The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (15:53): Today, I would like to touch upon an important issue in our communities, which is community consultation and the way governments go about community consultation, and not only governments but institutions as well. I think it is the difference between what is right and just doing things right. One is doing the right things—in other words, making sure we do the right things to engage—and the other is where you tick a box and just meet the requirements.
The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (16:44): I rise to speak in support of this bill. I will not repeat the excellent arguments for the bill which have been put by not only the minister in his opening speech but also the members for Newland, Wright, Playford, King and other speakers who have spoken to this bill already.
The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (15:00): Today, I wish to speak to this motion on behalf of the people of the electorate of Light, as the local member, and also in my role as the duty member for Schubert. The local community was shocked and saddened by the passing of Queen Elizabeth II on Friday 9 September, using various social media platforms to express their grief and sense of loss. After all, Her Majesty had only commissioned a new Prime Minister for the UK two days earlier.
The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (12:23): I rise to speak against this motion, and I will explain why. It is not that I do not acknowledge—and I will acknowledge first-up—the importance of the regions to the state's economy and to society generally. I do acknowledge that. The reason I speak against the motion is that the motion implies that the Marshall Liberal government was the first one to find the regions and to notice that the regions were there and do something for them. That is just not true. The regions were supported by the previous Labor government in a whole range of ways. In fact, a number of the projects for which the Liberal Party did the ribbon cutting were previously funded by the Labor government, and I will go into some of those details.
The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (11:31): I rise to speak in support of the motion and make it very clear that I oppose the amendment. I will speak to the amendment first before I get to the area where I want to support the motion, but I also raise an example of where some really bad practice by a local council is impeding our efforts to improve housing in this country, particularly in my community.
The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (15:35): Today, I wish to bring to the house's attention the annual Gawler Show held a few weeks ago. The Gawler Show is the biggest show outside the Adelaide Royal Show and is held over two days. This year, about 35,000 people attended over the two days, which is a huge number of people. I must congratulate Claire Forgie, the president of the Gawler Show society committee, and also all the volunteers and judges who made the event such a success, including the various service clubs that help out in some way, either at the gates or providing parking services.
The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (16:26): I will make a very brief contribution to this debate in support of the bill. Firstly, I would like to contrast the discussion to date. On the one hand, the opposition has been very alarmist and read all sorts of things into this bill, compared with the local member for this area, who has provided a very thoughtful consideration of what he sees are the benefits of this process
The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (12:47): I rise in support of this motion of the Premier to amend our standing orders to reflect the Acknowledgement of Country. Changes like this are by their very nature symbolic, but having said that I think sometimes symbolism is very important, because it does speak to our values. We have a lot of symbols in our society which by themselves mean nothing, but when they are put into context and talk about our culture, what we believe in and what we hold dear, it is very important.
The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (15:33): Today, I would like to talk about some of the services which I think are important for governments to deliver and some of the reforms which have taken place over the last few years. I also want to highlight an area of reform which I believe is necessary if older people are to live dignified lives
The Hon. A. PICCOLO (Light) (16:01): I would like to speak briefly in support of the bill to re-create the Motorsport Board. While this bill is dedicated to creating the Motorsport Board, which will oversee the Adelaide 500 plus other motorsport events, the focus—in terms of community focus—is on the Adelaide 500. When the previous government announced that it was cancelling the event, I must confess I was quite surprised at the reaction of the community. It was quick, it was strong and it was quite negative towards the government of the day.