Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to congratulate the member for Kingston for bringing this very important motion to the parliament and acknowledge that last week was Palliative Care Week and that the theme was: 'Palliative care is everyone's business: let's work together'.

The Shortland electorate is an older electorate, one of the oldest electorates in the country, and the need for palliative care services is great. In saying that, I do not wish to leave out those young people who also need palliative care. In the Hunter we have had a very special program that was built with the assistance of so many parents who had lost their children. There is a very good palliative care program there where support is offered to parents and families who are facing the loss of a child, which is exceptionally hard. As I mentioned, palliative care is imperative for people in the last days of their life. Only one in 20 people have an advanced care plan. I will be encouraging people in my electorate to prepare such a plan.

Palliative Care Week celebrated the work of people who work in palliative care and the quality care that these people provide to people who have a limited life, their families and their carers. I have been able to see this happen on the ground in my electorate. I have seen the role that nurses, GPs, specialists, allied health professionals, volunteers and family carers play.

Last year, unfortunately, I lost a very dear friend—the former member for Swansea, John Bowman. He was diagnosed with gallbladder cancer. He used palliative care services. Initially he had someone from the palliative care team visit and support him in his home but at the very end he went to the hospice at the Mater hospital in Newcastle. I must put on record the fantastic work that the Mater hospital does and the fantastic work that the palliative care team in the Hunter does. He was provided all the support anyone could wish for over the last days of his life. He was able to plan how he wished his last days to be spent. This was because we have such a strong palliative care team in the Hunter.

I would like to put on the record my support for Marion McAndrew OAM, who was instrumental in setting up the palliative care team that works out of the Mater in the Hunter. She is very dedicated to making sure the end of life treatment and support of the person is exactly how it should be.

Another close friend, Tony Dybell, had it a little differently to my good friend Don. His wife, Vera, had ovarian cancer. She stayed at home until the last moment with the support of the palliative care team. She was able to die in her own bed in the arms of her own family. This is what palliative care delivers to people.

There are unsung heroes who support Australians through the end stage of their life. There is one certainty in life and that is that eventually everybody will die. For those people who know in advance that they have a limited life, it is very important that they put in place a plan and that they work towards ensuring that the end of their life is a fantastic experience and one that carers, friends and families can share with them rather than it being an alienating process. I congratulate everybody involved with palliative care within the community.

See this speech in context