February 13, 2025 • 14 mins
Bermagui's marine rescue commander Caron Parfitt has spent a decade at the centre of some of the coast's most traumatic chapters. So where does Caron find the courage to keep running towards an emergency?
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Higher Far South Coast yea I'm James Fantasy. Today's guest
has been at the helm of some of the most
critical water rescues on the Far South Coast, from steering
vessels to safety and dangerous conditions to implementing life saving technologies,
Marine Rescue New South Wales volunteer Karen Parfitt has dedicated
over a decade to her community. A trailblazer in her field,
(00:24):
Karen was one of Marine Rescue's first female coxin's that's
the person who's responsible for steering and managing boats and
crews and keeping them safe. Karen's service and leadership that
includes navigating bushfire evacuations during the Black Summer, were recognized
in twenty twenty two when she was named on the
Queen's Birthday Honors List, and again in twenty twenty three
(00:46):
when she received the Emergency Services Medal from the Governor
General in Canberra. But her journey doesn't stop there. From
saving lives on the water to traveling to Finland for
a prestigious international training course, Karen's impact has gone far
beyond local waters. Later we'll hear from Marine Rescue in
New South Wales Commissioner Alex Barrell about Karen's extraordinary career
(01:08):
and his thoughts on her contributions. But first let's meet
the woman herself. Birma guy's own, Karen Parfit.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
So I joined Marine Rescue almost twelve years ago. Now,
I was looking to do some volunteering when I moved
to Birmaguey permanently, and I have a sailing background, so
I spent a lot of time coastal cruising on the
New South Wales coast and also racing on yachts. So
Marine Rescue seemed like a good fit and I went
(01:35):
to inquire about it and met a great bunch of
people and the rest is history. I signed up and
here I am still so yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
You received the Emergency Service Medal in twenty twenty two.
How did it feel to receive such a prestigious award
and what does it mean to you?
Speaker 2 (01:51):
I guess it does mean a lot to me just
to be recognized in that way, and it was very
special to go to Canberra and receive the medal from
the Governor General.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
For those that may not have heard of it, what
is the Emergency Services Medal and what does that represent?
Speaker 2 (02:06):
So it's a medal for service within the emergency services,
both volunteers or paid employees, and it recognizes your service
to the community as a volunteer pretty much the top
honor in the emergency services.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Yes, well, congratulations on that absolutely. And you've been in
the marine rescue game for over eleven years now. How
many callouts recon you've been to during that time?
Speaker 2 (02:33):
In Birmagoo, we do around twenty five to thirty incidents
in a year, and I'd probably be on three quarters
of those.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
What's the most memorable call out that you've been involved in?
Speaker 2 (02:45):
There have been a few. When there's children involved, it's
always you're a bit more sort of on edge about
getting them back to shore. So we had a vessel
that was fairly close in to more Head Beach and
we had surf Life Saving were deployed as well because
it was getting quite close to the breakers and we
can't go into that sort of water with our vessel.
(03:06):
So getting the toe line hooked up to that vessel
was one moment when I thought, Wow, thank goodness for that. Yeah,
So things that was, although it wasn't a particularly long
job or anything like that, Being able to get the
kids back to shore in a safe way meaner lots
to us.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
So how many kids were involved?
Speaker 2 (03:26):
There were two on board on that day. Yeah, so
there were three adults in two somewhore.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yeah. Oh jeez, you would have seen a few interesting
ones over the years.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Let's talk about leadership. How did your time as Burmaguy
unit commander shape your leadership style and what do you
hope to bring to your new role as regional director.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
The unit commander role is a very rewarding role. We
have a great team of volunteers in Burmaguey, which made
my job very easy. And it is different when you
work with volunteers because you're all there out of choice,
and so you have to respect that and be flexible
with what the volunteers needs might be as far as
(04:09):
you can, but still deliver the service that the boaters require.
It's probably the biggest takeout as a unit commander for
me and the regional role as a direct I'm very
much looking forward to working as a director on the
board for Marine Rescue. Very passionate about marine Rescue and
so having this opportunity to be part of their longer
term future and the strategic planning side of things. I'm
(04:34):
very much looking forward.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
To now I believe you had to step down as
unit commander of Burmaguey in order to even just run
for the regional director position. Is that right?
