Appropriation Bill 2022
Thursday 16 June 2022
Ms CLANCY (Elder) (16:47): I rise today in support of the Appropriation Bill. I am incredibly proud of the budget our Labor government has handed down, and I really look forward to all these great policies being implemented. One part of this budget is around early childhood education. In the lead-up to the election we committed to a royal commission into early childhood education and care—which is $2 million over two years.
I know a number of people, when they hear the words 'royal commission', might be thinking, 'Not another one,' but this is actually really important. The early years are crucial to a child's development and, while some people are able to provide the education that child needs, others are not and we want to be able to provide enough support for every child to be able to receive the best education possible.
My understanding is that Aboriginal children and children who are under the guardianship of the minister are already able to access kindergarten as three year olds, so it is clear that we do recognise that there is value in that early education. We would like to see that extended to all children. That will also enable us to identify any concerns there may be for that child's development a bit earlier on, and it means that we are able to give them the best start in life, which is incredibly important.
It is really tricky managing kindy hours, as I know the member for Adelaide can probably relate to. My family was able to make it work. We are a family of two parents and one child, so you would think we would be able to wrangle it but we really struggled. Our kindy hours were 8.45 to 2.45, and it would not have been possible for us to send our little one to kindergarten last year without the incredible support of my parents, especially my dad, who always did the Wednesday afternoon pick-up and then took her to French. That was a terrible idea because she was way too tired after kindy to be going to French as well, so we ditched that early on.
Every Thursday last year, my incredible neighbours took our little one to kindy after we dropped her off at 8 o'clock and then picked her up every afternoon as well and cared for her until my partner or I were able to be with her. That was an incredible gift, and I would just like to shout out to the wonderful Megan and Matt Spokes and their children Harry and Belles for helping us out so much last year and making it possible for our little one to attend kindergarten.
We know that not everyone has that same level of family, friends and neighbourly support, which is why we want to have a royal commission to figure out how this can work and how we can support all families to be able to access whatever care they need to surround that education setting to make it all possible.
Another exciting part of this budget is our commitment to live music. I am a huge live music fan, and before COVID we had an incredible live music culture and live music scene. I invite the Minister for the Arts, whenever she likes, to come to a gig with me. We have incredible venues. We have the Cranker (Crown and Anchor), the Lion Arts centre, Jive, The Jade, the Exeter—I am going to keep going if I do not stop. There are many excellent live music venues, particularly in the electorate of Adelaide, and I was really pleased on the weekend to enjoy some live music.
My partner is in a couple of bands, so on Friday night I got to see him play with Diplomat at the Crown and Anchor. It was a bit of a shock to my system after not going to live music for so long. His band started at 11.30pm, which is about two hours past my bedtime. The following night, he got a former band together from more than 20 years ago called Rash, and they played a gig at Jive with Adalita, who some of you might know from Magic Dirt, as well as Brisbane-based band Screamfeeder. It was excellent seeing them all, and it was amazing to be back in the live music scene in Adelaide.
I am really pleased that this budget includes some support for live music. We have $3.3 million over two years for vouchers and grants to get live music back into pubs, clubs, small bars, restaurants, cafes and other smaller venues. Additionally, grants are available for medium to large-scale music events and festivals. We also have grants for minor works in venues. Up to 200 venues can apply for up to $5,000 to undertake some minor upgrades to help cater for live music and other performances.
We also have $250,000 in the budget to develop a live music mental health support act, to provide a mental health support service to South Australian musicians, managers, crew and music workers who are dealing with the issues brought on by work restrictions during the pandemic, which we all know were quite substantial. In addition, we are also putting in $8 million over four years for an arts grants fund, which will boost funding to artists and arts organisations.
There is a lot in there, and I think we can feel very excited and confident about the live music scene going forward. Please put the date 14 October into your diaries because Diplomat will be playing again. So get it in there—I would love to see all my colleagues there. I will be there, and I will also maybe have a nanna nap that afternoon so I last the full evening.
More locally, we have some fantastic investments in health. Obviously, the budget included a lot of health funding and support. Specifically, in Elder, it includes an upgrade to the ambulance station in Mitchell Park, the Marion ambulance station. It also includes a new ambulance station in Edwardstown. There is funding in partnership with the federal government for additional beds at Flinders hospital as well as a huge upgrade. A lot of that hospital has not changed since I was born there some 35 and a bit years ago, so that is quite exciting. Also, importantly, there is a new 24-bed unit at The Repat.
