Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As a new member of this place, I have been following the example of someone I believe is the best local member in this House—that is, the member for Gilmore, who sits here before me—and running a series of Cook community clinics. These clinics have been held in Cronulla, Miranda, Sylvania, Bundeena, Kurnell, Kareela, Gymea and Caringbah and the last in this series will be held on Saturday week at Jannali. As members of this House will know, they are a great opportunity to listen proactively and to take on board the views of constituents. In my case, issues have ranged from aircraft noise to the desalination plant at Kurnell, to the F6 extension, to matters relating to the budget—particularly private health insurance—and a range of other issues.

Two weeks ago at Caringbah I was approached by a constituent from Taren Point who had been a carer of his mother for 16 years. His name is Charles and his mother’s name was Margaret. Charles is the youngest of four brothers. After his father left his mother in the mid-sixties, Margaret raised the four boys on her own—working as a typist in the railways and at Lidcombe Hospital, where at one stage she contracted TB. Margaret sacrificed herself for her children at a time when it was even more difficult to be single parent in our society than it is today. To her great and enduring credit, one of her sons went on to study agriculture at Sydney university and the three older sons all had families of their own.

However, it is her youngest son, Charles, that I believe she would be most proud of. Charles started work with Qantas in 1967, aged just 17. In 1991, at age 41, Charles took a redundancy and in 1992 took on the role of carer for his mother, Margaret, who was then aged 81. For the next 16 years Charles’s entire life was dedicated to caring for his mother. Charles never married. He supported himself throughout that time by spending his redundancy and taking part-time or casual work when he could. In September 2001 under the coalition government he began receiving the carers allowance and in July 2003 he received the carers payment. Charles also received the annual $1,000 carers bonus. His mother throughout this time received an age pension. Charles provided a high level of care for his mother, enabling her to stay in her own home and enjoy a quality of life with her son, her family and her community. Charles would dress her, bathe her, prepare meals, research her diet—ensuring she had the right balance—manage her medication, take her for outings, take her to doctors appointments, make her morning and afternoon tea, do the shopping and dress her wounds, as her skin would constantly tear because of her age. Above all, he constantly monitored his mother’s condition—sleeping, as he said, with one ear open always.

Many people live the life that Charles has lived. They are the unsung heroes of our community who selflessly care for those they love. Charles’s mother, Margaret, sadly passed away on 12 September last year. Her pension naturally terminated on that day and on 19 December the carer allowance for Charles terminated also. Charles is currently 58 and will not be eligible for the age pension until he is 65. For the 16 years he cared for his mother he had three days of respite. During those years he was unable to contribute to superannuation and was unable to generate entitlements such as holiday leave or long service leave. Now, at 58, he has to go back into the workforce. We hear much about people’s rights at work. However, the question must be asked about the rights and entitlements of carers, who are excluded from such a debate. Charles said to me, ‘The system does not recognise my effort in any way for the way I sacrificed my working life.’ Had he been working, Charles tells me he would now have 82 weeks of accumulated leave.

Charles’s story is a reminder to me and to all of us in this place that when it comes to carers we have a long way to go and a lot to answer for. While I am proud of the work of the Howard government and the various initiatives that were introduced to improve conditions for carers, we truly still have a long way to go. I take the opportunity in this place to thank Charles for his service to his mother, his family and our community—on our behalf. I wish Charles all the very best in the next phase of his life, but I know it will be difficult for him. We must do more for Charles and all those like him. We in this place should not rest until we do.