Matt Thistlethwaite (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Tonight I wish to speak on an issue that is posing a threat to our country's surf lifesaving clubs—in particular, the 128 surf lifesaving clubs that are located within my home state of New South Wales. The issue relates to rising sea levels and the threat that they pose to the life and the wellbeing of our surf clubs. Many members of this nation's surf clubs enjoy worthwhile lifestyles, and I am pleased to say that I have been a member of a surf lifesaving club in Sydney for 26 years. As a long-time member and former president of Maroubra Surf Life Saving Club, I have many wonderful memories of my time on the beach, watching over fellow beachgoers in often wild and at times unforgiving surf conditions.

From an early age I was taught to treat the ocean with the utmost respect. Indeed, its power and propensity to turn from beautiful to ugly at a moment's notice means it deserves nothing less. This was a lesson drilled into me as a youngster: even when your back is turned, you always keep one eye on the ocean. Mother Nature can be a supremely unpredictable force. This is a lesson that has served me and many surf lifesavers well throughout the world.