Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Action, Environment and Heritage) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Deputy Speaker Slipper, may I say it is always a pleasure to speak in your presence. Let me begin by setting out a case of injustice in relation to one of my constituents who lives in Bass Coast. Malcolm Halliday is 67 and has been a full-time carer for his wife for several years. I spoke with Malcolm only a few days ago. He looks after his wife 24 hours a day. There are, of course, moments of calm and moments of peace and moments when one is in respite, but Mr Halliday’s is a permanent task—as is that of many carers of those with infirmities coming from age or disability. It is a great and noble thing they do. It is motivated by the deepest of human emotions, but it requires strong and real support from the parliament of the state and the parliament of the nation.

Malcolm receives about $100 a fortnight in carers allowance and, in order to shop for food, he arranges for his wife to go to respite care for six hours one day a week. This respite care, which he very much appreciates, is organised through the Commonwealth Carer Respite Service. This allows him to catch the bus to Wonthaggi to do the weekly grocery shopping. Malcolm is vision impaired and he cannot drive. That is why he needs to use the bus service. There has not previously been a charge for the respite care but he has now received a letter informing him that the Australian government will be charging him a monthly bill of $88. This is a person of limited means, with his own impairments, who has a wife in need of full-time high care, which he gives in the home—saving the Commonwealth tens of thousands of dollars every year.

Clearly there is an injustice here. I will be writing to the minister and asking the minister to review the case. This is manifestly wrong. A person of limited means, who himself has his own impairment and who is taking care of his wife—who would otherwise require tens of thousands of dollars of contribution from the Australian government—has been slugged with a significant impost on a very limited carer’s income. It is not right. It should not stand. It must not stand. I will take action on behalf of Mr Halliday, and I hope that the minister will listen, respond and recognise that there has been a manifest injustice in this case.

The second element that I want to raise is a more positive one and it also relates to the Bass Coast. This time it is the case of the Phillip Island Wildlife Hospital. I recently visited Phillip Island, which is in my constituency, and had the joy of taking along my family. My little girl Poppy had watched Penguin Island, a series on the ABC, which featured Phillip Island, particularly the work of the Phillip Island Nature Park. As part of that, it focused on the care, maintenance and protection of the penguin colony on the south-western tip of Phillip Island.

Part of the work of the nature park and part of the work of the conservation groups is to establish a fully operational Phillip Island wildlife hospital, which in particular will focus on the care and maintenance of the penguin colony but also other birds—for instance, shearwaters or Cape Barren geese—and other native animals on the island. There are many animals on the island. It is a beautiful place. It is of course famous for its koalas, although the numbers are now down below 100 on Phillip Island but, fortunately, there are thousands of koalas on nearby French Island. The proposal for a wildlife hospital requires additional funding. I will be looking at it as part of the coalition’s environment policy—and I am very hopeful of being able to make a future announcement. But right now, at this point in time, I would commend the proposal to the Commonwealth for funding to have the hospital established and its work expanded. I commend that proposal to the minister and ask for his consideration. (Time expired)