century of achievements within the surf lifesaving movement of Australia was celebrated in 2007 with the national Year of the Surf Lifesaver.

Membership of Surf Life Saving Queensland during the 2010-11 season was a very creditable 33,364 people, 11,261 of whom were nippers. Rescues during that season totalled 3,610, including 10 resuscitations, six defibrillation cases and 262 people receiving oxygen treatment. Incredibly, Surf Life Saving Queensland carried out 289,391 preventative actions in the 2010-11 season.

While the primary job of saving lives is the major focus of Surf Life Saving Queensland, the organisation concentrates heavily on community awareness programs, which are aimed at educating all members of the community. Many of these programs have been developed to target high-risk groups, including 18- to 25-year-old males, the rural population, international tourists, domestic tourists and especially those with no English skills.

These programs are set to be enhanced with an announcement earlier this year that a coalition government will commit an additional $10 million to assist surf-lifesaving clubs across Australia purchase much needed equipment and will extend the beach drowning black spot reduction program. In my electorate of Hinkler there are three surf clubs, including the Bundaberg Surf-Lifesaving Club formed in 1921, the Elliot Heads Surf-Lifesaving Club formed in 1965 and the Harvey Bay Surf-Lifesaving Club, which was originally formed in the 50s and relaunched in 1986. In the nearby electorate of Flynn patrolled, dare I say, by my colleague Ken O'Dowd, very close to Bundaberg we have a fourth club, Moore Park Surf-Lifesaving Club, formed in 1954. Although I was never a member of a surf-life-saving club, my father was a member of the old Royal Life-saving Association back in the 20s and was awarded his bronze medallion. My wife was a member of the Neptune club, an all female club at Tallebudgera on the Gold Coast, years before women were accepted into surf-life-saving. Some of the girls did their own thing. My daughter Gay was a member of the Elliot Head Surf Club, while my sons Gavin and Peter were members of Bundaberg club. Peter also was a contestant in national titles for the rubber ducky.

As with most surf-lifesaving clubs in Australia, the beginnings of these clubs were humble and clubhouses consisted of one-room weatherboard sheds or, in the case of the Moore Park Beach club for many years, just a tent. Rusty shark towers and wind-up sirens completed the inventory of equipment and training and rescues were carried out from fishing boats. I might add that the Moore Park Club, sadly, of recent times lost part of its club to beach erosion and part of the building became uninhabitable. Now each club can boast a much wider range of equipment, including rescue boards and tubes, inflatable rescue boats—as I said, the rubber duckies—spinal boards, extrication collars, Australian-standard flags and symbols, first-aid kits, bag valve mask oxygen resuscitators, and automated external defibrillators as well as hand-held radios. The movement has come a long way.

I am delighted to report that the Harvey Bay Club, which had a chequered career in earlier times, is now in expansionary mode and I understand going into new additions. Councillor Darren Everard, a new councillor of the Fraser Coast Regional Council, has been keeping me abreast of these developments. I am a patron of the Bundaberg Surf Club, the oldest club in my electorate. It is steeped in history and has hosted state championships at its Nielsen Park beach site in 1939 and 1938 and the championships returned to Bundaberg in 1951 and 1960. During the 1938 championships the home club won its first state march-past championship. The win must have laid the foundation because between 1959 and 1989 the Bundaberg Surf Club won 17 march-pasts at the national titles and seven silver medals, so you can see that they pretty well dominated it.

In the remaining minutes I would like acknowledge a great sportsman, Noel Bullpitt. Noel and Bundaberg surf-lifesaving are synonymous. He was president of the club for the 41 years and joined it in 1934. Noel will turn 100 in November and that will mark 78 years membership of the club, which we understand is an Australian record. He was also one of the few life governors of Surf Life Saving Australia. (Time expired)

Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to congratulate the member for Gippsland on bringing this very important motion to the House. I would also like to acknowledge the role that the member for Bass has played over many years within surf life saving, being the executive of both Surf Life Saving Australia and Surf Lifesaving Tasmania. In addition, he is a life member of both those organisations. Since he came to this parliament we have a parliamentary friends group—Parliamentary Friends of Surf Life Saving. I thank the member for Bass for his role along with the member for Gippsland in raising awareness of surf life saving and the valuable service that it provides to our community.

