PRIME MINISTER:
Well thank you Graham and Melissa and Mark Cotter, it’s great to be here at North Bondi. It is a great point to note and to reflect on that not one life was lost on a patrolled beach between the red and yellow flags. But there were 130 lives lost from drowning on our coastline over the last year and I’ll come back to that in a moment.
But I had a good reminder this morning you’ll be glad to know in the importance of water safety. I was at about; I suppose it would’ve been about twenty minutes to seven, paddling my kayak between Garden Island and Fort Denison.
It was beautiful on the harbour this morning, just like glass, perfect paddling weather and I saw the maritime, you know the Waterways people coming up and I thought, ‘Oh gosh what am I in trouble for here,’ I thought everything seemed ok. They came up and they said, ‘Hello we just wanted to let you know that from July 1, you’ve got to wear a life jacket,’ I was wearing a life jacket I hasten to add, ‘You’ve got to wear a life jacket, even if you’re within 100 metres of the shoreline.’ Which used not to be the rule, the rule used to be you had to wear a life jacket if you went beyond 100 metres. So the law has been changed and I said, ‘Oh that’s good and thanks for letting me know.’ And they said, ‘Yes,’ just shows how diligent they are, they said, ‘We’re just going around and catching up with all the regulars this morning,’ because it’s probably the same people out paddling on the harbour many mornings, and just letting everybody know.
So that was – they didn’t know they were talking to me of course I had my big hat on and dark glasses - so I was suitably disguised but none the less, it’s a good reminder and it just underlines the importance of wearing a life jacket when you are out boating.
Graham noted that 130 people did drown on our coastline over the last year. The critical thing I think is greater awareness, obviously many people are not aware of rips, they are not aware of the dangers of fishing on rocky shelves, they are not aware of simply the power of the sea. You can get very easily disoriented; the safest place to swim is between the flags at a patrolled beach as we know, thanks to the life savers.
I remember many moons ago, when I was a life saver at this club, I can remember paddling out to catch up with some people who were out a long way – or what appeared to be a long way out. They weren’t in any distress and we just paddled out and said - introduced ourselves and said, ‘You are quite far away from the beach.’ I remember one of them lifted his head up and nearly fainted on the spot when he realised how far he’d drifted out.
I think awareness is a very important thing. That’s why this Report is very important and that’s why it’s great to see the media here today because what you do in the media is reminding people again of the importance of water safety. The importance of being vigilant, the importance of taking advice, the importance of swimming at patrolled beaches between the flags – you’ve just got to keep on reminding people of that, particularly young people, particularly kids. Complacency leads to tragedy and that’s why we have to be alert all the time.
I want to congratulate Surf Life Saving Australia for yet another great year. Again, there have been more drownings here recorded but it’s such a great credit to the life saving movement that none of them were on a patrolled beach, between the flags.
The rate of rescues grows all the time and that is because our beaches are more patronised all the time as well. So the need for the volunteer life saving movement - where we are in one of the first clubs here today. I hesitate to say it’s the first club because Graham claims it was his club. I might say that all of the early clubs records have been lost but as the Member for Wentworth far be it from me to get in an argument about – yes that’s right the President says, ‘You might be the first but here’s the best’.
I’ll leave it to you to argue that out but congratulations on a great year of safety delivery by the SLSA and this report deserves to be well-read and well-distributed so that more Australians understand the importance of water safety and again, you cannot take anything for granted with the ocean, with the water. It is bigger than us; it’s more powerful than us. We often underestimate it at our peril, complacency leads to tragedy. We have to be vigilant always. So I am delighted to be here to launch this Report, thank you.
[ENDS]