James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to take the opportunity to thank my community in Sturt and all the people of South Australia in the wake of the lockdown that we went through just a little over a fortnight ago. I think it came as quite a surprise to the whole community. I heard the news on a Monday morning. I was at a citizenship ceremony at the Port Adelaide Enfield Council. When I emerged from that, I saw that there had been a positive case in South Australia. It escalated quite quickly, and within 24 hours the announcement was made that South Australia would go into lockdown. Thankfully, it was a very quick, sharp lockdown that lasted seven days, and we as a state were able to overcome that outbreak and—touch wood—at this stage it looks as if that risk to South Australia has been defeated. No doubt others will come our way. We only overcame that outbreak because everyone in my home state of South Australia came together. People understood that they needed to follow the health advice. It was an excellent decision by our state premier, Steven Marshall, implemented excellently by the South Australia Police and health authorities, but mainly it was because we had such excellent cooperation, across my electorate and throughout the state, and so I stand here as a very proud South Australian. We have faced what could have been a catastrophic outcome in South Australia that, instead, because we all came together, we were able to defeat. It reminds us all that when we come together and work together to meet these challenges we can defeat them.