Surf Life Saving Australia is the largest volunteer organisation in the country. There are countless people throughout Australia that give of their time because they believe in the philosophy of surf life saving and also because they love the beach and the culture that exists around surf life saving. Today I am going to spend my contribution talking about the Hunter branch of Surf Life Saving Australia. But I would also like to acknowledge the role that Central Coast Surf Life Saving plays and the fact that many people within the Shortland electorate are very closely linked to both Soldiers Beach and Lakes Entrance Surf Life Saving Club, which are fantastic organisations. The member for Dobell is here and I know that he will concentrate on those areas.

Hunter Surf Life Saving Club was established 105 ago. There are 7,500 members in the Hunter and 4,000 junior members. In fact, my grandson is a member of Caves Beach, but I think he might be changing to Belmont Swansea next year because some of his friends from school go there. Surf life saving clubs play a very important role in promoting water safety and educating the community about water safety. Hunter branch runs very strong programs for rookie and youth development. In addition to that there are programs for area managers, and an age managers course, so that those volunteers who are involved with the Nippers program can look after them and provide the appropriate training and management of the teams. There are programs for trainers and assessors, a spinal management program, Surf Life Saving New South Wales applied first aid, which is a very advanced certificate, and certificate 2 aquatic safety, which is actually the Bronze. I see the member for Bass has taken the chair so I reiterate and thank him for the role he has played in surf life saving during his time.

The Hunter branch had 62,233.25 patrol hours in the 2011-12 season, 512 rescues, 15,886 incidents and 798 first aid interventions. The clubs in the Hunter branch that are in the Shortland electorate are Redhead, Caves Beach, Belmont Swansea and Catherine Hill Bay. Redhead is the oldest of the clubs. It has 750 senior members and about 400 juniors. It was established in 1908. It was the second club established in the Hunter branch. Caves Beach has 720 senior members and in excess of 300 juniors. Caves Beach is one of those clubs that is a real family club. It has a very strong commitment to safety and to promoting a consistent safe environment in the surf. Belmont Swansea was established in 1927. It has 700 members and 350 juniors. And Catherine Hill Bay has 480 members and in excess of 200 juniors.

One aspect I would like to concentrate on is that in Shortland electorate there has been some deaths where rock fishermen have been washed off the rocks. Surf lifesavers are trained to patrol the beach. Surf lifesavers do that brilliantly. Surf lifesavers enjoy competition. But one of the things that they do not expect to be involved in is body retrieval. Members of Catherine Hill Bay in particular, supported by members of Caves Beach, have been involved in body retrieval more than they should be when rock fishermen have been washed from the rocks. It was only three months ago that three people lost their lives. Three years ago, five people lost their lives when they were washed from the rocks. Those brave, brave members of Catherine Hill Bay and Caves Beach went out there and they retrieved those bodies.

I was talking to the CEO of the Hunter Surf Life Saving, Rhonda Scruton, who has been there for 15 years and does an absolutely fantastic job. I would like to pay credit to her. She said that these guys have got hearts like elephants. They do not question; they get in there and they do the work that they are not actually trained and expecting to do. In Australia we have a very low rate of deaths in our surf. That is really because of the work that is put in by surf lifesavers around the country. I was looking at some figures for Asia. In Asia 350 people lose their lives each day in the surf. The fact that we do not have those sort of figures in Australia is a tribute to the work that is done by Surf Life Saving Australia. I am proud to be a member of the parliamentary friends group that was established by the member for Bass.

Surf lifesaving is part of the culture of Shortland electorate. Each and every year, I go to the presentation days and hear about the feats of bravery, the total commitment to ensuring that the beach is patrolled each and every day. It always surprises me, although it should not, how many members of the various patrols have 100 per cent attendance. This shows that it is a commitment that is beyond just doing your duty and being involved in the organisation. It is really believing in what surf lifesaving is about. Surf lifesaving has grown. Actually, my grandfather was the first person in my family that was a member of surf lifesaving. He was a member of surf lifesaving at Cronulla. I think he was one of the first members down there. My sister is very involved with North Coast Surf Life Saving up there and so are her two boys. To them it is about making a commitment to the community. To them it is about keeping the beaches safe. To them it is about a way of life.

I think our Australian culture is so intertwined with the surf and the beach culture. Everybody sees themselves as being associated with that, with the surf. That is where the surf lifesaving comes in: makes the beaches safe. They are supported by councils throughout the country, and in Shortland electorate Lake Macquarie Council provides a lot of support to the surf lifesaving clubs there. I thank them for the commitment and the way that they support them. Similarly, Wyong Shire Council supports the surf lifesaving clubs on the central coast. I thank each and every member of surf lifesaving, not only within Shortland electorate but throughout Australia. I know that they will continue to keep our beaches safe and educate our community about surf and beach safety.

Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker, I support this motion and I am sure that you would as well. I agree with the motion:

That this House:

(1) notes that with more than 150,000 members and 310 affiliated surf lifesaving clubs, surf lifesaving is the largest volunteer movement of its kind in Australia;

(2) recognises the outstanding contribution made to health and safety of beach goers by volunteer and professional surf lifesavers;

(3) highlights that the economic value to the Australian economy of surf lifesaving's coastal drowning and injury prevention efforts in 2009-10 was independently assessed to be $3.6 billion;

(4) supports the important role played by surf lifesaving clubs in developing young people's health, fitness and leadership skills through an extensive junior program—

which is a great strength of what the surf lifesaving clubs offer—

and

(5) acknowledges the Coalition's commitment to implement a $10 million fund if elected into government to:

(a) assist clubs to purchase vital rescue equipment, first aid and medical supplies; and

(b) extend the Beach Drowning Black Spot Reduction Program.

I am sure everyone in this House would agree that that is a worthy goal.

The other issue that we often ignore as well is the amount of knowledge that is held within all of those surf lifesaving clubs and their members about the coastal communities, about local water, about the local area and about the coastal waters and beaches. The knowledge that is within those clubs is almost second to none and it is often overlooked as a resource at any time. Whether it is in the time of a crisis or just in managing those local environments, they are a wonderful source of knowledge and information.

In my part of the world—all the members here are talking about their local clubs—I have the surf lifesaving clubs of Bunbury, Binningup, Busselton, Dalyellup and Margaret River. I know that they would appreciate it if they were able to secure on average an extra $5,000 a year, I am sure that all of the 310 clubs in Australia would use that in the way that we would want them to.

Of course, part of the plan is reducing drownings—a very important method that we could use to assist in what they do for us. We all know that every time we go out and about in our electorates—those of us whose electorates have a coastline—it is pretty unlikely that you would not see someone out on the water for some purpose, whether they are windsurfing, swimming, in a boat or fishing. Australians around this nation love to live on the coast, and part of that is a love of the water and a need and a want to interact. That is why our surf lifesavers are so important. It is estimated that 100 million visitors visit the beach. Eighty per cent of us visit the beach at some point every year, for some purpose. By the smiles around this chamber right now, I would say it involves all pretty well of us who sit here today. You can see it even in my part of the world. I have Margaret River, which is known internationally for its surfing, amongst the wine and the food.

Of course, with those volunteers I do not think any of us in this place would underestimate the work of Surf Life Saving Australia, the Royal Life Saving Society and AUSTSWIM in making sure that as many Australians as possible have access to world-class water safety programs—and they are world class; because of the nature of our coastline we do have world class water safety programs. I think that something else that we underestimate as a nation is how good our surf lifesaving clubs are and how much they have done for us in that regard to bring us up to be a world leader. There is a lot that is learned by other countries about what we do here in Australia. Yes, we do have a lot of coastline to deal with. Every day that you see the surf lifesavers out there you realise that the majority are volunteers. We do not underestimate the work of our volunteers in any sense.

I just wanted to touch on the clubs in my electorate. The Bunbury club was the second in Western Australia to be formed. It was founded in 1915. When you look at that club, they have been around such a long time and done a fantastic job. Last year was an absolutely incredible achievement because the City of Bunbury Surf Life Saving Club made history. It became the first ever Western Australian regional surf lifesaving club to be awarded the Surf Life Saving Australia Club of the Year title.

That is a massive achievement for a relatively small community to be named the Surf Life Saving Club of the year. They were just so excited. When I went to the function that they had, they were just beside themselves. This year they held the national board meeting in Bunbury. I think that was a pretty fitting result for the club that had done so well. It was a fantastic event. Peter and Denise Duncan have worked tirelessly. Their engagement with families is something that not only other surf lifesaving clubs ought to look at but also other clubs that want to learn more about how better to engage people ought to have a good look at.