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Yes, I did step down. You can't hold an executive
position and be a director on the board.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Are you going to miss that side of things?
Speaker 2 (04:54):
No, I'm very happy to be to have moved to
a different role. I think it was time. I've been
in the role for six years and a deputy for
two years before that, so I think this is a
nice change for both myself and for the unit and
the organization.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
And even though you can't be unit commander anymore, you're
still a volunteer.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
At the Yes, I'm still one of the Coxin's and
still do radio shifts.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
So karent Young people find it increasingly difficult to volunteer
in this day and age. I speak to a lot
of different volunteer organizations and a lot of them are
struggling with numbers and the numbers they do have aging.
I mean, everyone's busy, but young people, particularly busy lives,
maybe young kids. What advice would you give to young
people who maybe would like to volunteer but are struggling
(05:41):
to find the time or maybe want to do it
down the track.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
I would say, come and have a chat. There's lots
of different ways you can help out, so even if
it's starting off with helping with fundraising, getting to know
our team, we can be flexible with the training. There
is a certain amount of training involved to become either
a radio operator or boat crew, but if you've just
got half a day a week, a fortnight that you
(06:07):
can volunteer, we'd love to see some young people. We
always get very excited when someone younger knocks on the
door and says, is there anything I can do to
help as a volunteer.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Generally, it's something that marine rescue units are always on
the lookout for.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Is voluntary Yes, Well, up and down the coast, we're
always looking for volunteers. I think it'd be fair to
say pretty much every unit is actively recruiting, yes, on
the far South coast. Would very much encourage anyone out there,
particularly young girls and women, to have a think about
volunteering and think about what you like to do. It
(06:43):
may not be necessarily with marine rescue, but it's so
rewarding and I think that's what kept me, has driven
me to keep doing the different roles It's just such
a fun, rewarding thing to do and I think it
helps to build confidence.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
You've obviously got a passion for being on the water,
which a lot of people along the coast do, but
not everyone does. Do you need to have that to
be a volunteer with Marine Rescue?
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Definitely not. Probably two thirds of our menu members are
not involved in going out to see We run a
radio room every day of the week and we have
two shifts a day, so that's probably one of our
biggest operational areas. We have plenty of people that if
you don't like getting your feet wet, just come and
(07:26):
see us about working on the radios.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Karen Parford has dedicated her life to serving her community,
both on and off the water. Coming up, we'll hear
from Marine Rescue New South Wales Commissioner Alex Barrell, who
has seen Karen's leadership firsthand.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
I art far South Coast. I are far South Coast.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
We've been hearing about the remarkable career of Marine Rescue
New South Wales volunteer Karen Parford, a trailblazer and leader
in her field. Now let's shift focus to someone who's
worked closely with Karen and seen her impact up close.
Marine Rescue New South Wales Commissioner Alex Barrew he attended
Karen's investiture ceremony when she received her Emergency Services Medal
(08:14):
in twenty twenty three and has seen her advance from
volunteer to unit commander to the Manaro Regional Director. Here's
what he had to say about Karen's achievements and her
influence at Marine Rescue.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Karen's just been an outstanding member of Marine Rescue for
eleven years now, serving down at their Birmaghuey unit. And
not only is she one of our few Marine Rescue
New South Wales cox and so very active as a
frontline rescue operator on our vessels, but she's also been
really instrumental over the years in her leadership at the
(08:47):
local level and now also organizationally being elected to the
Bord of Marine Rescue New South Wales. So now over
the last eleven years, has no doubt that Karen made
a wonderful impact as I say, locally but also more
broadly to the South Coast region and now Marine Rescue
at a state level.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Karen's been involved in the South Zone Diversity Group. Can
you tell us a bit about that? And how important
diversity is in shaping the future of marine rescuing.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Look, that was a wonderful initiative that was started on
the south coast of New South Wales, so combining both
our Illowire and Monaro regions of the organization, and that
was a group of our female members that came together
and said, look, we need to do more and we
need to do better in terms of creating a little
bit more diversity across the organization and trying to attract
(09:35):
a bit more of a diverse range of membership. So
Karen's rolling that has been instrumental and she's no doubt
a leader in that space. And that's all about us
