Terri Butler (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(3) acknowledges that:

(a) 11 to 17 May is National Volunteer Week (NVW);

(b) the theme for NVW this year is 'Give Happy Live Happy'; and

(c) the six million plus Australian volunteers give happiness to others each year; and

(4) thanks volunteers for their tireless effort and dedication to our community and the enormous contribution they make to our economy and others in the community.

It is sometimes said that people do not value things for which they do not have to pay. Some people claim a price signal is needed, in order to understand the value of a service, but there are some things that are priceless: love, compassion, good health, friendship, fellow-feeling, human contact, community, happiness, making the world a better place. No-one needs a price signal to value those things, and anyone who volunteers knows that the rewards of volunteering can be much richer than anything that could be measured in money.

That is not to say that money is not important. Our community gets an immense economic benefit from volunteers' work. For example, the 2008 Economic value of volunteering in Queensland report estimated the total value of volunteering to the Queensland economy was over $13 billion. Volunteering Australia say 713 million hours are volunteered every year and they say that, from the organisations registered with Volunteering Australia alone, there are more than six million Australians who volunteer. But numbers alone are not enough when telling the story of what volunteering really means.

The week of 11 May—in this place budget week—was National Volunteer Week. While we talked about numbers, cuts, and costs, Australia was recognising the real benefits of volunteering. This year's theme was 'Give Happy, Live Happy.' You could not have a more relevant expression of what volunteering means. In launching National Volunteer Week, Volunteering Australia's CEO Brett Williams OAM said:

Research tells us that volunteering makes a difference in people’s happiness. It’s proven that volunteers are happier, healthier and even sleep better than those who don’t volunteer.

Australia was ranked No. 10 in the latest World Happiness Report, and Mr Williams says that has a lot to do with Australia's dedicated volunteers. The sense of belonging, of making a contribution, of helping others, that you get from volunteering can be an important part of a rich life as a member of a community and a society. And it is not only happiness; volunteers also get a chance to develop their skills, experience and alternative perspectives that are equally useful in paid employment and other situations. So volunteers get personal, individual rewards more valuable than money.

But the happiness does not end with the volunteers themselves. Volunteers genuinely want to make the world a better place, and they give their own labour freely for that purpose. There are not too many things, that a person can give that are more valuable than time out of their lives and effort. They want a healthier, stronger, safer, better place to live. They want to reduce the sum of misery in the world and in doing so they spread happiness. Take those who volunteer in environmental groups like my local conservation groups such as B4C, which is the Bulimba Creek Catchment Coordinating Committee, and N4C, the Norman Creek Catchment Coordinating Committee. Their conservation work will reap rewards for future generations long after their own lifetimes. It is the definition of altruistic. As another example, consider Meals on Wheels. Like Meals on Wheels groups around the country, my locals provide much more than just a meal. Their volunteers make contact with elderly people at risk not just of malnutrition but of isolation and loneliness. The members of clubs like Rotary, the Lions, Zonta, the Soroptimists, Quota and other similar clubs build local communities and contribute to international development. Management committee members and directors of not-for-profits give their own time and expertise freely. In my own life I have volunteered as a director of the YWCA in Queensland and as a volunteer management committee member of Children by Choice—both not-for-profit organisations that do important work in our community. And of course there are so many other organisations and individuals freely giving their time to make the community and the world better. Not only are volunteers happier people, they are making life better for everyone else, whether locally or internationally. Our community is therefore rightly grateful to those who volunteer.

During National Volunteer Week, there were thousands of events across the country to say thank you to the more than six million Australians who volunteer. Like volunteers themselves, the events were diverse. There were thankyou breakfasts, morning teas and sausage sizzles, as well as open days, awards ceremonies, street parades, garden parties and movie nights. I know, Madam Speaker, that you also held an event during that period to recognise the work of many of the peak bodies who perform such great not-for-profit services in our community—an event I was very honoured to attend.

I wanted to thank everyone who volunteers. Whether you are volunteering in a small community based organisation or a large not-for-profit, whether you are giving your time or your expertise or lending out your ute so that the volunteer organisation can operate well, whether it is cooking at the sausage sizzle at the community Christmas carols night or helping out at something like MDA—a refugee organisation in my community—I want to thank you. May you continue to give happy, to live happy and to make the world a better place.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion.

Ann Sudmalis (Gilmore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is nothing quite as special as being a volunteer. Today is a unique chance to say thank you to all those amazing people. If we did not have our band of volunteers, there are many whose lives would be that much poorer. The National Volunteers Week theme this year was 'Give Happy, Live Happy'—and this is the essence of being a volunteer. If you are able to give your time, make someone else's life a little better, then you yourself are actually one of the beneficiaries.

