Joanna Gash (Gilmore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Recently I attended a meeting of the Parliamentary Friends of Meals on Wheels and was most impressed by the representation from across Australia. Madam Deputy Speaker, I am quite sure you will agree with me that this is across party politics. The volunteers of Meals on Wheels—and there are thousands of them—perform a remarkable job, providing hot nutrition and meals to our aged and infirm, including a number of young people. Almost 80,000 volunteers deliver over 15 million meals a year to about 53,000 recipients. As our population ages, the demand on Meals on Wheels is certain to grow. I am sure the members of this House would share my admiration for people who freely and selflessly give of their time to help others. Not only do they deliver healthy meals; their visit is often the only social interaction many of their clients experience. It is a commendable Australian tradition, echoing the principles of mateship that we are all so proud of.

Despite the evident generosity of the volunteers, there is still a huge cost to keep even this volunteer organisation running. I was surprised to learn that the Australian government subsidises their operation by just $27 million annually. While that might seem a lot, when you distribute that over the area of need it is trifling and needs to be reviewed with some urgency. Each meal costs about $10. That is $150 million in real costs, of which the government's contribution represents just 18 per cent. Where does the other 82 per cent come from? You can then begin to realise the enormity of the challenge to meet their obligations.

Last year I was privileged to help out the Kiama branch. I confess that I had to work hard to keep up with my mentor volunteer, who was actually almost 20 years older than me. Participating directly like this gave me an invaluable insight into the quality and value of this service and into the real people that make it work. They are cheerful, hardworking and totally dedicated, and you only have to look at the face of a client to realise why these volunteers gladly do what they do. It is a reward that money cannot buy.

I would like to pay homage to all the Meals on Wheels branches in Gilmore by reading them into the record of this House. They are Lake Conjola, Milton Ulladulla and Sussex Inlet, which just celebrated its first anniversary—happy birthday to Sussex Inlet. We then have Berry, Culburra Beach, Greenwell Point, Huskisson and Vincentia, Jervis Bay, Nowra and Bomaderry, Shoalhaven Heads, and Currarong representing the Shoalhaven district. Kiama comes next, taking in the whole of the Kiama local government area. Travelling further north into the Shellharbour area, we have Blackbutt, Flinders, Shellharbour, Shell Cove and finally Dunmore. Each of these branches is unique, stamped by the personalities that drive them, but overarching all is the common bond of service to your fellow man. I am extremely proud of each and every individual in these groups and I would love to name them—but of course time will not allow it—because they are very worthy of recognition.

We cannot expect that this remarkable operation will continue forever and a day. We need to recognise the true worth of Meals on Wheels to our community and to the government and lend more substantial support. Meals on Wheels cannot and should not be taken be granted, ever. I tip my hat to this dedicated bunch of good Samaritans and applaud them in their work that brings a little joy to so many lives. We in Gilmore are indeed fortunate to have them living amongst us.