Mr SPEIRS ( Bright ) ( 15:24 ): This afternoon I want to give an overview of the busiest weekend I have in the year in the seat of Bright, which is the opening of the surf clubs and the sailing clubs in my electorate.
That was last Saturday afternoon when I was able to attend five events back to back in the electorate: the season opening of Brighton and Seacliff Yacht Club, the opening of Seacliff surf club, the opening of Brighton surf club, the opening of Somerton surf club and the opening of Somerton Yacht Club.
I want to give a brief overview of each of these clubs and pay tribute to the army of volunteers who hold these clubs and who build the community that I am fortunate enough to represent. The great thing about representing 16 kilometres of beautiful Adelaide metropolitan coastline is the opportunity to be able to be part of the sailing clubs and surf clubs which flank the coastline along Gulf St Vincent, particularly between Seacliff and Somerton Park.
Last Saturday afternoon, the first visit I had was to Seacliff Surf Lifesaving Club. It is the smallest of the three clubs that I have, but it is certainly a place with significant levels of community. I always receive a very warm welcome there, particularly from Andrew Chandler, the President of Seacliff Surf Lifesaving Club, and the team that supports him. It was great to go along to the club down on the Esplanade at Seacliff and catch up with Andrew Chandler, to also see Clare Harris, chief executive of Surf Life Saving SA, and John Baker, the president of Surf Life Saving SA, and to find out a bit about what is happening at Seacliff. It was good to hear about Swim-Paddle-Run (SPR), the upcoming fundraiser which is occurring in November. It will be the major fundraiser for Seacliff Surf Lifesaving Club.
From the surf lifesaving club I popped next door, just a few short footsteps away, to the Brighton & Seacliff Yacht Club where I caught up with Bruce Noble, the commodore. Bruce was the commodore of the yacht club last year and will again be taking on the role of commodore this year. It was good to catch up with Bruce and to catch up with many of the other volunteers and office holders in the yacht club about their plans. They have just received a council grant and are in the process of doing some upgrades to the facility there. It is a beautiful facility, like all these clubs, right on the edge of Gulf St Vincent.
From Seacliff yacht club I then drove down to Brighton Surf Lifesaving Club, my home surf lifesaving club. I signed up for my membership when I was down there and replaced my fob key so I can have access to the gym, because it broke during winter. I was able to catch up with a range of people at Brighton Surf Lifesaving Club as well, including the new president of that club, Chris Parsons. I wish Chris all the best in his endeavours in leading the club through the current year. Chris is one of the younger presidents—could be the youngest president of a surf club in South Australia at the moment—and it is great to see him in that role.
From Brighton I then headed down to Somerton Park where I went to the opening of Somerton surf club, the largest surf club in the state and a previous holder of surf lifesaving club of the year just a couple of years ago. I caught up with the many volunteers and active surf life savers who are doing a huge amount to keep that club running. I caught up with the new president there, Mark Williams, also known as Curly, and had a good chat with him. Again, I saw Clare Harris and John Baker, bumping into people who I had seen further up the coast at Seacliff.
Finally, I finished off the day with dinner at the Somerton Yacht Club, which is actually in the member for Morphett's electorate, but which sits right on our boundary.
Mr SPEIRS: I did not have a schnitzel, Deputy Speaker, but it was great to go down to that club and catch up with Adrian Nicholson, the commodore, Jacqui Cole, the vice commodore, and Steve Konetschka, the rear commodore of sailing. It was good to catch up with all of them and really see how that club is going. It is a thriving community with a real mix of ages—young people, older people, people in between. It was a great weekend down in Bright with the opening of these sailing and surfing clubs, and it was just a great opportunity to pay tribute to my beautiful coastal community.