Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak tonight on behalf of some of the wonderful volunteer groups within the electorate of Hindmarsh, which I represent.

I recently had the pleasure of holding a lunch in my electorate office in honour of some of these volunteers who freely give their time, day in and day out, to assist their peers and the wider Hindmarsh community. These individuals are constantly devoting their spare time to others and the community groups they represent.

These individuals include people such as Pam Nayda and Jean Leunig from the Lockleys senior citizens group, Betty and Malcolm Bollenhagen from the Active Elders group and Rhonda Tully from the Australian retirees and pensioners association from Glandore.

I want to spend just a couple of moments recognising the work that all of these wonderful individuals perform on a daily basis. Firstly, the Bollenhagens give their time to support senior members of the Active Elders Association. They spend countless hours organising events and outings and they assist members in small projects around their houses. The Active Elders Association is also involved in a paper recycling program that not only is environmentally friendly but also raises much needed funds for their association. I have seen them all working tirelessly on a few working bees that I have had the pleasure to visit.

Secondly, Rhonda Tully, a magnificent woman, performs a similar role for the Australian retirees and pensioners association at the Glandore community centre by raising funds and organising activities for the association’s members.

And, finally, Pam Nayda and Jean Leunig of the Lockleys Senior Citizens, who run various projects for their members, have devised an admirable program that unites young students from the Lockleys Primary School and a local nursing home—bridging young and old. Projects such as these bring together individuals who may feel themselves socially isolated for a number of reasons and benefit from the social contact.

Overall, volunteering all over Australia has contributed to the involvement of thousands of individuals in community based activities. Volunteering brings together individuals of all different backgrounds with diverse interests. The volunteers I have mentioned are only a few of the many extraordinary individuals who come together to freely contribute their skills and time by helping others.

There is no doubt that as a society we rely very heavily on the economic and social contributions of these wonderful people who give their time freely. At the moment, the work that volunteers contribute free of charge is worth billion of dollars to the South Australian economy.

Volunteers keep the wheels on in a range of community and not-for-profit organisations. It is not just the financial value of what you do that is so important; it is also the personal touch that is of real value—the time taken to listen to someone’s troubles, the friendship in a smile or the generosity of spirit that comes with a cup of tea. These are the things that you just cannot put a dollar value on—small personal touches and the knowledge that you are touching people’s lives in very modest but important ways. These are the things that keep volunteers, such as the people I mentioned earlier, coming back to voluntary work, week in and week out, year in and year out. The lunch I held in my electorate office was a small acknowledgement on my behalf of the tireless contribution of these people.

Today, I want to say that these individuals and all the other volunteers within the Hindmarsh community are the bedrock of the community. Each of the small acts of generosity they carry out, however modest or simple, have laid the foundations for a stronger, better community. In my four years of being a federal member of parliament, I have greatly benefited from the wisdom, warmth and friendship of our older citizens.

Without the incredible number of voluntary hours that so many people contribute each and every week not only would hundreds of organisations cease to exist but the lives of thousands of South Australians would be substantially diminished.

Tonight I devote this speech to Pam Nayda and Jean Leunig from the Lockleys senior citizens group, Betty and Malcolm Bollenhagen from the Active Elders, Rhonda Tully from the Australian retirees and pensioners association and all the other volunteers around Australia who give their time to their communities. I think we should all value and honour their contribution to the Australian community as well as the effort and work that they put into caring for others. (Time expired)