Marine Rescue vessels launched during Premier Minns far south coast visit

Bega District News

During a trip to the far south coast on August 29, NSW Premier Chris Minns has launched two Marine Rescue vessels during a ceremony with dignitaries and Merimbula volunteers.

Transcript

00:00 Hi Chris, good thank you.

00:02 It's beautiful down here isn't it?

00:04 Hey Chris, hey Liz, how are you going?

00:06 Really started coming down here when the Bega by-election was on, so not this March but

00:16 the one prior.

00:17 Got to know Marimbula and Marui Abatements Bay and some of the beautiful parts of this

00:23 southern part of New South Wales.

00:25 But it's also the case that because it's quite remote and because it's not too far, only

00:32 a couple of nautical miles or 30 nautical miles off the continental shelf, it is subject

00:36 to some wild weather and it comes up quick, particularly from the south.

00:41 And surfers will tell you that, boaties will tell you that, fishermen will tell you the

00:45 same thing.

00:46 So you need the infrastructure to keep people safe because the weather can turn quickly

00:51 and people's lives can be tipped upside down in a moment's notice.

00:55 The aspect of volunteerism is so strong on the New South Wales south coast and that is

01:01 regular people deciding to give something back to their community and in some cases

01:06 put yourself in harm's way.

01:08 But I can promise you that if a boatie's out there or someone is suffering or in distress,

01:14 seeing you come up over the horizon in those blue uniforms will make a world of difference

01:19 and I've got no doubt that the Marine Rescue in Maroondula and the Marine Rescue in New

01:23 South Wales in particular has a proud history of being there when no one else could be there

01:29 and saving people's lives.

01:30 Never done it before, so I hope I don't damage the hull by smashing a champagne bottle on

01:36 top of it.

01:37 Probably a good waste of some champagne.

01:39 That be right, Dr Mike?

01:41 The commissioning of a vessel is definitely steeped in maritime history and for us to

01:45 officially welcome Boat Police Craft into our fleet officially is a very important day

01:50 on our schedule and to look around the crowd also and to see our maritime partners in New

01:54 South Wales Maritime, New South Wales Marine Area Command, it's great to have you here

01:58 because as a collective on water agency that actually do make boating safer in New South

02:05 Wales, there's no doubt about that, it's important that we stand shoulder to shoulder

02:09 and we continue to work together.

02:11 So on behalf of all Australians, thank you for your service during the 2019-2020 bushfires.

02:16 We have two vessels to commission today and we thought since we've got two we'll start

02:26 with the smaller one and build up.

02:28 You the commander, there you go Bill.

02:31 Tip it over there.

02:33 Where the boat is.

02:35 Alright, it's now launched.

02:37 Well maybe we could continue to see what's going on.

02:43 Don't fall in.

02:47 Alright, it's good.

02:51 Lord God Almighty, bless these vessels and all who serve and sail within them.

02:58 For two great new vessels, hip hip hooray, hip hip hooray, hip hip hooray.

03:04 Thank you very much.

03:07 Premier, you've been in government for a number of months now but your first commissioning

03:14 of marine rescue New South Wales vessels, how are you feeling?

03:17 I feel great, that's the first one, got to tip some champagne on the front of MB31, that's

03:21 right Bill isn't it?

03:22 And MB20.

03:23 And MB20, so fantastic to have them as part of the fleet, I've got no doubt they're going

03:27 to do amazing work over the summer months and keep people safe and keep fishers safe

03:31 and make sure that people get back to shore and everything's intact.

03:35 And it really is a great investment from the New South Wales Government in a service like

03:39 Marine Rescue New South Wales to keep boaters safe on the water.

03:42 We're happy to do it and particularly when we're partnering with what is mainly a volunteer

03:46 organisation, I'm just in awe at the hundreds of people down here at Marimbula who join

03:52 this organisation and want to give something back to their local community.

03:55 A little bit of money from the State Government goes a long way.

03:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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