Wednesday, 1 May 2024

Surf Life Saving Victoria

Richard RIORDAN (Polwarth) (19:13): (627) My adjournment this evening is an action I seek from the Minister for Emergency Services. The action I seek from the Minister for Emergency Services is to, in this budget, make a full and proper allocation of funds to Surf Life Saving Victoria so that they can continue to support the many volunteer surf lifesaving clubs right across the electorate of Polwarth to make sure that we have lifesavers on hand during the busy Christmas through to Australia Day period. Currently smaller clubs like Kennett River and Wye River do not always have enough volunteers towards the last half of January, when so many people finish their holidays and head back to work, and so providing proper patrolling of our beaches during this time can be very problematic. This funding was cut with very little notice to surf clubs before last summer, which unfortunately may in part be responsible for the record number of deaths on our beaches this summer. It is untenable in this day and age that we actually have an increasing level of beach fatalities when there is so much technology and so much capacity within our surf lifesaving and beach communities to make our beaches safer. It is inexcusable. But the one big factor that keeps people safe on beaches is well-trained people at the ready to help, particularly if they are swimming at patrolled beaches.

The Great Ocean Road is of course a highlight of my electorate. It is a centrepiece of the tourism strategy of this state, and it is essentially untenable that the state expects local communities and volunteers to pick up the slack and provide a necessary service to all the visitors that come along the Great Ocean Road, particularly over the busy summer period. It is a bit akin to tourist resorts and other places that provide swimming pools and other water activities, where there is a responsibility to help provide some of the surf lifesaving or the lifeguard services. The Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority now run all the caravan parks along the Great Ocean Road. It is a direct benefit to the state. It is run by the state; they have their caravan parks and their camp sites on the beach. The state government is in lock step with this agency in terms of promoting our region, which on one hand is a good thing, but there is also an obligation on the state to absolutely help contribute to making sure that these beaches that the state government promotes, the state of Victoria promotes and our local community promotes are safe when they can be. Time and time again this government continues to cut funds to volunteer agencies, removes resources and continues to rely on small local communities to keep everybody safe. Minister, the action I seek is for you to please restore funding to Surf Life Saving Victoria for patrolled beaches.