Thanks very much, Graham. Prime Minister of Australia and member of the Queenscliff Surf Club – delinquent member of the Queenscliff Surf club – who should’ve been on patrol yesterday but wasn’t. So, my apologies Graham to you and to the patrolling members of the various surf clubs who are here today.
It’s great to be here for this important occasion. I acknowledge my Parliamentary colleagues - too numerous to mention by name - and I particularly acknowledge the lifesavers here from clubs up and down the New South Wales Coast. You do a fantastic job.
And we so need you, because while we Australians love the ocean, while it’s estimated that we pay one hundred million visits to the beach every year - that’s five visits, almost, for every single Australian man, woman and child - it is, under the wrong circumstances, a dangerous place.
We’ve had drownings, too many of them as Graham has just recounted, there are other hazards and we should spare a thought today for Zac Young, the surfer who tragically perished near Coffs Harbour over the weekend. We grieve for him and we salute the courage of his mates who brought him in. That’s the kind of spirit that our volunteer surf lifesavers show day after day after day.
The bad news, as Graham has already related is that we are having more drownings in our oceans and coastal waterways.
The good news is that we’ve had none between the flags and this is a tribute to the work of our lifeguards; of our surf lifesavers, some 45,000 of them, most of whom are members of some 311 surf lifesaving clubs right around Australia. These volunteers, in the last year performed almost 12,000 rescues and they provided some 64,000 episodes of first-aid to members of the public. They make it possible for us to enjoy our beautiful beaches. They make it possible for us to appreciate the majesty of the Australian coastline in relative safety.
It’s so important the work that you do - you volunteers - and that they do, all of the members of Surf Life Saving and all of the other people: the Council, inspectors and others that keep our beaches safe.
You can always quibble with the way any particular organisation is run, but what you can never doubt is the commitment and the professionalism of our lifeguards, volunteer and paid, who do a magnificent job.
I want to conclude these remarks by paying tribute to the ethos of the surf lifesaving movement. It is an iconic Australian movement. I’ve often said that it’s not what we have to do, it’s what we choose to do, which is the mark of our humanity. It’s not what we do for money, but what we do for love which is the sign of our character, which is what is best in our character. We Australians have a terrific volunteer spirit, and that volunteer spirit is no more in evidence than with Surf Life Saving Australia and the various clubs that operate under it.
So, Graham, Greg, Phil and everyone else associated with Surf Life Saving Australia – thank you for what you do.
Thank you for this Report. This Report is a reminder of the continuing task and its importance. I’m pleased that the Commonwealth is to provide another $10 million to Surf Life Saving over the next five years, to help with the work that you do on our beaches. But in the end, it’s your work, not the Government’s work; you do it magnificently and you do it because you are fine Australians who want to look after your fellow Australians enjoying our coast and our beaches.
So, thank you so much, it’s great to be here. Next year, may we be able to launch this report and see that we’ve had fewer drownings, because people are more water-safety oriented in the coming year, than they have been in the past.
[ends]