Ehabargoed until, delivery PRIME MINISTER
FOR PRESS 27 SET1~ 1bffvR 1977
ADORESS AT OPENJINGOF Sfl1NAM RETIRKf4EtT VILLAGE, BRISBANE
It was with great pleasure that I accepted the Reverend Ray Hunt's
invitation to open Sinnamon. Retirement'Village.
During~ the past two years, 1, have taken advantage of opportunities
as -they arose to familiarise myself with the -varied welfare activities
. conducted ! ay agencies which now form part of the NewUniting Church
of Australia. These agencies provide many types of wide-ranging
programms serving the social and spiritual needs of the
community.. I have been impressed by the sense of? genuine
commitment and the very effective action displayed by these,
and other,. voluntary agencies.
The opening of Sinnamon Retirement Village is furthier illustrative
of the church's continuing commitment to rmeeting the needs of the
aged in Brisbane.
* This compiax,. which will provide accommodation for-three hundred
. aged-people and twelve resident staff,-is the product-of a
partnership between the Wesley CentrallMission and the Commonwealth
Government. Indeed, this village has attracted one of the largest
Commnwelthgrants $ 4.5 million ever, provided for a project
of its kind; and further consideration will be-given to Increasing
the grant under the Aged Pensions Hostels Act when full costs are
known and have been submitted to mycolage the M4inister for
Social Security.
.1 Government's social welfare philosophy placesgetepai
on co-operative effort by community groups.+ We believe that
interaction by individuals, groups and government at all Levelsis
absolutely necessary for an effective approach to social welfare.
* As a Government, we see' one -of our mAJor* roles as enhancing the
* ability of-the voluntary welfare sector to provide services-and
facilities to those members of the community in need. it is-these
sier-vices that provide one very. Important back-up to the'
Commonwealth's programme of support for individuals. : Our*
roles are complementary.
There are many areas in which Government services-can never-hope to
match the services which voluntary agencies can provide. Vlntr
agencies have an inherent flexibility which makes. them well placed
* to meet mvany of thie special needs9 of the aged & nd disadvan~ taged in
a complex industrial soc iety.
2
: hevoluntaryw orkw hichorganisations suchas youo own undertakeh
as t he enormous strength thatis sundertakenoutoff a d eep personalC
ommitmentt oa cause, a nd no amount: o fr rmtey could buy the dedication-
:,--hich organisations suchassW esley Central Mission can provide. B But
hile money is not enough, he funding made availablebyyt he Government-
As offc riticalimportancea ndweeh ave soughttoo provide effectiv'ef
financ ial aid-too theaged. T
hisyear, a namountoff$ 50 millionissb eing provided for expenditureo
7-. n agedpersons. homes and hostelsi n1977/ 78 $ 7.6 illionm morethani
in thelast financialyear. rom I LOctober 1977, nursing home carew
illbeeb roughtinto thehealthi insurance systeminnt he saew ay. aso
-ther-a spectsoffh ealthcare. T hisissa logical p rogression for theh
7lealth. i nsurance system~ which aimstooc o'pr every ustralian whether~
J1--he eb einaa doctor9sc onsulting room, a hospital, o ra nursing home.-
Aar esultof t heG oernment's proposals, p atientsi n nursing homes
-hoh ave private insurance illr receive theirnursngh ome benefitsf
romprivate health funds.* he Government will continuetoop ay benefitsf
or. those who do-not have hospital i nsurance including thosepatientsw
hop ay only theM bedibank levyorrar e exempt. I
Id e'eplyregret-tatc certaino rganisationsh ave for their own selfishl
easole-c aused for nursing home patients nd other elderly folkn
eedless distressb y Implying that they willb e disadvantagedbyy theewa
rrangementstoo beei ntroduced o n1 IOctober 1977, a ndthat the
Cb oemnmeofnitwseaa lnthd triallbn sfeewrriitnhdgrta hwei-nf gu flrl olmia pbayilmiteynttooo ft hneu rhsiongshp itaomlbe
enefit f und. T This is sjust not true.-
nf act, f rom1 pOcoe197alpatientsin nappro~ ed nursing homesw
ill receive increasesi nbenefit rates. I nQueensland the benefitsf
oo rdinary care patientsw ill. increasebyy $ 1.05 a weekt o 82.60. A
ndintensive care patientsw ill-eceiveann increaseo f $ 22.05 a week, b
ringingt heir benef itsto o$ 124.60. T hese new benefIts, toge ther
-ith the statutory patientd rntributionlw illc om letely c over the
fees chargedtoo7 0% ofpatientsi nn on-Governmentnursingh omes, a
nd substantiallym eet the feeschargedt o'the remaining3 30% of
such patients. I
he new schemewillg ivegreater financialsectiritytoo such patients,
any of. w homwere previously experiencingserious difficulties inm
ee ting the difference between the fees charged and the benefitsj
~~ received.. Ladies and gentlemen, w ereit tnot fortheg enerositya nd thoughtful-*
n essof ftheSinnamon familyw hopresentedthe-landtoo thechurch, t
hsretirementv illagew ould not b eh r Ia olt htJ amesS
innamon arrivedinn Australiainn 1863 and. that. s ubseque-ntly thefamily
settledh ere andestablished a f arm. Avillage. s ituated
onn this sitei Isthus not only a pleasant einvironmentinnw hichseniorc
itizens can enjoy their r tirement, b ut Also a f ittigm emonrial'tot
he people ho pioneered this land. 1 N,