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

Monday, 2 July marks my second year as the member for Boothby. Before I was elected, I worked hard to secure a range of key commitments to help my local community. Since my election, I have worked hard to fix problems and address issues for residents across my electorate. When the new boundaries for Boothby are introduced, I will work just as hard to deliver for the 38,000 new members of our community.

Everything I have achieved has been aimed at helping my local residents. I fought for and delivered road funding and rail projects, including $95 million for the Oaklands Crossing road and rail grade separation, $43 million to extend the Tonsley rail line to the Flinders Medical Centre and Flinders University, and $2 million for the Marion Road Planning Study. We will also soon see the conclusion of the $496 million federally funded Darlington upgrade. All of these projects will make sure that my residents spend less time stuck in traffic, whether they're going to work, getting their kids to school or just heading to the shops. They will also provide more public transport options. They will help people get to Westfield Marion, to the SA Aquatic & Leisure Centre, to Flinders University and, most importantly, to Flinders Medical Centre faster and more safely.

Road safety and local roads have also been a concern of mine. I was pleased to work with the City of Holdfast Bay and the former mayor, Stephen Patterson, who is now the state member for Morphett, to deliver blackspot funding for the rail crossing at Jetty Road. This is just one of the smaller road upgrades that the Turnbull government is helping to fund around the Boothby electorate.

Throughout my time as the member and even while I was the candidate, I've asked my community how I could help them and have listened to them, and then I've helped them. Because of this, I helped community organisations reduce their power bills by securing funding to install solar panels at their facilities, their buildings and their club rooms. I worked with community leaders such as Andrew Chandler at the Seacliff Surf Life Saving Club, Chris Parsons at Brighton Surf Lifesaving Club and Mark 'Curly' Williams at Somerton Surf Life Saving Club to purchase solar panels. I worked with the Sturt CFS Group Officer, Dale Thompson, to see solar panels installed at the Blackwood, Belair and Eden Hills CFS stations. I did this because I listened to what my volunteers said they needed and because I want my local volunteers to focus on what they should be doing, which is keeping our community safe, rather than worrying about their power bills.

Because I want my sports clubs to be able to attract as many members as possible and bring people together from all over my electorate, I fought for and secured funding for new club facilities because so many of my clubs were desperate for clubroom upgrades and for change rooms, especially for women. Working with the Blackwood Tennis Club, the Woods Panthers Netball Club and the Coromandel Cricket Club, we secured $400,000 for new change rooms and clubrooms at the Hewett reserve in Blackwood. In St Marys I worked with the Kenilworth Football Club to secure $350,000 for new facilities, and work is currently underway. In Flagstaff Hill, I worked with Michelle Crisp and Mel Ready from the centre's association, as well as Brett Charlesworth from the Flagstaff Hill Falcons footy club, to secure $400,000 to redevelop the entire community centre. The Warradale Park Tennis Club will soon have improved courts and lighting, with a $250,000 federal grant, and beachgoers will soon be safer at Seacliff with the installation of a new $150,000 watchtower for the club. I was also delighted to secure $200,000 for the upgrade of the Wirraparinga Trail Loop at Brownhill Creek and rehabilitation of the surrounding bushland, led by passionate community advocate Ron Bellchambers and others from the Brownhill Creek Association.

Together with my state Liberal colleagues, I campaigned for and helped secure $9 million of state funding towards the Women's Memorial Playing Fields at St Marys. The fields have a war memorial, but they are also a living memorial to Australian nurses and servicewomen who have given their lives for our nation. The fields are home to the Cumberland United Women's Football Club, the Sturt Lacrosse Club and the South Australian Women's Memorial Playing Field Trust, headed up by Bruce Parker OAM.

Given more time, I could add to this long list of projects delivered for my electorate of Boothby, but I will conclude by saying that I look forward to continuing to fight for and deliver the projects that matter to my local residents. I will be a fierce advocate for everyone currently living in my electorate and those who will soon join our Boothby community under the new boundaries, and I look forward to continuing to listen to and work hard for every single member of my community.