Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to add a contribution to a celebration that took place in my electorate today, being the 108th birthday of a constituent of mine, Mrs Doreen Washington. I first met Mrs Washington several years ago when she was just turning 104 and still living in her own apartment, looking after herself with the assistance of friends. A very sprightly, delightful lady she was and remains.

Today she had a lovely party back in the electorate, and I would dearly love to have been there and to have celebrated with her. I thought I would mention the fact tonight that she is celebrating her 108th birthday and acknowledge that she is still lively and that she is still entertaining company—indeed, on Anzac Day she tossed the first penny for the two-up game at one of my local RSLs. It is her indomitable spirit. When we look back at what she has been through in 108 years of living, as one of the last surviving Gallipoli war widows and as someone who has seen so many changes and is still able to discuss them, she is an important source of oral history for us all.

She does have a lovely message that she gave today. The front page of my local newspaper, the Manly Daily, today has a photo of Doreen. It says at the top: ‘She eats no fruit or vegetables and she drinks every day—and she has outlived all her doctors’. I think it says something about a person who makes a decision about what is good for her. She still does, indeed, enjoy a tipple of whisky or a glass of beer and she invites people to enjoy it with her.

I think when we look back at all the warnings that we receive, when we are told if we do this or that we will lessen our life expectancy, that we have to live by rules that somebody else sets down for us, we should remember that Doreen, in being 108, has set the rules for herself. She was widowed in 1965, so she has been very much on her own, living on her own wits and her own ability to make decisions, for a long time. I think there are some lessons for us as we listen, as I said, to all the gloom and doomsayers who tell us that this is bad for us and that is bad for us and that we have to be disciplined according to somebody else’s dictates. Perhaps, if we listen to what our own body or our own self is telling us, we can work it out for ourselves and we do not have to be intimidated into living a life that perhaps does not suit us.

Doreen will have gathered around her about 100 people today, people she has touched just by being who she is. One particular person has been a splendid friend to her: Mr Chris Pike, who visits her regularly and who always made sure she was all right when she was still living in her own apartment. She has another close friend, Fred Leong. They are both close friends, young men who have seen that here is a woman of indomitable spirit, whom, in their terms, they love to call a friend.

Perhaps there is another message for us too. As we realise that we are an ageing population, we should rejoice in that. When we say the fact that there are many older people who are giving great joy to people and being vibrant parts of our community, and when we say we are an ageing population and people are living longer, that is a call for rejoicing. We should not call it a problem but say it is an opportunity. Doreen Washington is one who has taken many opportunities. May I simply say to her: have a wonderful birthday today.

See this speech in context