Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This morning two residents of my electorate of Mitchell have set off on a 300-kilometre walk from the steps of Parliament House to Parramatta Stadium in Sydney to raise awareness of the plight of young people who are forced to live in nursing homes as a last resort. The two gentlemen, David Sexton and Troy McPhee, have been walking the streets of Kellyville in preparation for this walk and have been instrumental in the nationally registered charity and not-for-profit organisation known as Youngcare.

Through research, Youngcare has discovered that in Australia today 6,500 young people are residing in aged care nursing homes. For these 6,500 people, living in an aged care nursing facility is not a matter of choice but an option of last resort due to the lack of facilities and options that are available for those who require full-time nursing care. Further statistics from Youngcare also tell us that 44 per cent of young people in aged care homes will receive a visit from friends less than once a year; 21 percent will go outside the home less than once a month; 34 per cent will almost never participate in community based activities such as shopping. Youngcare aims to raise the awareness of the issues through partnerships with families, the community, businesses and governments and to develop viable and sustainable solutions that provide the dignity and care that young people deserve.

What I really want to recognise today is these two Australians for their commitment to their mate. David Sexton’s brother-in-law contracted MS and, as a young person, his only available option was aged care. In the finest traditions of Australians when a mate has hit trouble, these two men responded, in conjunction with Andy Kirk, their friends, families, sponsors and the community. This is the real Australia, this is true caring and this is the spirit that has made our nation great—taking responsibility for one another, taking responsibility for those of our mates who have fallen down and getting the job done through common sense and hard work.

The objective of the walk, which commenced today, is to raise additional funds for the development and construction of a third set of apartments in Sydney. The walk will be conducted over the next 10 days and will conclude on Friday night, 28 March, at the Parramatta Stadium before the NRL Friday night footy blockbuster, between my football team, the mighty Parramatta Eels—who, I might add, trounced the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in round 1—and the Newcastle Knights.

I will have the privilege of walking the last 2½ hours with Kristina Keneally, the New South Wales Minister for Ageing, and the Lord Mayor of Parramatta, Councillor Paul Barber. David and Troy intend to walk roughly 30 kilometres a day. I can tell this House that they have lost a significant amount of weight. They will be joined along the way by the federal Minister for Youth and Minister for Sport, Kate Ellis; Pat Farmer, the shadow minister for youth and sport; former Australian netball captain, Liz Ellis; and the CEO of the National Rugby League, David Gallop.

These men have done a great thing for their mate. I thank these fine Australians for their support of such a necessary cause, and I thank their support crews, families and friends, and in particular their sponsors. There will be another charity gala dinner. I want to commend them for looking after their friends and our community and doing the job when government does not do the job that it should do.