Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage) Share this | Hansard source

I want to speak, firstly, about the contribution of seniors in the electorate of Flinders and, secondly, about a particular initiative we are taking to host a free seniors forum on 6 October 2006, to which all seniors in the electorate of Flinders are invited. There are approximately 32,000 people over the age of 65 who live on the Mornington Peninsula and around Western Port in the electorate of Flinders. It is the oldest demographic in Victoria. Amongst the 37 seats, Flinders has the highest average age. Of those 32,000 people, 19,000 are age pensioners. Across that group, they have made an extraordinary contribution to Australia. Their service has been deep and it has been lifelong.

In recognition of that service, one of the things that I am doing—and I acknowledge the precedent set by Margaret May, the member for McPherson, and other members of this House—is hosting a free seniors forum and expo on 6 October 2006. It will be held from 9 am to 1.30 pm at Rosebud RSL, and I want to take this opportunity to invite all seniors within the electorate of Flinders to attend this forum. It will take two parts. It is to be both a discussion forum and an expo, or an exhibition.

In the discussion forum, we have a range of people who will be speaking. We have my state counterpart, Martin Dixon; Centrelink; the Clean Ocean Foundation; and Diabetes Australia. We have a focus on tourism for seniors. We have the Australian Federal Police, the Alzheimer’s association, Extended Families Australia, the Victoria Police, Arthritis Victoria and the RSPCA, talking about pets as therapy—extremely important for seniors. We have an estate planning section, we have Volunteering Australia and we also have Kevin Bailey from the Money Managers—he is quite a significant figure in Australia who deals with seniors and their estate planning. All of those things are there to help seniors plan and look for opportunities in their lives.

In addition to that, we have a permanent expo which will be on site throughout the day, with over 30 different services available to seniors—things as diverse as the peninsula diabetes support group, State Trustees, the Pharmacy Guild, Lions Club, Mornington Peninsula Shire and Centrelink. I invite everybody to come along. It is a recognition of the work of the seniors. They do a great job for our community. Lastly I want to thank my chief of staff, Katrina Flannery, who has put endless hours into helping bring this all together. (Time expired)

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