They do a fantastic job, to the extent that Denise Duncan was named the DHL Volunteer of the Year. She is of course an integral part of the City of Bunbury Surf Life Saving Club. Denise epitomises what so many of our volunteers do around Australia. She does the patrol hours. She is the director of surf sports on the board of management. She is the under-eight age group manager on Sunday mornings. She is the board, swim and iron man coach and conducts eight to 10 sessions a week, and is head coach for all disciplines. She has administration duties. She is responsible for writing fortnightly e-news, surf sports entries and Sunday morning senior activities. She is a mentor for age group managers. She is responsible for regional coaching and athlete development for all five regional clubs. She is a level zero coaching course presenter and has brought 12 new coaches into the club. She is an event coordinator. She is part of the centenary committee. This is the sort of work that we see all around Australia through our surf lifesaving clubs. They are often not seen, but they are very active. They also conduct a major fun-run and the ocean classic paddle—some fantastic events.

We have the Busselton Junior Life Saving Club. It currently comprises of 165 junior and 30 social members. Their members are aged from five to 15. They do a great job as well with their surf lifesaving club. Binningup, as I mentioned, is a really small beachfront settlement. It is about 22 kilometres long. They have a great group. The Binningup Surf Life Saving Club was founded in 2002 and they patrol the beach on Sundays between November and March. I also mentioned Margaret River. You would know that Kelly Slater has surfed there. And there is a local Busselton boy that we all know, Taj Burrow. He has done a lot of surfing at Margaret River. Margaret River has a very effective group at Surfers Point. Not only do they have the Margaret River Pro every year; they have a challenging part of the coast line to patrol.

There are basically 75 top class surf breaks spread over 130 kilometres from Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin. Yes, we know the surfers are spoilt for choice, but you would also understand that that brings a great level of effort and work by the volunteer surf lifesaving members, and they discharge their responsibilities very effectively in my part of the world.

I go back to the opportunity that is offered to young people. You see the young people on the beaches on a Sunday or training during the week, out there in a healthy environment. They have great mentors in the members of the surf lifesaving clubs. It is a great family environment. It is a healthy occupation for them. It is competitive in a sense, but I have never seen so many happy young people and so many happy mature-age people who take great pleasure not only in providing such a wonderful service on our beaches and in the water but also in creating the next generation of young people to take on these roles that are so greatly needed in a continent like Australia. I commend all of them for their volunteer work.

Bruce Scott (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member and congratulate the club in her area for the awards they have achieved. I now call on the surf lifesaver from Dobell.

Craig Thomson (Dobell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I acknowledge your contribution, Mr Deputy Speaker, to surf lifesaving not just here in the parliament by founding Parliamentary Friends of Surf Life Saving but by being a life member in Tasmania and by committing a large, very important part of your life to the Australian surf lifesaving movement, which is something that should be put on record and acknowledged.

Surf lifesaving on the Central Coast, as in many parts of the country, is part of the way of life. Everyone goes to the beach on the Central Coast. We have 15 surf lifesaving clubs there; they are part of the culture. People get married at surf lifesaving clubs, people have their christenings at surf lifesaving clubs. Surf lifesaving clubs are what the Central Coast is about, and I am sure that that is a similar experience to that of many other MPs who are able to talk here today in relation to this motion.

This Saturday, of course, is the starting of patrols again on the Central Coast and in many places around the country. We will have the annual raising of the flag ceremony at Shelly Beach at 10 o'clock this Saturday and once again we will have the red and yellow army of volunteers making sure that beaches across the Central Coast are safe for people to swim at.

Last year 895 lives were saved on the Central Coast by volunteer lifesavers, and almost 40,000 bathers were prevented from getting into difficulties by surf lifesavers on the Central Coast. We can just imagine what would be the case without them. It is important that we take the time to acknowledge not just the great work I am talking about on the Central Coast but also the great work that surf lifesavers do throughout Australia.

The President of Surf Life Saving Central Coast, Stuart Harvey, has pointed out to me, knowing that I would be speaking on this matter today, that, of the 2,400 patrolling members, they provided some 87,129 man hours in terms of volunteer time that they had put aside to make sure that our beaches were safe. I know that the motion talks about the economic costs and savings that we have because of volunteer surf lifesaving. If one could imagine having to pay for professional lifesavers for an additional 87,000 hours just on the Central Coast, one can see quite easily where the $3.6 billion of economic value we get from our surf lifesaving volunteers comes about.

