PRIME MINISTER
CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY
OPENING ADDRESS, ST MARY'S VILLA, CONCORD, 7 JULY 1985
YOUR GRACE, ARCHBISHOP CLANCY, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
IT GIVES ME GREAT PLEASUtCE TO BE HERE TODAY TO SHARE THE
SATISFACTION AND JOY YOU MUST ALL BE FEELING IN SEEING
ST MARY'S VILLA NOW A REALITYI
REALISE THAT OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS A GREAT NUMBER OF
PEOPLE HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN THIS PROJECT, AND THEIR
GENEROSITY HAS BEEN REMARKABLE.
BY GIVING SO GENEROUSLY OF YOUR TIME, EFFORT AND MONEY
YOU HAVE EXPR~ ESSED YOUR CONCERN FOR THE AGED IN YOUR
COMMU14ITY IN A VERY PRACTICAL WAYIN
THIS REGARD i WAS QUITE STRUCK BY THE PERSPECTIVE OF
A PARISHIONEK WHO RECENTLY WROTE OF ST MARY'S VILLA:
' FIRSTLY IT HAS TO BE RECOGNISEDJ AS THE CULMINATION
OF ONcE MAN' 0S IDEALS AND) PtRSI. kVERANCE. I'M SURE
THERE WERE TIMES WHE1N FINANCIALLY IT SEEMED AN
IMPOSSIBILITY OUR FATHER DELANEY HAS NEVER BEEN
KNOWN TO GIVE IN NOR GIVE UP EASILYjp
at 11
jimm
if 3w / T
' SOMEHOW OR OTHER HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN ABLE TO RING
THAT LAST CENT, THAT LAST GRANT FROM SOME
GOVERNMENT BODY. NEEDLESS TO SAY HIS PARISHIONERS
WERE NOT OVERLOOKED AND MANY FOUND THEIR POCKETS
WERE MUCH DEEPER THAN THEY REALISED
' SECONDLY ( THE PARISHIONER CONTINUED) THIS BUILDING
MEANS LOVE, CARING AND SHARING-SO MANY PEOPLE
HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN SO MANY WAYS, SOME LARGE,
SOME SMALL-SOME HAVE GIVEN CASH DONATIONS, OTHERS
HAVE ORGANISED FUNCTIONS TO RAISE MONEY, WHILE
OTHERS HAVE HELPED IN THE PLANNING OF THE PROJECT.
A COMMITTEE HAS BEEN ORGANISED TO HELP THE ELDERLY
PEOPLE AFTER THEY HAVE SETTLED IN. ALL THESE
ACTIONS, CONCLUDED THE PARISHIONER, ATTO ME
SYMBOLISE-LOVE AND CARING-i
IT HAS INDEED BEEN4 A PHENOMENAL, DEDICATED, CO-OPERATIVE
EFFORT ON THE PAr T OF MANY PEOPLE-IN ADDITION TO
FATHER DELANEY, I SHOULD LIKE TO SINGLE OUT OTHER SUCH
AS SISTER M1. THELCA WHOSE YEARS OF DEVOTED EFFORT AS
ADMINISTRATOR OF THE COMMUNITY CENTRE FOR THE AGED HAVE
BEEN CONSPICUOUS. THE SUPPORT PROVIDED BY THE PARISHES
OF STRATHF1ELD, FIVE-DOCK, HABERFIELD, EASTWOOD,
ENFIELD, HOMEBUSH AND BY THE CATHOLIC WOMEN'S LEAGUE HAS
ALSO BEEN A VITAL INGREDIENT IN THE SUCCESS OF THIS
PROJECT-
THERE IS ALSO HOW THE CONTRIBUTION BEING MADE BY THE
SISTERS OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN AND THE BAND OF DEDICATED
STAFF WHO TOGETHER WILL ENSURE A GENEROUS, CARING
ENVIRONMENT FOR THE AGED AND ELDERLY IN THEIR CHARGE.
AND LAST, BUT NOT LEAST, THERE IS A MICHAEL MAHER YOUR
LOCAL MEMBER. HE IS WELL KNOWN, INDEED RENOWNED FOR HIS
DETERMINED, PERSISTENT AND CERTAINLY IRREPRESSIBLE
PURSUIT OF HIS CONSTITUTENTS INTERESTS. HIS SUPPORT FOR
THE DEVELOPMENT OF ST MARY'S VILLA IS NO EXCEPTION.
BUILDING A FACILITY SUCH AS THIS IS A VERY VISIBLE
RESPONSE TO THE NEEDS OF THE AGED IN OUR COMMUNITY.
BY NEXT CENTURY THE AGED WILL REPRESENT A LARGER AND A
GROWING PROPORTION OF AUSTRALIA'S POPULATION. THEIR
NEEDS WILL DEMAND INCREASINGLY CLOSE ATTENTION FROM THE
GOVERNMENTYOU WOULD ALL APPRECIATE THAT THE AGED ARE A VERY
DIVERSE GROUP OF PEOPLE WITH VERY DIFFERENT NEEDS; AND
THOSE NEEDS ARE LIKELY TO CHANGE OVER TIME.
HERE AT ST MARY'S VILLA YOU NOW HAVE A DAY CARE CENTRE,
A HOSTEL AND A NURSING HOME, ALL OF WHICH ARE VITALLY
NEEDED BY DIFFERENT SECTIONS OF YOUR AGED COMMUNITY.
