Tuesday, 2 December 2025

 Roma BRITNELL (South-West Coast) (19:09): (1453) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Emergency Services, and the action I seek is for the minister to honour the hardworking volunteers of the Warrnambool Surf Life Saving Club by allocating funds in the upcoming budget for a new clubhouse and to ensure that the safety of our community and visitors is the top priority in its design and construction. This is a proud and dedicated volunteer community, recently recognised with an Australian surf lifesaving national award.

At the opening of the season last month I witnessed an incident that highlights a serious and unacceptable risk, a risk created and perpetuated by the government’s neglect. Surf lifesavers on duty could not see along the beach towards Granny’s Grave from either the current clubhouse or the tower because their view was obstructed by dense vegetation. This is not a new problem. The vegetation was planted in the 1980s. It is not indigenous to the area, yet the government insists it cannot be removed or altered because it is native. We all value the environment, but the idea that public safety should be compromised because of a 40-year-old planting decision is absurd. It is a failure of leadership, of common sense and of government to put people first. Other clubs, such as Port Fairy, manage this balance responsibly. I was there recently to celebrate their 100th anniversary. Its foreshore has low-growing vegetation that protects the dunes while preserving sightlines for lifesavers. Warrnambool deserves the same sensible approach, but instead we are met with excuses and inaction.

To make matters worse, the overgrown vegetation surrounding the precinct is creating danger for women and families using the popular path from the breakaway to the Hopkins River. Community members have told me they are now frightened to use this pathway because it has become unsafe and is a site for repeated incidents, including men exposing themselves. These incidents are reported, yet nothing changes. The Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action is responsible, but the government continues to pass responsibility onto council. Council may hold the land management role, but the decision sits squarely with the minister and her department.

The community deserves better. We need a futureproofed surf lifesaving facility and a precinct that prioritises safety. The environment is important, but people’s lives must never be made secondary to vegetation that does not even belong in that area of the landscape. The minister needs to stop passing the buck, take responsibility and act: fund a new surf lifesaving club for Warrnambool, fix the vegetation management and show the community that their safety matters more than bureaucratic excuses.