Also locally, we have an upgrade happening at the Clarence Park Railway Station. This is a station that sits on the border of the seats of Elder and Badcoe. It is something that the member for Badcoe and I fought very hard for. It is quite an unsafe railway station. The crossings do not have any gates and there is also a kindergarten just across the road. We are really keen to get this work started so we can install pedestrian safety measures as well as do some other upgrades, which will be determined through community consultation as to exactly what they are, whether it is bike storage, additional lighting or perhaps some beautification. I am happy to get my paintbrush out, but I am sure somebody else is probably better equipped. We are really looking forward to getting that work done in Clarence Park.
In Clarence Park, we also will be restoring the Adelaide High School zone, so some people in Clarence Park will now be eligible to send their children to Adelaide High or Botanic High. Still in the education space, I was really pleased to be able to get funding for upgrades to a number of schools in my area, and that includes Westbourne Park Primary School, Edwardstown Primary School and Clovelly Park Primary School.
Clovelly Park Primary School has had quite an issue where, because of an issue with the electrical system or the energy system, they are not able to have their computer server running at the same time as the air conditioner. There has been quite a lot of pressure on the staff and the students in trying to manage that and in making sure they can keep everyone comfortable. We are going to address that situation so that students, staff and teachers at Clovelly Park are able to have a comfortable place to work.
Another commitment in this budget is an upgrade to AA Bailey Reserve. We will be working with the City of Mitcham council on this one. In particular, cars would normally like to park around the soccer pitch to watch games, particularly in rainy weather. At the moment, though, the drainage is so bad around the oval that people cannot park there because it floods and is quite unsafe. We would like to get that all fixed up so that, instead of a number of cars having to be out on the suburban streets in Clarence Gardens, they are actually able to park around the oval. It also means that they do not have to stand in the rain, so it is win-win for everybody.
As well as the Clarence Park Railway Station upgrade, we will also be upgrading Woodlands Railway Station, which is another one that beautifully sits on the border between Badcoe and Elder. That is a station that is in dire need of an upgrade. A lot of people were really excited about it when they found out that an upgrade was happening. We will again be working with the community to consult on exactly what that upgrade looks like and how quickly we can get that work started. I will also be regularly speaking with the relevant minister, the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure.
Rozelle Reserve is an absolutely gorgeous little pocket of green space that sits in the beautiful suburb of Melrose Park. When I was doorknocking in Melrose Park, a number of people raised Rozelle Reserve with me and the need to revitalise it a bit. There is funding in this budget to upgrade Rozelle Reserve, and I have been in conversations with the City of Mitcham on this upgrade. I will also do some more community consultation to determine exactly what we do there in terms of the playground, potentially a barbecue and whatever else the community might see fit.
Colonel Light Gardens West Tennis Club is just on the other side of Winston Avenue from Melrose Park. It is over in the bit of Colonel Light Gardens that is actually on the western side of Goodwood Road, which not everyone is always aware of. It is a little special pocket of Colonel Light Gardens that sits over there, and this tennis club is a beautiful little community with great people, including the president, John, who is an absolute delight and also runs an incredible innovative business called FuseTech.
We will be improving the facade, the fencing, surfaces and clubrooms at the club. We are really looking forward to getting that work started too. I was hoping that we could maybe get some courts done before the season starts again in October, and maybe we will. Maybe time has not quite run out. Also in Colonel Light Gardens, we will be putting up a heritage-style arch at Ludgate Circus, which is on the corner of Goodwood Road and Grange Road. There is currently one at Oxford Circus, which is on the corner of Springbank and Goodwood roads, which some of you might have seen diagonally opposite Springbank Road. We will be putting an arch there as well, which will be really beautiful and create a gorgeous welcome to the area of Colonel Light Gardens.
We will be upgrading the entrance and doing surface upgrades at Reade Park Lawn Tennis Club. It is a great community. I am really grateful to Tom Twelftree, who has spent a lot of time talking to me about the club and its needs. I am really looking forward to working with the broader community to ensure that these upgrades really improve the look and feel of this facility and that it is a bit more in keeping with the area because Colonel Light Gardens is obviously a beautiful suburb and this club is not a beautiful looking club at the moment.
Also in the area, just next to Reade Park Lawn Tennis Club, is the Colonel Light Gardens Bowling Club. I am very grateful to Kevin there and the rest of the team, who have been very welcoming to me. I even got to have a little bowls lesson recently, which was much needed. I have played a fair bit of night owls at Edwardstown Bowling Club, but I have never been that great, so it was very good to have that time to learn a bit. An instructor from Hawthorn Bowling Club, just out of my electorate, came over and helped and gave us all some pointers. If anyone else is interested in getting their bowls skills up, I am happy to see if I can pull you over to Colonel Light Gardens sometime soon.
