Speeches
Wednesday, 10 June 2026
Get Home Safe Foundation to thank volunteers and supporters
It is my pleasure, as patron, to welcome the Get Home Safe Foundation community to Government House and to thank you for your support of spreading the road safety message.
On a personal level, I well remember when I first got my driver’s license.
I was young and still coming to grips with putting into practice all the road rules I needed to know.
There was a lot to learn - how to manage speed, unexpected manoeuvres from other drivers, changing weather and road conditions, night-time driving and the distractions of chatty passengers.
Like many young drivers I felt capable, up to a point, and independent, yet I was still learning lessons that only time and experience can teach.
And therein lies the challenge. We hand our young people the keys to independence – and a car - at a time when they are testing boundaries, learning how to react to peer pressure, and building confidence behind the wheel.
Too often discussions about road safety become discussions about numbers. As Darren Davis has so powerfully observed: “statistics are used far too often regarding road safety messaging. People are not numbers, loved ones who have been lost or injured are not mere statistics, they represent lifelong heartache.”
I thank everyone here for your commitment to helping to ensure that fewer people have to deal with that heartache, through supporting education and encouraging life-changing conversations.
In that regard, I am delighted that we have here today one of your ambassadors, Eli Murn, whom I was honoured to invest with a Medal of the Order of Australia in this year’s Australia Day Honours.
Elia has dedicated his life to preventing road trauma, using his personal experience to teach South Australians the real cost of risky driving.
Twenty-two years ago, at the age of 24, a reckless joy ride through the Adelaide Hills ended in a crash that left him with a permanent brain injury, three broken ribs and a punctured lung.
He has transformed his experience into a powerful force for change.
Similarly, the Davis family, Debbie and Sam, has been touched by losing family friends they’d known from school days through road trauma.
They too have harnessed these tragedies alongside Darren’s expertise and training to guide safer attitudes and behaviours.
Friends
The impact of the foundation’s work is clear. Since 2018 more than 10,000 South Australian students and parents have participated in the Year 10 Road Safety Program.
The Regional Road Safety Alliance Initiative which has been running for five years, is equally important because two thirds of deaths occur on country roads.
I applaud the foundation’s collaborative approach in working with councils, communities, and sponsors to improve driver awareness and exploring new technologies to change driver behaviour.
I know that when I see one of those large signs on the side of the road that shows how fast I’m driving I always check and smile to myself if I get a smiley face!
I also wish you well in your quest to produce a documentary to provide information and to older drivers and their families who may be concerned about their safety as drivers.
I know how challenging it is for older people, who see driving as a way to maintain precious independence, to know when is the right time to hand over their keys.
Friends
There are many challenges facing the charity and not-for-profit sectors today and I thank everyone in the room for your support to ensure the foundation’s vital work continues.
You are working towards a future where fewer families experience the pain of road trauma and have the opportunity to – as your name so powerfully expresses - get home safe.