Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Nick Xenophon Team) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yesterday, I had the honour of attending the 100th anniversary of the town of Lenswood in the Adelaide Hills. Today, Lenswood is synonymous with apples and horticultural innovation. Most of South Australia's apples are packed at the Lenswood cold store and sent around Australia and, indeed, the world. Lenswood is a close-knit community whose self-reliance harks back to their settler history and timber cutting in the region known as Forest Range. Connectedness lies at the heart of the creation of Lenswood, because it was the desire for news of loved ones fighting in World War I that led to the community successfully lobbying for a new post office and recognition of the township. Sixty men from Forest Range enlisted to be soldiers; 15 of them didn't return. Families were eager for news but it wasn't easy getting to the Forest Range Post Office. There was no electricity, no telephones and no sealed roads. Schoolchildren made the four-mile trip to collect the mail from Forest Range during rain, hail or shine. But, due to community advocacy, Lenswood and its post office were first established in June 1917. A century later, it was fitting that the children of the oldest family in the district, the seventh generation of the Coulter family, were given the honour of cutting the 100th birthday cake at the centenary picnic. It was a wonderful day, and I thank the people of Lenswood for including me in their celebrations.