Mortlock oval is a beautiful community space and home to the Colonel Light Gardens Football Club and the Goodwood Baseball Club. We will be renovating the facilities there, including much-needed women's change rooms. At the moment, a number of women try to get changed in their cars and in the car parks, and we do not really think that is acceptable. We are really looking forward to getting that work done.
I have had such joy over the last more than 20 months, as the candidate for Elder and now the member for Elder, speaking with different community groups and community clubs about what they are doing and about their members and about what they need. Again, it has been a pleasure working with the football club and the baseball club in this instance about their requirements. I am really looking forward to getting this work done in a way that again pays homage to the area they are in in Colonel Light Gardens.
One issue that came up a lot when I was doorknocking in Mitchell Park, particularly the section of Mitchell Park behind Hamilton Secondary College, was that the fencing behind the college is now locked most of the time and that the southern end in particular is always locked. This has meant that Mitchell Park has basically been cut in half. Part of the community is not able to access the rest of the community easily because there is a railway line on the other side, so they are required to go back down Daws Road and then turn left onto Marion Road, just walking, to access other parts of Mitchell Park.
This is a real shame, particularly with the Mitchell Park Sports and Community Club opening in coming weeks. It makes it really difficult for those Mitchell Park residents to actually engage in those facilities and use them. I am very pleased that we have committed to addressing this issue. I have been working with the Minister for Education and will be working with the community and the school to develop a solution so that we can make Mitchell Park whole again.
Over in St Marys, we have committed more than $500,000 to upgrading various green spaces. Whether that might be planting more trees in one space, adding some new play equipment to another, we are really open to exactly what that looks like. We have so many good green spaces and so many great opportunities in the area. I have already started having conversations with people in that part of our community about what they think they would like and what would be of most benefit. I have also been working with the council on this, and I am really pleased with how those talks are going and looking forward to getting back out into the community of St Mary's to make sure we get these areas as schmick as they can possibly be.
Not far from St Marys, over in Pasadena last November, the City of Mitcham purchased the old Sea Scouts hall with the intention of turning it into a community centre. We committed $500,000 to help those efforts and the federal Labor government has also committed $300,000, so together we will be able to spend $800,000 and anything that the council puts in as well to develop a community centre in Pasadena that will service in particular Pasadena, St Marys and Panorama and potentially also Bedford Park, over in the member for Davenport's seat. That end of the City of Mitcham area will be well serviced by this, and I am really looking forward to seeing how that plays out.
Also in Pasadena is Springbank Secondary College. The sports complex there is the home of the Sturt Sabres Basketball Club as well. It is used by the school and the club. We committed funding for air conditioning because at the moment there is no air conditioning for the basketball stadium. At particular times of the year, it gets pretty difficult for people to be able to play, and sometimes games are just called off. We are going to put new air conditioning in there and also add solar panels to help deal with running costs, and also it is the environmentally friendly thing to do.
I did a lot of doorknocking across the whole electorate; we doorknocked it all and it was excellent, but I did a fair bit in Mitchell Park, and the good people of Mitchell Park spoke to me a lot about the need for some toilets at Maldon Avenue Reserve. I know toilets are not something people get too excited about—except for the member for Newland; she loves talking about toilets and waste—but we will be putting a toilet into Maldon Avenue Reserve, which will enable people to go there and stay there and use it.
People who use the Linear Park pathway along the edge, if they are going for their bike ride or going for a walk and they really need to go, there will be that option there, which will be beautiful because there is also a great park, great green space and a barbecue. All that is really missing to make it a space where you can spend a number of hours is a loo.
Keeping on toilets, the Tonsley Innovation Precinct is a space that is incredible for business, incredible for study and education, and it is also a space that locals know is where a lot of children learn to ride their bikes. It is a huge, concreted area that is under cover, and so it means a lot of families go there with their children, and just let their children ride around without the risk of any traffic. The only thing they are missing is, you guessed it, toilets. The toilets are closed over the weekend, so we are going to be making sure that public toilets are available to the community so that they can stay there for a bit longer. We will also install some water fountains—not water fountains to look beautiful but water fountains so that people can have a drink while they are there as well.
I have spoken of them previously, but I also want to mention again the Kenilworth Football Club, which will be receiving funding through this budget for their new scoreboard, nets behind their goals, a new playground, ice baths, an outdoor kitchen and a number of facilities that are going to make it a much easier place for the club to be able to operate, which I am really looking forward to. We will also be upgrading CC Hood Reserve in Panorama, and in Panorama and Pasadena we also have included funding in this budget to improve some footpaths and also build new ones, so that it makes it an easier place to get around. I am really proud of this budget, and I am looking forward to voting in support of this bill.