Volunteers are extraordinary people with big hearts. They offer the gift of their time to teach, to listen, to help, to inspire, to build, to grow and to learn. But so many more people could join the ranks of being a volunteer. They just need to have the confidence to say, 'I think I can do that and I know I can help.' The PCYC in the Shoalhaven could do with some volunteers to help in the office—perhaps with some supervision, perhaps with the activities. Volunteers do not expect to be paid, yet the value of their work is beyond measure. Collectively, these volunteers have planted tiny seeds of inspiration in countless lives. We have many volunteers in our schools, for breakfast programs and for reading programs. There are volunteers to be class helpers and canteen mums or dads.

The Assistant Minister for Education and Training, Senator Simon Birmingham, visited Gilmore in April and helped to present certificates to Nowra Christian School students who participated in the Shoalhaven Youth Volunteering Initiative. This is a unique and very successful program where students participate in short-course, cadetship-style training in one of the local volunteer services like the State Emergency Service or the Rural Fire Service. This program has been running for many years now and is responsible for inspiring participants to join up. In fact about a third of current volunteers in our local RFS and SES began this way. At the same meeting, the minister met Daniel Palmer and James Godwin, who had just returned from a stint helping in the North Coast floods—and, yes, these two young men came through the volunteering initiative scheme. Today another group of 25 keen students from Ulladulla High School will start their training to become volunteers.

We in Gilmore are truly blessed by the extent of volunteerism in our region. From Red Cross to CWA to Lions and Rotary, and from Zonta to the surf-lifesaving clubs, every aspect of life has the dedicated touch of a volunteer.

In recent weeks I have attended numerous presentations for surf-lifesaving, and I am reminded of the huge numbers of hours these amazing people give to our community. They laugh and joke about the time spent in lousy weather and duty rosters on Christmas Day and over all other weekends. They spend time training and then, in turn, train others, spending many hours to make sure our thousands of visitors are safe in the sea.

Less than a month ago I attended my own Rural Fire Service brigade, the catering brigade's AGM. During the last fires we spent 10-hour shifts preparing food for the ones on the front line—but not so the captain and assistant, Donna King and Ingrid Nordermeer. They spent 15 or 16 hours making sure everything was in place for the rest of us to prepare. In a regional area that is more than 40 per cent national parks and bushland our RFS volunteers are very significant and active groups. The Bay and Basin Community Resource Centre has an inspiring network of volunteers. These people help in day care for the elderly. Their Men's Shed helps our local schools with all manner of projects, even being the father-figure in some of our single-parent families.

Just two weeks ago the Minister for Ageing and Disability, the Hon. Mitch Fifield, came and met another group of volunteers. He came for a number of reasons but, most importantly, the visit gave an opportunity for all our Meals on Wheels volunteers and their coordinators to speak honestly and frankly about their concerns with the new fee structure. These volunteers explained that their work—for which they receive no pay—is more than a meal delivery; they are the social connection for many of these people who are unable to prepare for themselves, either due to age or disability or both. The issue is still in discussion, and the volunteers deserve gold stars for the phenomenal work they do.

The volunteers for St John Ambulance absolutely help the Gilmore region to hold the many sporting, cultural and fundraising events, such as Relay for Life, the Celtic festival and the agricultural shows. Without their presence and expertise these events simply could not happen.

In Gilmore we have volunteers for Landcare, Bushcare, park care, Dunecare and Rivercare, all dedicated and fantastic individuals. The volunteers for the natural world cannot be listed without mentioning Dusty Jones, the local snake man, rescuing reptiles all over the region. Such a gentleman. Then there is WIRES and NANA. Friends of the Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby—who last week celebrated 20 years of protecting the marsupial—launched their documentary film On the Edge. Without their dedication the local Shoalhaven population would have been lost to predation.

There are volunteers in all regions. This weekend I appeal to those who might have a spare moment or two to go and collect for the Salvos. This weekend is their collection weekend. Everyone can be a volunteer, and I thank all Gilmore volunteers, from the bottom of my heart. By you giving your time and passion, you help us live in a better place.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I call the seconder of the motion, the honourable member for Shortland.

Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Volunteers make an enormous contribution to Australia. They are an integral part of our communities and the backbone of our nation. Volunteers deliver enormous economic and psychosocial benefits to our nation, and the truly remarkable thing is that they do this because they care about their communities and those who live in them.

Whilst delivering these services to people in communities they develop skills that they can utilise in other parts of their lives. The week of 11 to 17 May was National Volunteer Week, and the theme for National Volunteer Week this year was 'Give Happy Live Happy'. Research has shown that volunteers are happier and healthier, and sleep better. In addition, they make those they work with happier. So volunteering can be supported on many levels.

