Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Manufacturing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I congratulate the Ridgehaven Scout Group, who this year celebrate their 40th anniversary. To mark the occasion, a celebration event was held at the scout clubrooms on Saturday, 5 July, with scores of current and past members and their families attending, along with me and state MPs Frances Bedford, the member for Florey, and Tom Kenyon, the member for Newland, and Tea Tree Gully councillor Graeme Denholm.

Not only is the club still going strongly but it was most encouraging to see children whose parents, and even grandparents, were scouts or club leaders in past years at the club. I particularly noted that half the current members are girls. It was also clear from the extraordinary number of mementos, banners and memorabilia which literally covered the walls, and even part of the ceiling, of the clubroom that Ridgehaven has been a very active scout group.

I particularly acknowledge current leader Val Mott, who with the support Alan Chillman and all the other leaders have kept the club going for the past 40 years, and in doing so passed on valuable life skills and organised many memorable experiences for the children associated with the club. They should all be very proud of their contribution to scouting and to the broader society. I congratulate all involved in organising what was indeed another memorable day in the 40 years that the club has been in existence.