The Director of Surf Life Saving Central Coast, Brett Beswick, has asked me to put on record, and make sure that people know, that they have been busy over winter as well. One of the things we often do not realise with surf lifesaving is that, while patrols may not have been going, they have been very busy this winter in making sure that plans are in place, that training is up to date and that they are going to be ready from this Saturday to provide the service that is there. While we have so many members who are active patrol members, there are also a considerable number of volunteers who assist behind the scenes to make sure that surf lifesaving is conducted in the professional manner in which it is and is able to achieve what it does by making sure that people's lives are saved.

I would also like to put on record my thanks and the thanks of the community to Chad Griffith, who was for many years the CEO of Surf Life Saving Central Coast. Chad left in the last six months, but he is not lost to surf lifesaving. He is with Westpac Rescue, which patrols my part of the world, and will continue to be very much a friend of surf lifesaving on the Central Coast. In putting this on the record and acknowledging the work he has done, I would also like to welcome Chris Parker, who was a very active surf lifesaver and part of the Nutri-grain Surf Ironman Series. He has now taken on the role of the CEO, Surf Life Saving Central Coast.

We have, as I said, 15 clubs on the Central Coast. Seven of them are in my electorate, those being the Wamberal Surf Life Saving Club, Shelly Beach Surf Life Saving Club, Toowoon Bay Surf Life Saving Club, the Entrance and the North Entrance surf life saving clubs, Soldiers Beach Surf Life Saving Club and the Lakes Surf Life Saving Club. We have many clubs there. It is interesting that when I was talking to the President of the Wamberal Surf Life Saving Club he reminded me that in fact it was a Labor Premier, Neville Wran, that made a small donation and turned the first sod to make sure that the Wamberal Surf Life Saving Club was actually built. The club then got a loan from Westpac and that was the birth of Westpac's involvement in surf lifesaving, because Westpac then had further discussions with the club and they reached an arrangement that the loan would become a sponsorship, and things have moved on from there in terms of the role that Westpac have played with surf lifesaving. But it is worth noting that it was a Labor Premier who put in the initial $5,000 to make sure that that particular club got up and going.

In recent times, only two weeks ago, I had a meeting with the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Mr Albanese, with the executive of Surf Life Saving Central Coast. We met to talk about specific issues in relation to training and resources. We did so at the Shelly Beach Surf Life Saving Club, a club completely rebuilt with federal government funding. It opened last year, and the cost of $2.5 million was entirely paid for by the federal government. Just up the road is the Soldiers Beach club, again, an old club with a grand history. It has always been very innovative, particularly in relation to rubber duckies—it was probably the first club in Australia in that regard. The club was falling down and this government again came to the party and put in another $2.5 million to see it rebuilt. So this government has had a long history with surf lifesaving on the Central Coast and has made some very significant contributions to those two clubs in having them completely rebuilt.

The effect has been something that I am sure you, Deputy Speaker, would be very aware of, and that is that we have seen an immediate increase of over 30 per cent in people joining those two clubs. If you have the proper facilities and the proper accommodation for surf lifesaving then people do want to come and join, they do want to help and they want to give up their time to do so. That is certainly what has occurred both at Shelly Beach and at Soldiers Beach.

The other eight clubs on the Central Coast are not in my electorate, they are in the electorate of Robertson. They are also in the Gosford City Council area. I raise that because Councillor McFadden, a Labor member, many years ago made sure the council put a small levy on ratepayers, and so what we have seen is that all nine surf lifesaving clubs in the Gosford City Council area have been completely rebuilt. So a Labor council initiative made sure that surf lifesaving was looked after in that particular council area. Unfortunately, in the Wyong Shire area that was not the case, but the Labor government stepped in and made sure they provided the much-needed funding to rebuild completely the Shelly Beach club and the great surf lifesaving facility we now have at Soldiers Beach.

Surf lifesaving throughout Australia plays a vital role in making sure that our beaches are safe. On the Central Coast it plays a greater role: it is part of our community; it is part of what we do every day. Everyone on the Central Coast has some connection to a surf lifesaving club—it is that important. We should acknowledge and give some thanks to the member for Gippsland for putting up this motion as it gives us the opportunity to talk about the great role that the surf lifesaving clubs do in the community. I would like to wish the best of luck to all our volunteer surf lifesavers, who from this Saturday will be out patrolling the beaches again, making sure that they are safe places for our families to swim at and for visitors to come there, and say, 'Well done, Surf Life Saving Australia.'

Honourable members: Hear, hear.

Debate adjourned.