growing the organization, making it an organization where people from
all walks of life can actually see themselves being a
part of it.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Karen's investiture ceremony, I believe you were there. What stood
out to you about Karen's contributions up until that point
that earned her the Emergency the Services Medal.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
Yeah, it's just that's sustained effort. As I said, Karen's
been a member for over eleven years now and she's
certainly been a member that hasn't come into the organization
and sat Idol. She's put herself forward, she's put herself
through the rescue rating. She's very much one of the
leaders and an active rescue personnel operating our vessel. And
as I said earlier, we don't have a lot of
(10:22):
female Coxins. We've only got eleven female Coxins within Marine
Rescue use our PAL. So that's the highest level of
skill set to operate our vessels. And so for her
to get active and be there at the front line
doing those rescues, supporting the local bathing community, that's what
got her name put forwards the Emergency Services Medal. And yeah,
(10:43):
I was at the investiture a couple of years ago,
and it's a great it's a great ceremony and it's
something that all of our members when they do receive
the Emergency Service Medal are two real you know, it's
a highlight of their career within Marine Rescue US.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Our last Yeah, and speaking of recognition, why is it
important to publicly acknowledge volunteers like Karen for their service.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Look, our volunteers, as you know, they don't do it
for pay. They do it because they're community minded, they
like working with like minded individuals, they love giving back
to their local communities, so, you know, for us to
make sure for me, particularly as the leader of Marine
Rescuing your South Well, I was looking for any opportunity
to recognize the work, the dedication of our volunteers. It
goes a long way to supporting them, it goes a
(11:25):
long way to creating more awareness of the organization, hopefully
bringing more like minded, community minded people into the organization
so that we can continue to do our life saving work.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Young girls in regions like the Far South Coast are
often looking for role models who and what that looks
like is different for everybody. But why do you think
young girls should be perhaps looking up to someone like
Karen Well?
Speaker 3 (11:51):
I think it's just about you know, they don't let
their gender or any anything else standing their way of
achieving great things. There's a job for everyone in Marine Rescue,
I think being for young people, young female particularly to
be able to see themselves in our blue uniform doing
the work that we do. It's important that they've got
(12:11):
people to look up to so that they can see
themselves in a role and that's where Karen's been such
a wonderful advocate to the organization at the local level
and as I said earlier, now at the state level,
and I think I look forward to see what Karen
can bring to the board of Marine Rescue is how
far over the next couple of years, and really look
forward to working within that area and see whether we
can look at being a more attractive organization from people
(12:35):
of all walks of life.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Yeah, and as you mentioned, Karen is now a regional director.
She's on the board for those of us outside Marine Rescue.
What does that look like and what's she going to
be doing and what are some of her key aims
going to be.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Yeah, Look, our boards no different to any other boards,
So they're really there to make sure that Marine Rescue
is an organization as a whole, is looking at growing,
is making sure strategically that we're putting our best foot forward.
We're making sure that we're spending the money that we get,
whether that's through government or localized fundraising, making sure that
that money is going back in being invested back into
(13:09):
the life saving work that we do. So it's really
a collective role sitting on the board to make sure
that as an organization, every day that we're putting our
best foot forward and working with myself and the rest
of the executive and our small paid staff to make
sure that Marine Rescue New South Wales continues to grow.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Anything else you'd like to add about Karen, her achievements
and you know what she's done, especially for the people
on the far South coast.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Well, I look for me with Karen, it's always just
been what's really always resonated with me is just the
positivity that I get from Karen in all of our
engagements that we've had, and you know, just no doubt.
As I said, she's just been a wonderful advocate for
Marine Rescue, wonderful advocate for that local community. And you know,
the more we've got like Karen supporting us, the more
that we can continue to do our work. Well. So
(13:54):
you know, I welcome all the accolades that have come
Karen's way over recent time. I look forward to working
more closely with her in the news to come and
here I hope that she continues to be a great
ambassador for Marine Rescue Niche Soth Whales.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
From her tireless service on the water to her leadership
as a regional director, Karen Parford's story is one of dedication,
innovation and resilience. That's all for now. On I Heartfast
South Coast, proudly supported by the new South Wales Government.
