Nicolle Flint (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The electorate of Boothby is a particularly beautiful one. I know all members of parliament say this about their electorates but, in the case of my electorate, it is true. Boothby takes in Adelaide's best stretch of coastline from Marino through to Somerton Park and, quite uniquely, Boothby also contains some of our most beautiful and historic parks, such as Belair National Park, Australia's second-oldest national park, and the scenic Mitcham hills.

These beautiful woodlands are a large part of the reason why people choose to live in the Mitcham, Belair and Blackwood areas. However, as we Boothby locals know, our leafy lifestyle comes with risks during bushfire season. I urge residents in the Hills zone area—and, in particular, suburbs like Brown Hill Creek, Belair, Blackwood, Upper Sturt, Craigburn Farm, Hawthorndene, Glenalta, Coromandel Valley, Lynton, Eden Hills and Bellevue Heights—to make sure they have their bushfire survival plan in place now. There is nothing more important than having a plan in place and I will do all I can to remind people of this during the bushfire season ahead.

To this end, I recently held a meeting with the Mayor of the City of Mitcham, Glenn Spear, the member for Davenport, Sam Duluk and our wonderful CFS volunteers from the Sturt Group, Group Captain Dale Thompson and Deputy Group Captain David Simms. I commend council and the CFS for the work they do in prevention, training, advice and protection.

The City of Mitcham and the CFS provide a wealth of information about planning and prevention, and I encourage all residents to get a copy of South Australia's YourGuide to Bushfire Safety booklet or to visit cfs.sa.gov.au to inform their bushfire plan. Being bushfire-ready could well save lives. I encourage all those in fire prone areas to prepare their bushfire survival plan if they have not done so already. We must all know the risks, prepare ourselves, our family, homes, businesses and stay alert to our surroundings. As the CFS says, 'Prepare, act, survive.'

I must praise the continuing work of the Sturt CFS Group, covering the brigades at Blackwood, Belair, Eden Hills, Coromandel Valley and Cherry Gardens, and the brigades at Happy Valley and Upper Sturt, who also help to keep Boothby residents safe.

To show our support for the CFS and raise awareness of the vital need to prepare, act and survive, the Mayor of the City of Mitcham, Glenn Spear, member for Davenport, Sam Duluk, and myself will be holding a bushfire awareness barbecue and fundraiser for the Sturt CFS Group at the Waite Reserve in Blackwood on Saturday, 17 December. I encourage everyone in the area to come down to discuss bushfire awareness and planning. All the proceeds from our sausage sizzle will go to supporting the Sturt Country Fire Service.