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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 4 Hansard (8 May) . . Page.. 1190 ..

MR WOOD (continuing):

The use of the Kambah oval was brought up with me this week. It had been brought up with me in earlier weeks too. A golf ball once again had gone through the window of a residence adjacent to that oval. In this case the residence was that of a very old lady who was considerably upset by it. I wonder whether the Government would pay compensation to replace the window, or does she have to do that herself or through her insurance? It is a problem. I know there were some complaints some time ago about Southwell Park, where golfers were driving balls and using the Netball Centre as a means of stopping them and gathering them. That was a problem. Problems have been raised about ovals in Belconnen and in other places. From time to time I had complaints from people who used the ovals. While it was acknowledged that the would-be golfers would stop or take care if people were walking across the oval, the level of competence of the golfers was such that you could not be sure that you were not going to be hit by a sliced ball.

MR SPEAKER: That is why they are practising, Mr Wood.

MR WOOD: That is why they are practising. It is something of an inhibition to other people using those ovals. Bear in mind my major point: It is a problem for people who live next to ovals. I had the courtesy of a reply recently from one of our Ministers on this matter, but I think it is a problem that has to be attended to. We must go further and look for means of controlling those golfers. We do control what happens on ovals. We now have in place measures that say you cannot let your dog run freely. We discourage people from letting their dogs defecate on ovals. You cannot drive your cars on ovals. There are quite a number of limitations on what happens on our ovals. I suggest to the Minister that we should continue to see whether we can find a solution to the problem of golfers on ovals.

MR HIRD (5.18): An article in this week's Chronicle refers to the sad farewell to a great Canberran who was an identity in the Canberra community. The person I refer to is Bob Comb, World War I veteran and winner of the Military Medal, whose funeral was last Thursday. Bob, who enlisted at the age of 15 years and 10 months, had spent his sixteenth birthday on the battlefields in France. Bob turned 97 on Anzac Day, his birthday, but died the following day. He was renowned for his good nature and humour. We say farewell to a great Canberran, a Canberra identity, World War I veteran Bob Comb, the last in this city of the Anzac tradition. Bob had a great sense of humour. His great aim was to attend the 2000 Olympics. He admitted that he did not want to be a participant but he would like to be there. It is one goal that he did not achieve, but I dare say he achieved many during his 97 years of life. I wanted to bring that to the attention of members. I am sure they would join with me in conveying our sympathy to his loved ones.

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