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Other Parliamentary SpeechesThis page is dedicated to Peter's speeches during parliament that do not fall under Questions or Questions without notice. They range from debating legislation, reporting on events or issues in his seat of Southport and his Ministerial Statements.
Schoolies Week |
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| Posted by Administrator (admin) on Dec 01 2005 |
| Other Speeches >> |
Mr LAWLOR (Southport-ALP) (6.14 pm): The provision of support and safety services for schoolies week on the Gold Coast this year was a partnership between the Queensland government, the Gold Coast City Council and event coordinators, Surfers Paradise Management. Together, the partnership members developed, organised and delivered a coordinated program of diversionary activities and support services. I actually visited Surfers Paradise during schoolies week and found young people having a good time and the police were very pleasant.
Mr Langbroek: The oldest toolie there.
Mr LAWLOR: No, I was not. Maybe we should have another category when people my age hang out in Surfers Paradise--schoolies, toolies and droolies. The result was a safe and enjoyable schoolies celebration for 30,000 Queensland school leavers. They were a credit to their schools, their families and themselves. The media hysteria was completely unwarranted. I imagine that if there were 30,000 pigeon fanciers in one place there would be more trouble than there was with these school leavers. It was a schoolies week of which the organisers and the participants can feel proud because they all helped to make it safe and enjoyable for the school leavers.
Gold Coast Superintendent Brett Pointing said that on day 1 there were 39 arrests and none of them were schoolies. On day 2 there were 65 arrests and nine of them were schoolies. On probably the worst day, day 10, there were 58 arrests and 22 of them were schoolies. So we can see just from that sample of figures that most of the trouble is caused by non-school leavers. Schoolies week is a gathering of young people which will happen despite the simplistic calls from some quarters for the government to ban it. That is a ridiculous suggestion. When I left school in 1965, even though it was not called schoolies--I went to boarding school--
Mr Horan: You had to repeat three times, too.
Mr LAWLOR: Grade 12 was the toughest three years of my life, that is for sure. We came home and left Ashgrove to go down the coast. And there were students from St Lawrences, Nudgee, Terrace and Grammar and everyone. Everyone went down there.
Mr Hayward: Who did all the drinking?
Mr LAWLOR: We did a little bit of drinking, but it was not known as schoolies then. By the way, it was going on long before 1965. Some schoolies do get into trouble because of high spirits and youthful exuberance, but that is a minuscule percentage of those who are there to enjoy the activities and the company of their friends before embarking on work or travel or further study.
I thank everyone who worked at schoolies week, including volunteers, police, paramedics, other Emergency Services staff, and representatives from charities and community organisations. More than 1,400 volunteers were involved in schoolies. They included people from the Gold Coast City Council, Nick Ryan and Liz Pommer from the Queensland government, Colette McCool and Ray McNab from the council, and Mark Reaburn, who was the independent chair of the board. Mark Reaburn is a personal friend of mine but also a Gold Coast solicitor with a strong background in community involvement and a legendary surf-lifesaver. Congratulations to all involved in schoolies week. Last changed: [PUBLISHED_DATE] at 11:00 PM
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