CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS
Mr BATT (Hinkler—Deputy Nationals Whip) (16:17): I'll begin by celebrating the grassroots life-saving work of our local LifeFlight helicopter and its crew. During the past financial year, the Bundaberg based rescue chopper and crew completed a record number of search-and-rescue missions, supporting 306 people—more than any other Queensland base. Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of visiting the LifeFlight hanger at the Bundaberg Regional Airport.
The facilities are world class, but they are outgrowing them already. I had the opportunity to sit in the cockpit of a new AW139 helicopter. The striking dark-blue chopper weighs up to seven tonnes when fully kitted out.
It can climb at a rate of 2,000 feet per minute and travels at speeds of 305 kilometres per hour. The amazing crew, consisting of a pilot, crew member, doctor and paramedic, are all set up to help 24/7, whether they're out at sea, in the outback or winching in mountainous terrain. I commend the work of these heroes and acknowledge the ongoing support they receive locally to stay in the air, saving lives in Hinkler and beyond.
In my electorate of Hinkler, life-saving work happens in many ways and forms. Tina Davie and the Bayside Transformations team in Hervey Bay are changing lives for the better through a residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. Transformations operate all over Australia, and earlier this month I toured the hub in Hervey Bay, which includes common areas, leisure spaces and accommodation.
The program takes individuals from active addiction and places them by the side of those in recovery. They call this 'therapeutic community'. I was very impressed to see the thriving onsite kitchen in full swing, with participants and volunteers preparing locally grown vegetables under a successful social-enterprise project called Bayside Vegies.
The kitchen supplies major outlets like the Hervey Bay RSL with potatoes, pumpkin, carrots and much more. I wish Tina and her team every success as they help lives get back on track and give purpose to those recovering from addiction. How amazing is this love story?
On 12 August, just two weeks ago, James and Gladys Turner of Kawungan in Hervey Bay celebrated 75 years of marriage! Can you believe that—75 years? In 1950, James and Gladys married in Burpengary.
James was born in Mundubbera and Gladys was born in Brisbane. Throughout the 1950s the pair had four children: Trevor, Michelle, Malcolm and Eric. James was in the police force in the early days of their marriage, but his career was mainly spent running dry-cleaning businesses in Mackay, Rockhampton and, for a lengthy period, the heritage city of Maryborough.
They were also kept busy growing macadamias and pineapples. James and Gladys moved to Hervey Bay in 2018, and I was fortunate to be able to give them my personal best wishes and a bouquet of flowers. I wish to take this opportunity to again congratulate Mr and Mrs Turner on a wonderful and inspiring 75 years of marriage—and many more to come.