I'm James Fantasy. Catch you next time.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
I Heart Fast South Coast
Higher Far South Coast yea I'm James Fantasy. Today's guest
has been at the helm of some of the most
critical water rescues on the Far South Coast, from steering
vessels to safety and dangerous conditions to implementing life saving technologies,
Marine Rescue New South Wales volunteer Karen Parfitt has dedicated
over a decade to her community. A trailblazer in her field,
(00:24):
Karen was one of Marine Rescue's first female coxin's that's
the person who's responsible for steering and managing boats and
crews and keeping them safe. Karen's service and leadership that
includes navigating bushfire evacuations during the Black Summer, were recognized
in twenty twenty two when she was named on the
Queen's Birthday Honors List, and again in twenty twenty three
(00:46):
when she received the Emergency Services Medal from the Governor
General in Canberra. But her journey doesn't stop there. From
saving lives on the water to traveling to Finland for
a prestigious international training course, Karen's impact has gone far
beyond local waters. Later we'll hear from Marine Rescue in
New South Wales Commissioner Alex Barrell about Karen's extraordinary career
(01:08):
and his thoughts on her contributions. But first let's meet
the woman herself. Birma guy's own, Karen Parfit.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
So I joined Marine Rescue almost twelve years ago. Now,
I was looking to do some volunteering when I moved
to Birmaguey permanently, and I have a sailing background, so
I spent a lot of time coastal cruising on the
New South Wales coast and also racing on yachts. So
Marine Rescue seemed like a good fit and I went
(01:35):
to inquire about it and met a great bunch of
people and the rest is history. I signed up and
here I am still so yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
You received the Emergency Service Medal in twenty twenty two.
How did it feel to receive such a prestigious award
and what does it mean to you?
Speaker 2 (01:51):
I guess it does mean a lot to me just
to be recognized in that way, and it was very
special to go to Canberra and receive the medal from
the Governor General.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
For those that may not have heard of it, what
is the Emergency Services Medal and what does that represent?
Speaker 2 (02:06):
So it's a medal for service within the emergency services,
both volunteers or paid employees, and it recognizes your service
to the community as a volunteer pretty much the top
honor in the emergency services.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Yes, well, congratulations on that absolutely. And you've been in
the marine rescue game for over eleven years now. How
many callouts recon you've been to during that time?
Speaker 2 (02:33):
In Birmagoo, we do around twenty five to thirty incidents
in a year, and I'd probably be on three quarters
of those.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
What's the most memorable call out that you've been involved in?
Speaker 2 (02:45):
There have been a few. When there's children involved, it's
always you're a bit more sort of on edge about
getting them back to shore. So we had a vessel
that was fairly close in to more Head Beach and
we had surf Life Saving were deployed as well because
it was getting quite close to the breakers and we
can't go into that sort of water with our vessel.
(03:06):
So getting the toe line hooked up to that vessel
was one moment when I thought, Wow, thank goodness for that. Yeah,
So things that was, although it wasn't a particularly long
job or anything like that, Being able to get the
kids back to shore in a safe way meaner lots
to us.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
So how many kids were involved?
Speaker 2 (03:26):
There were two on board on that day. Yeah, so
there were three adults in two somewhore.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yeah. Oh jeez, you would have seen a few interesting
ones over the years.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Let's talk about leadership. How did your time as Burmaguy
unit commander shape your leadership style and what do you
hope to bring to your new role as regional director.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
The unit commander role is a very rewarding role. We
have a great team of volunteers in Burmaguey, which made
my job very easy. And it is different when you
work with volunteers because you're all there out of choice,
and so you have to respect that and be flexible
with what the volunteers needs might be as far as
(04:09):
you can, but still deliver the service that the boaters require.
It's probably the biggest takeout as a unit commander for
me and the regional role as a direct I'm very
much looking forward to working as a director on the
board for Marine Rescue. Very passionate about marine Rescue and
so having this opportunity to be part of their longer
term future and the strategic planning side of things. I'm
(04:34):
very much looking forward.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
To now I believe you had to step down as
unit commander of Burmaguey in order to even just run
for the regional director position. Is that right?
Speaker 2 (04:45):
Yes, I did step down. You can't hold an executive
position and be a director on the board.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Are you going to miss that side of things?
