Fax from PRIME MINISTER
October 1996 TRANSCRIPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER
THE HON. JOIHN HOWARD, MP
LAUNCH OF NATIONAL CARERS' WEEK
WOODSTOCK, HOBART, TASMANIA
E& O F
Thank you very much Judi Moylan, to Peter Mc; Kay, to Paul Calvert, Mrs Avril Fink,
ladies and gentlemen. It's a very special pleasure for Janette and myself having just left
the, I suppose the inevitable political rigour of a National Conference of our own
Political Party, to come to this lunch to share a few moments in helping to launch
National Carters' Week.
When you are in politics you meet a lot of people, some of the interviews you have have
no impression at other interviews leave a mark on you for a little while and then
they're forgotten and then other discussions are ones that you never ever forget Several
years ago whien my eldest child, mrny daughter was doing her HSC, T interviewed a lady in
Sydney who described some of the difficulties she had in a situation in a very small home
when one of her children was doing the HSC and the other of her children was a male
adult who was profoundly handicapped and she was cuing for him, with all the
difficulties and challenges that that involved and at the same time trying to provide a
reasonable, congenial environment for her other child to study for the HSC. And the sort
of description that she gave to me did leave a real impression. And it kindled then, I was
not the Leader of the Opposition then, I was just a Shadow Minister, and it kindled an
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Often but not always in a family situation, usually but not always, in relation to a fr-ail
and elderly relative always involvin though a degree of porsonal commitment and a
degree of love and devotion to responsibility and devotion to what they see as their duty
to their family members or otherwise their loved ones. So it is very appropriate that there
be a National Carers' Week.
It's important in a society such as ours to take time out to honour the contribution that
unsung heroes make to keeping our society together. No society can work without
volunteer commitment and effort. There are many, many people in Australia every day of
the week, every week of the year who want to give of their time and their effort and their
talent and their energy and their intellect to help others to look after -others and they
draw a satisfaction from that. But it is important not to take that for granted in a broad
sense the community ought never to take its volunteer effort and devotion for grated It
ought to be wiffing on occasions to publicly honour it and to accord to people who are
willing to do that. the respect and gratitude to which they are entitled, And I am so very
pleased to associate miyself with this because my Government is about a lot of things and
it's not just about getting the economy right that's very important it's not just about
the sort of day-to-day arguments on taxation, industrial relationS; they're all iMportant
too. It is also a Government that is concerned about the kind of society we are and the
kind of people we honour and respect and the sort of value system that we have. And
looking after one another is the most important component of the value systemr of any
society and I would like to think that something like a proper role for carers; in our
community is an issue that straddles any political divide. T don't seek to pretend that this
or that side of politics has done it this or that way or any better than the other. If we can
reach an agreement on this T'd be more than happy to give credit to my political
opponents for anything that they've done in this area.
And I'm happy to say that being seen by others~ as sort of making some cuts and
restrictions elsewhere we have been able to do a number of things in our last Budget
which I just wanted to veMy very briefly mention today becat= s they are an indication of
the commitment we have-We have increased the number of days that a came may
temporarily cease caring in a calendar year without affecting the eligibility for the carer
payment. We're extending ftom 10 to 20 hours the number of hours per week that carers
may spend in employment, voluntary work, educational train& wbilst being eligible to
receive the carers' payment. We've established a National Caters' Programme which wfll
integrate the existing array of respite care programmes into a single programme. And this
will greatly assist family carers who until now have had to find their way through a maze
of individual programmes, each with their own eligibility crite ria and
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different bureaucracies. We're going to provide an additional $ 36.7 million to the
National Respite for Carers' Programme over the next four years and this will help to
ensure that there is a wider array of readily available respite options suited to the diverse
needs of individual carers. We're also going to establish a national network of carer
resource centres and with funding of up to $ 700 000 a year nationally these resource
centres will help carers to liaise with came providers in identifying and delivering respite
care most relevant to individual needs.
Now these are just some of the commitments that we make and T do want you to accept
from me a very genuine commitment by the Government to the worth, to the notion of
what corers do, to what it demonstrates about the humanity and the decency and the
values of the people who provide the care. A decent, civilised., humane society always
requires personal sacrifice by individuals but that personal sacrifice ought never to be
taken for granted and it should never go unacknowledged. And the groatest deeds of
personal commitment are performed in the home environment where people care for sick
and frail and dying loved ones and those in their family who have particular disabilities
which the rest of us don't have. And they really do represent some of the most wonderfurl
stories that anybody can tell about the decency and the love and the care of men and
womcn in our community.
And 1 can't think of any cause that is more deserving of respect and honour than the
cause of the Government of this country and the Leader of that Government fbr the time
being, I hope for a while, saying how much we honour and respect your contribution.
And I want to say on behalf of my Government, on behalf of all of the Australian people
thank you for what you are doing; thank you for making it a better and a happier and a
more decent and a more humane society. And I hope that my Governmnent can over the
years ahead continue to provide help, that you have some very articulate advocates on
behaf of your organisation and good luck to them. Articulate advocacy is something that
always ultimately has an effect on Goverrnents and that's very, very important.
But this week is a very important week for you. It's a very important week for those who
believe that Australian soc iety is nmore than just a combination of economic numbers and
arid policies, it's also about values and love and compassion and care and it's a very
important week and I very proud as Prime Minister to have been asked to launch it to
say a few words about my own personal intercst in your responsibilities and also to wish
the Carers' Association the very best of good fortune and to thank all of you for the
magnifcent personal contribution you make and for the collective contribution you
make to a wvarm and more decent and more caring Australan community.
Thank you.
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