Cathy McGowan (Indi, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Colleagues: our senior citizens—we need to be there for them, to treat them as they have treated us. They've paid their taxes, they've done their community service, they've built the institutions, they've raised families. Today I would like to acknowledge the work of Mr John Richards OAM. Mr Richards is a former jackaroo, soldier and farmer and was the inaugural president of the Yarrawonga District Health Service board of management. His vision to support aged care research in North East Victoria has been backed by the generous and continuing donations to La Trobe University and has resulted in the establishment of the John Richards Initiative into ageing and aged care in rural communities based in Albury-Wodonga.

This year the John Richards Initiative and his philanthropy celebrate 10 years as the only interdisciplinary rural ageing and aged-care research in Australia. They are recognised as global leaders in rural ageing and aged-care research. And if that's not enough, in 2013 he established a fund to support scholarships for students studying agriculture. This has now been extended to undergraduate students at La Trobe University in Albury-Wodonga.

John Richards, I acknowledge you, I thank you and I honour you. And I call on parliament to value all of our senior citizens in word and deed, and to take a leading role in making sure that we give to our older citizens the place and the respect they deserve in our nation. (Time expired)