Speaker 2 (04:54):
No, I'm very happy to be to have moved to
a different role. I think it was time. I've been
in the role for six years and a deputy for
two years before that, so I think this is a
nice change for both myself and for the unit and
the organization.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
And even though you can't be unit commander anymore, you're
still a volunteer.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
At the Yes, I'm still one of the Coxin's and
still do radio shifts.
Speaker 1 (05:18):
So karent Young people find it increasingly difficult to volunteer
in this day and age. I speak to a lot
of different volunteer organizations and a lot of them are
struggling with numbers and the numbers they do have aging.
I mean, everyone's busy, but young people, particularly busy lives,
maybe young kids. What advice would you give to young
people who maybe would like to volunteer but are struggling
(05:41):
to find the time or maybe want to do it
down the track.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
I would say, come and have a chat. There's lots
of different ways you can help out, so even if
it's starting off with helping with fundraising, getting to know
our team, we can be flexible with the training. There
is a certain amount of training involved to become either
a radio operator or boat crew, but if you've just
got half a day a week, a fortnight that you
(06:07):
can volunteer, we'd love to see some young people. We
always get very excited when someone younger knocks on the
door and says, is there anything I can do to
help as a volunteer.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
Generally, it's something that marine rescue units are always on
the lookout for.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Is voluntary Yes, Well, up and down the coast, we're
always looking for volunteers. I think it'd be fair to
say pretty much every unit is actively recruiting, yes, on
the far South coast. Would very much encourage anyone out there,
particularly young girls and women, to have a think about
volunteering and think about what you like to do. It
(06:43):
may not be necessarily with marine rescue, but it's so
rewarding and I think that's what kept me, has driven
me to keep doing the different roles It's just such
a fun, rewarding thing to do and I think it
helps to build confidence.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
You've obviously got a passion for being on the water,
which a lot of people along the coast do, but
not everyone does. Do you need to have that to
be a volunteer with Marine Rescue?
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Definitely not. Probably two thirds of our menu members are
not involved in going out to see We run a
radio room every day of the week and we have
two shifts a day, so that's probably one of our
biggest operational areas. We have plenty of people that if
you don't like getting your feet wet, just come and
(07:26):
see us about working on the radios.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Karen Parford has dedicated her life to serving her community,
both on and off the water. Coming up, we'll hear
from Marine Rescue New South Wales Commissioner Alex Barrell, who
has seen Karen's leadership firsthand.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
I art far South Coast. I are far South Coast.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
We've been hearing about the remarkable career of Marine Rescue
New South Wales volunteer Karen Parford, a trailblazer and leader
in her field. Now let's shift focus to someone who's
worked closely with Karen and seen her impact up close.
Marine Rescue New South Wales Commissioner Alex Barrew he attended
Karen's investiture ceremony when she received her Emergency Services Medal
(08:14):
in twenty twenty three and has seen her advance from
volunteer to unit commander to the Manaro Regional Director. Here's
what he had to say about Karen's achievements and her
influence at Marine Rescue.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Karen's just been an outstanding member of Marine Rescue for
eleven years now, serving down at their Birmaghuey unit. And
not only is she one of our few Marine Rescue
New South Wales cox and so very active as a
frontline rescue operator on our vessels, but she's also been
really instrumental over the years in her leadership at the
(08:47):
local level and now also organizationally being elected to the
Bord of Marine Rescue New South Wales. So now over
the last eleven years, has no doubt that Karen made
a wonderful impact as I say, locally but also more
broadly to the South Coast region and now Marine Rescue
at a state level.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Karen's been involved in the South Zone Diversity Group. Can
you tell us a bit about that? And how important
diversity is in shaping the future of marine rescuing.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Look, that was a wonderful initiative that was started on
the south coast of New South Wales, so combining both
our Illowire and Monaro regions of the organization, and that
was a group of our female members that came together
and said, look, we need to do more and we
need to do better in terms of creating a little
bit more diversity across the organization and trying to attract
(09:35):
a bit more of a diverse range of membership. So
Karen's rolling that has been instrumental and she's no doubt
a leader in that space. And that's all about us
growing the organization, making it an organization where people from
all walks of life can actually see themselves being a
part of it.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Karen's investiture ceremony, I believe you were there. What stood