AND I AM VEikY PLEASED THAT THE COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT
HAS BEEN ABLE TO ASSIST YOUR UNDERTAKINGS WITH CAPITAL
ASSISTANCE OF SOME $ 1~. 27 MILLION FOR THE NURSING HOME
AND HOSTEL-IN ADDITION, WE WILL BE PROVIDING ONGOING
ASSISTANCE TO THE NURSING HOME IN THE ORDER~ OF
PER YEAR.
THROUGHOUT AUSTRALIA, IN THE 1984-85 FINANCIAL YEAR JUST
COMPLETED, COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE ON
NURSING HOME ARRANGEMENTS WAS ALMOST $ 1000 MILLION,
INCLUDING ABOUT $ 280 MILLION FUR DEFICIT FUNDED NURSING
HOMES.
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S RECENT ANNOUNCEMENT OF A NEW
HOME-AND COMMUNITY CARE PROGRAM IS A PARTICULAR
MANIFESTATION OF OUR WISH TO -TAIL~ ii GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS
FOR THE ELDERLY AS CLOSELY AS POSSIBLE TO THEIR NEEDSSOME
MILLION HAS BEEN DEDICATtD TO THIS PROGkAM FOR
THE NEXT THREE YEARS.
AT PRESENT THE BULK OF COMMONWEALTH ASSISTANCE IS
DIRECTED TO ONE SEGMENT OF THE AGED POPULATION THOSE
LIVING IN NURSING HOMES. WE SEE A VERY REAL NEED ALSO
TO PROVIDE VARIOUS OTHER FORMS OF ASSISTANCE TO THE
GREAT NUMBER OF AGED PEOPLE LIVINIG IN THE COMMUNITY-
IN l9& Uo A SURVEY SHOWED THAT, OF THE PEOPLE AGED
YEARS AND OVER WHO WERE MODERATELY OR SEVERLY
HANDICAPPED, NEARLY THREL QUARTERS LIVED IN THE
COMMUNITY COMPARED WITH ONLY ONE QUARTER IN
INSTITUTIONSFOR AGED~ PEOPLE LIVING IN THE COMMUNITY, WE, AS A
GOVERNMENTo AIM TO ENSURE THAT THEIR NEEDS AR( E MET IN A
WAY WHICH IS AFFORDABLE BY THE AGED THEMSELVES AND BY
THE REST OF THE COMMUNITY-WE AIM TO ENSURE THAT EVERY
AGED PeRSUN IS ABLE TO SELECT, WITH HIS OH HEk
RELATIVES, THE COMBINATION OF SERVICES MOST APPROPRIATE
TO HIS OR HER MEDICAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL NEcDS.
WE AS A GOVER~ NMENT ARE COMMITTED TO PROVIDING A RANGE OF
SERVICES FOR THE AGED WHICH ARE-EQUITABLE,
* COMPREHENS-IVE, BALANCED AND COST EFFECTIVE-IN LINE
Wi TH THIS APPROACH I CAN ASSURE YOU HEALTH SERVICIES WILL
BE EXEMPT FROM THE CONSUMPTION TAX ON SERVICES NUW BEING
COMMITTED BY THE GOVERNMENT. THE SAME COMMITMENT IS
APPARE14T IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT' S DECISION TO SET
UP AN OFFICE FOR THE AGED. THIS OFFICE, ALONG WITH THE
OFFICE FOR DISABILITY, WILL ENSURE THAT THE NEEDS OF THE
AGED AND THE ELDERLY WILL HAVE A PkOMINENT PLACE IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF GOVERNMENT POLICIES-
THE NEW OFFICE FOk THE AGED WILL PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE
IN ASSESSING CLIEN1 NEEDS. QUALITY OF CARE AND THE
CONCERNS OF SERVICE PROVIDERS. THE CLOSE L-INKS IT HILL
BUILD WITH INDIVIDUALS iiD SERVICE PROVIDERS WILL BE OF
PARTICULAR VALUE T'O ALL THOSE CO1CERNED WITH ENSURING
ADEQUATE ATTENTION TO THE NEEDS TO THE ELDERLYAM
CONFIDENT THAT WE AkE MEETING THE CHALLENGE OF
PROVIDING BETTER ASSISTANCE FOR AGED PEOPLE IN OUx
SOCIETY. IN THIS WE DEPEND HEAVILY ON THE ENORMOUS CONTRIBUTOI
MADE BY NUMEROUS ORGANISATIONS DEDICATED TO THE WELFARE
OF AGED PEOPLE. THE TYPE OF ENTHUSIASM AND COMMITMENT
WE HAVE SEEN UNDEkPINNING THE DEVELOPMENT UF ST MARY'S
VILLA IS VITAL TO THE AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY'S EFFORTS TO
-SATISFY THE NEEDS. OF OUR GROWING NUMBER OF OLD PEOPLELADIES
AND GENTLEMEN, THE PARISH UF ST M1ARY'S, CONCORD,
CAN BE PARTICULARLY PROUD OF ITS EFFORTS, A1ND I AM SUNE
THAT THE REMARKABLE COMMUNITY COMMITMENT WHICH HAS
CHARACTERISED THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ST MARY'S VILLA WILL
CONTI4UE TO CHARACTERISE YOUR ENDEAVOURS IN THE YEARS TO
COMEIT NOW GIVES ME 6g. AT PLEASURE; THEREFORE, TO DtLL mE ST
MARY'S VILLA OFFICIALLY OPEN.