Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As everyone would be aware, we have moved very much into the Christmas season. As you know, Mr Deputy Speaker, we also at this time of year send out Christmas cards. It is a nice gesture that we make at this time of the year, spreading goodwill and cheer amongst the community. I am sending a Christmas card to the electorate this year. The theme of this Christmas card recognises and honours our first response volunteers and, at the risk of using a prop, here it is. The photos on the front of the Christmas card represent different first response volunteers in our community: Scott Blair and Madison, both from Yamba and the SES in Yamba; Tonya Hawker from the Ballina marine rescue; Rachel Redman, who lives at Woodburn and who is part of the Evans Head surf-lifesaving club; and also Michael and Jaclyn Munro from Casino, a brother and sister, who are members of the Rural Fire Service. I think it is important to acknowledge these people, especially as we are coming into the time of the year in our country where a lot of these volunteers are called upon, and they do it out of their own time and with great goodwill.

The SES is made up almost entirely of volunteers. There are 229 units located across New South Wales with 10,000 volunteers who are easily identified by their distinctive orange overalls. The major responsibilities for the SES are floods and storm operations but they also help out in road accident rescues, vertical rescues and bush searches and rescues. In relation to marine rescues, we have a couple of very dangerous bars in the electorate of Page such as the one in Ballina, which is very treacherous, and the Ballina Marine Rescue—who are acknowledged here and were formerly known as the Coast Guard Ballina—have saved countless lives, particularly of boaties who have overturned on that bar. The volunteer surf lifesavers are very well known throughout this country. They started in 1907 and have saved more than 615,000 lives and have spent more than 1.4 million hours patrolling our beaches.

Lastly, the RFS—the Rural Fire Service—which is the world's largest volunteer fire service and provides emergency services to about 95 per cent of New South Wales. In the northern region there are over 13,000 volunteers and across the state, 73,000, and they have responded to over 23,000 incidents just in the past year—ranging from bush and grassfires to motor vehicle accidents and controlled burns. The annual fire brigade church service is on this Sunday morning at 8.30 at the Uniting Church, and I will be there. This Friday is International Volunteer Day, and I am very proud to say that my Christmas card this year is acknowledging our first-response volunteers.