out to you about Karen's contributions up until that point
that earned her the Emergency the Services Medal.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
Yeah, it's just that's sustained effort. As I said, Karen's
been a member for over eleven years now and she's
certainly been a member that hasn't come into the organization
and sat Idol. She's put herself forward, she's put herself
through the rescue rating. She's very much one of the
leaders and an active rescue personnel operating our vessel. And
as I said earlier, we don't have a lot of
(10:22):
female Coxins. We've only got eleven female Coxins within Marine
Rescue use our PAL. So that's the highest level of
skill set to operate our vessels. And so for her
to get active and be there at the front line
doing those rescues, supporting the local bathing community, that's what
got her name put forwards the Emergency Services Medal. And yeah,
(10:43):
I was at the investiture a couple of years ago,
and it's a great it's a great ceremony and it's
something that all of our members when they do receive
the Emergency Service Medal are two real you know, it's
a highlight of their career within Marine Rescue US.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Our last Yeah, and speaking of recognition, why is it
important to publicly acknowledge volunteers like Karen for their service.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Look, our volunteers, as you know, they don't do it
for pay. They do it because they're community minded, they
like working with like minded individuals, they love giving back
to their local communities, so, you know, for us to
make sure for me, particularly as the leader of Marine
Rescuing your South Well, I was looking for any opportunity
to recognize the work, the dedication of our volunteers. It
goes a long way to supporting them, it goes a
(11:25):
long way to creating more awareness of the organization, hopefully
bringing more like minded, community minded people into the organization
so that we can continue to do our life saving work.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Young girls in regions like the Far South Coast are
often looking for role models who and what that looks
like is different for everybody. But why do you think
young girls should be perhaps looking up to someone like
Karen Well?
Speaker 3 (11:51):
I think it's just about you know, they don't let
their gender or any anything else standing their way of
achieving great things. There's a job for everyone in Marine Rescue,
I think being for young people, young female particularly to
be able to see themselves in our blue uniform doing
the work that we do. It's important that they've got
(12:11):
people to look up to so that they can see
themselves in a role and that's where Karen's been such
a wonderful advocate to the organization at the local level
and as I said earlier, now at the state level,
and I think I look forward to see what Karen
can bring to the board of Marine Rescue is how
far over the next couple of years, and really look
forward to working within that area and see whether we
can look at being a more attractive organization from people
(12:35):
of all walks of life.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
Yeah, and as you mentioned, Karen is now a regional director.
She's on the board for those of us outside Marine Rescue.
What does that look like and what's she going to
be doing and what are some of her key aims
going to be.
Speaker 3 (12:48):
Yeah, Look, our boards no different to any other boards,
So they're really there to make sure that Marine Rescue
is an organization as a whole, is looking at growing,
is making sure strategically that we're putting our best foot forward.
We're making sure that we're spending the money that we get,
whether that's through government or localized fundraising, making sure that
that money is going back in being invested back into
(13:09):
the life saving work that we do. So it's really
a collective role sitting on the board to make sure
that as an organization, every day that we're putting our
best foot forward and working with myself and the rest
of the executive and our small paid staff to make
sure that Marine Rescue New South Wales continues to grow.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Anything else you'd like to add about Karen, her achievements
and you know what she's done, especially for the people
on the far South coast.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Well, I look for me with Karen, it's always just
been what's really always resonated with me is just the
positivity that I get from Karen in all of our
engagements that we've had, and you know, just no doubt.
As I said, she's just been a wonderful advocate for
Marine Rescue, wonderful advocate for that local community. And you know,
the more we've got like Karen supporting us, the more
that we can continue to do our work. Well. So
(13:54):
you know, I welcome all the accolades that have come
Karen's way over recent time. I look forward to working
more closely with her in the news to come and
here I hope that she continues to be a great
ambassador for Marine Rescue Niche Soth Whales.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
From her tireless service on the water to her leadership
as a regional director, Karen Parford's story is one of dedication,
innovation and resilience. That's all for now. On I Heartfast
South Coast, proudly supported by the new South Wales Government.
I'm James Fantasy. Catch you next time.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
I Heart Fast South Coast
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