The Parliamentary Friends of Surf Life Saving Queensland (SLSQ) was launched last night at Parliament House in front of Members of Parliament, dignitaries and surf lifesaving representatives.
Speaker and Member for Maroochydore Fiona Simpson MP will co-chair the bi-partisan group with Member for Burleigh Michael Hart MP to encourage all Members of Parliament to support, promote and actively engage with the state’s peak authority on beach and coastal safety.
Ms Simpson said the Parliamentary Friends of Surf Life Saving Queensland group will help Members of Parliament to be even more intentional as to how we can continue to support our local Surf Life Savers.
“I am pleased to help launch this initiative in support of the wonderful volunteers of Surf Life Saving Queensland who help keep our beaches safe and provide an outstanding service to our local communities,” Ms Simpson said.
SLSQ chief executive officer John Brennan applauded the initiative, and said he was looking forward to working directly with members of parliament to save lives on Queensland beaches.
“The surf lifesaving movement has a long and proud history in Queensland, and right across Australia for that matter,” Mr Brennan said.
“Each year SLSQ’s volunteer surf lifesavers perform a vital community service along the state’s coastline, watching over millions of beachgoers and saving thousands of lives in the process.
“We welcome this announcement and look forward to working closely with our Parliamentary Friends to promote SLSQ’s role on the beach and out in the community as we strive to achieve our overall vision of ‘zero preventable deaths in Queensland waters’,” he said.
Last year SLSQ’s volunteer surf lifesavers collectively spent 354,246 hours on patrol, and combined with lifeguards to perform 494,710 preventative actions, 12,990 first aid treatments and, most importantly, save 3,536 lives.
