Thursday, 28 November 2024

Water safety

Tom McINTOSH (Eastern Victoria) (10:33): Summer arrives this Sunday, and we know Victorians will be hitting our beaches and having a swim. In the last sitting week the Minister for Emergency Services Jaclyn Symes hosted Life Saving Victoria here in Parliament to ramp up the campaign to keep us thinking about water safety this summer. Our volunteer groups keep us safe in open water, and our government has recently announced our volunteer emergency services equipment program winners. I have already been able to visit four of the 34 winners in Eastern Victoria. Thanks to Denis and Kent from Southern Peninsula Rescue Squad at Blairgowrie for showing me their new remote-control lifeboats and how they will help keep the peninsula safe. They can go from 400 to 800 metres, meaning that in hard-to-navigate and hard-to-reach areas they will be able to rescue individuals and keep them safe.

I also got to visit two of Victoria’s biggest lifesaving clubs. I got to attend Mount Martha Life Saving Club. They are upgrading to a new rescue boat and motor and two new rescue boards. Thanks, John and Sheryl, for explaining to me what this will mean to the club and the local community. A big thanks to life member and committee member Andrew Gibson OAM, life member Max Jeffrey, life patron and life member John Horwood and committee member and life member Andrew Welsh for showing me around Point Leo Surf Life Saving Club and their two new inflatable rescue boats, two beach trailers and a new motor, which are at the club and which will help keep people safe on their side of the peninsula throughout the summer.