Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 19 August I had the pleasure of presenting at the Juniper Outreach and Wellness Program at the Rowethorpe aged-care complex in Bentley within my electorate of Swan. The Outreach and Wellness Program is open to seniors in the south-east metropolitan area and provides free health education and monitoring services, as well as a low-cost podiatry service. Within Swan, rate payers in the local government areas of Belmont, Canning, Gosnells, South Perth and Victoria Park are eligible to participate in the program. Also included in the program are the wellness seminars which allow various organisations and community groups to present to outreach program participants with a focus on seniors' health and wellbeing. Past topics have ranged from heart disease to yoga. I was there to discuss and to properly explain the budget, particularly the measures that affect seniors and changes to the aged-care system. I am pleased to report that I was easily able to allay most of the fears that those in attendance had. During the question time after I had spoken to them for about three-quarters of an hour, it was obvious that the questions that were asked were from misinformation spread by the opposition and the media regarding a number of our measures. The participants were relieved to hear that their pension will continue to rise in March and September each year, that the energy supplement will continue to be paid and that a safety net, in the form of a 10-cap visit, will apply to the GP co-payment for pensioners. It was a great afternoon. I would like to thank Juniper for hosting me that day.