I was thinking about my contribution to this debate and then I started thinking about those organisations within my electorate that constantly give their time, such as Rotary and Lions. Over the last week I visited many of those organisations, not Rotary or Lions, and I had two surf-lifesaving presentations last weekend. One was at Catherine Hill Bay and one was at Redhead.

At Catherine Hill Bay, which is one of the smaller clubs in the Shortland electorate, there were 4,975.75 volunteer hours given. That is valued at $99,515. At Redhead there were 4,144 patrol hours. That was valued at $82,880 worth of volunteer patrol hours. The branch has 24-hour emergency responses with 68 ambulance calls, 391 rescues, 19,165 preventive actions and over 687,450 beach attendances with volunteers working 71,500 volunteer hours. That was valued at $2.5 million for the four councils within the Hunter region. As well as the actual volunteerism and protecting people whilst they are on the beach, they make an enormous economic contribution.

I talked about Rotary and Lions. When I was at the presentation at Redhead Surf Lifesaving Club, Charlestown Lions donated a cheque to Redhead surf club to help them buy a defibrillator. Here we have two volunteer organisations coming together to support their community.

During the last week, I have not been in parliament. I attended the Marine Rescue Lake Macquarie, and there were seven members that were given awards. Those seven people had 130 years of volunteering. The local Belmont Anglican Church provides support to grandparents bringing up their grandchildren, and they do that as volunteers. Yesterday I popped into an Australia's Biggest Morning Tea organised by Kylie, and there were families from out in the Belmont at the Belmont Sporties Men's Bowling Club all coming along to donate to cancer research. She did that as a volunteer.

RSL clubs, coaches for sporting teams, Meals on Wheels, aged care, schools, hospitals—the list is endless. Every organisation within our communities draws some sort of support from volunteers. In recent storms in the Hunter and Central Coast the SES and Rural Fire Service provided such vital services and helped people in their hours of need.

Volunteers make an incredible contribution to our communities. We need to recognise them, pay tribute to all the work that they do on an unpaid basis and thank them for making our society, our country what it is today.

Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to thank the member for Griffith for this motion. I thought her speech was great and I agree with what she was saying. I would also like to thank the member for Gilmore and the member for Shortland for their contributions. As one of my past colleagues Queensland Senator Brett Mason once said in the other place, to volunteer is to serve. But, of course, not all those who serve are volunteers. As members of parliament we serve, but we are not volunteers. Our gallant Defence Force personnel, police officers, ambulance officers and firefighters all serve as well and are exceptional community leaders. Religious leaders also serve, but they are not always volunteers either.

To offer service through volunteering is something indeed very special. Volunteers make a commitment to a cause, person or group of people that they are not required to make. There is no obligation for people to volunteer, yet people do volunteer and do it with much passion, enthusiasm and often love. The eleventh to 17 May this year was National Volunteer Week, and around the nation we celebrated the fact that six million Australians volunteer and make Australia one of the happiest places on earth to live.

The theme this year was 'Give Happy, Live Happy' to highlight the fact that volunteers not only help make other people's lives happier but are often happier as a result of their service. Throughout my time as the federal member for Petrie I have definitely met a lot of happy volunteers, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank every one of them in my electorate for the very real difference they make to our nation and our local community.

Just the other day I was at a local citizenship ceremony and I met a young lady named Emily, and her parents, who had received Australian citizenship. I would like to quickly speak about Emily and her friends, who live in North Lakes. They are an incredible bunch of young children. Emily Sherratt goes to The Lakes College. She is ten, and her friends from North Lakes State School, Alijah and Ethan McDougall, are around the same age. Yet, between them, they have participated in more than 50 volunteering activities, many of which are ongoing. To list a few: they participate in Clean up Australia Day and encouraged others to participate; they fundraise for the Red Cross Door Knock Appeal; they collected more than $600 dollars in toiletries and made more than 200 biscuits for the Brisbane Youth Service 'Get Schmick' campaign during Youth Week; and last year they raised more than $1,000 for Angel flight by running 14 kilometres in the City to South Fun Run, and they are planning to participate in the Bridge to Brisbane Fun Run this year. I honestly have no idea how they manage to fit this into their busy schedule of school and everything else they do. I think these young local volunteers deserve our recognition. And, of course, thank you to their parents, who tell me they are constantly driving Emily, Alijah and Ethan from one activity to the next, and they have probably baked more cookies than most of us have in our lifetimes.

My electorate is home to thousands of community organisations and thousands of volunteers and we cannot thank them enough for the time and energy they put into making our community a safe and happy one. The compassion volunteers show to the people they serve is an inspiration to us all. For that, we thank them.

Debate adjourned.