E&OE...............................................................................................................................
Thank you very much, Mrs Hewetson; to your Grace, the Archbishop of
Sydney; to Bishop King. to Mr Brunsdon and to other distinguished
guests, ladies and gentlemen.
Janette and I are particularly happy to share this very special occasion
with you because it marks a very important project which is a very
impressive part of a long tradition of service to older Australians.
And I want, on behalf of the Government, to pay tribute to the work
of Anglican Retirement Villages, to salute the place of what used
to be called and commonly understood in Sydney as the Mowll Village
but is now broadly understood as Anglican Retirement Villages, the
tremendous contribution that you have collectively made to the quality
of providing a secure, compassionate, supportive environment for older
Australians.
I don't think one could find, anywhere in our country, a better
example of enlightened, compassionate care and a congenial, supportive
community environment for older people than you can find here at Castle
Hill. It brings together the tradition of Christian caring with a
recognition of the importance of maintaining links with family, friends
and the community.
As the representative of the Government, as the Prime Minister of
Australia, let me say to all of those involved with Anglican Retirement
Villages and particularly those associated with the splendid new state-of-the-art
nursing home, whose foundation of which we mark today, can I say a
very warm word of thanks and gratitude for what you have done to set
an example to so many others in the aged care sector with the sort
of work and the sort of complex that you began to establish here just
40 years ago and has now grown to, here at Castle Hill, something
that care for, in the order of 1,500 people. And throughout Australia
generally, Anglican Retirement Villages cares for some 3,500 Australians.
Caring for our senior citizens, older Australians, whatever description
we may choose to use, is very much a shared endeavour. The Government
cannot do it on its own. The churches and their welfare arms cannot
do it on their own and individuals cannot do it on their own either.
And what we need is a partnership, a shared endeavour, between those
three arms of activity.
The Government has ongoing and basic responsibilities. Community organisations,
particularly the churches, do a magnificent job bringing their special
skills of compassion and care and understanding and those things related
to the human spirit, which are so important in providing a rounded,
caring environment. And then, of course, we need the contribution
of individuals. But the three have to work together.
There are some in our community who can make a contribution to their
caring. There are many who can't. And we must always have an
approach to aged care that looks after those people who cannot afford
to support themselves in any way. And that is what makes the approach
of Anglican Retirement Villages such a fine example of aged care within
our community. You have, I understand, here at Castle Hill some 30
per cent of your residents who, because of their circumstances, do
not make any personal contribution. And that is how it should be in
any kind of decent, caring, compassionate society.
A few days ago I launched, on behalf of the Government, a $270 million
commitment to the aged care sector which is designed to do a number
of things and particularly designed to provide more assistance for
those Australians who wish to remain longer in their own homes. And
that is an example of one feature of our responsibility in the aged
care sector. We have a responsibility - and let me say to you that
we will always discharge it faithfully and fully - we have a responsibility,
and we'll always meet that responsibility, to support the provision
of high quality aged care, residential facilities for those Australians
who want it. And the example of your village is one that we would
like to see duplicated all over Australia.
We also have a responsibility to provide additional resources and
additional services to those Australians who wish to remain in their
own home environment as long as possible. And what you need is a blended,
united approach towards aged care within our society. An approach
which recognises the changes that have overtaken society, that recognises
that where as 50 years ago large complexes of residential care were
not something that we had contemplated. But over the passage of a
couple of generations they have come to be part and parcel of our
life. And what we must do is to make them congenial and give them
a great communal spirit, which is so obvious here at Castle Hill.
And it's the example of that caring, communal environment and
the countless examples I have, as a politician, of people saying to
me how they have found so much friendship and so much support and
so much caring and so much love and compassion in retirement villages
of this kind. And it is a very important off-shoot of the life of
Australia and the caring for the elderly in Australian community of
the last couple of generations.
We are, as a society, living longer, We're healthier. Our aspirations
of life in our retirement years are greater and our horizons are broader
than used to be the case. And that is something that we should all
welcome. And can I say, as an Australian who grew up in the 1950s
and somebody who is a little younger than many of your here but not,
perhaps, as young as some others in the audience, can I say how much
I believe that my generation and younger generations of Australians,
how much we owe to the generation which is so largely represented
in this congregation today. Because in the main, you are the generation
that sustained and defended and protected and saved our nation during
World War II, whether it was on the battlefield or on the home front.
And the generations of Australians that came after you owe you a debt
of gratitude that can never be fully repaid. And one of the small
ways in which that debt of gratitude can be repaid is, of course,
to ensure that the choices that you want and your generations wants
for aged care, whether it be in your own home or be in a marvellous
retirement village such as this, that those choices are fully available.
Can I salute, on behalf of the Government, the work of the Anglican
Church, the work, in particular, of Anglican Retirement Villages.
Giving good government and delivering a good and fair society, which
is what all of us want as we move into the 21st Century, does involve
that shared endeavour of which I spoke. No government has either the
wit or the resources to do all of it on its own. No individual can
survive the ups and downs and the turmoil of life without companionship
and support from others within the community. And no organisation,
no matter what the strength of its spiritual being and essence might
be, can do things all on its own without the support of individuals
and without, where necessary, the support of its government. So we
do need that shared endeavour. And the care of the aged is an area
where we can give expression to that shared endeavour, that partnership,
with each of us playing its rightful role.
I thank the Anglican Church on behalf of the Government and the people
of Australia for the magnificent contribution that it is making to
the aged care sector. I say, on behalf of the Government, that we
will always play our role to the full, we will always be generous,
we'll always be compassionate and supportive and we'll always
understand the importance of the lives of older Australians of the
kind of environment that is so evident here.
I congratulate the Anglican Retirement Villages. I thank you for your
contribution. I wish all of you well. And, particularly, I wish all
of those associated with the magnificent new nursing home project
which will provide state-of-the-art care and facilities that I know
that all Australians would hope to see available to their parents
and their loved ones. And I thank you very warmly for having me amongst
you today.
Thank you
[Ends]