Page 1859 - Week 09 - Thursday, 19 October 1989
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DR KINLOCH: "And at 70, we are off and running again". I seek leave to table this document.
Leave granted.
MS MAHER (11.10): I rise to commend the other members of the committee for the work involved in this report. I also thank Christine and Ann, who helped us prepare it and did so much work for us. They were always changing appointments and what have you and succeeded in organising everything so well.
When I joined the committee, I did not realise the magnitude of the issues that the inquiry would encompass. When one sits back and thinks of the range of issues that presently affect our lives, one realises that the aged have just as many. Although these issues may be different and, in some cases, more difficult, the aged still have to survive just as we do.
According to the report, ageing begins when one retires. That is one definition. It is not my definition, but I believe that retirement is a start to a new way of life and it is important that it is prepared for correctly. I am pleased to say that the Government and many of the services and organisations around are now providing extensive programs on retirement so that people can prepare for it correctly.
The committee received a number of submissions from both private individuals and organisations. All of these submissions referred to a broad range of issues pertaining to the elderly and, from them and other sources, the committee was able to make 60 recommendations. These recommendations will, I hope, be implemented by the Government because they concern not only the elderly of today but also the elderly of the future.
The committee also made visits to many facilities for the aged and attended meetings held by organisations such as Handyhelp, the Voluntary Euthanasia Society and the Council on the Ageing. I certainly benefited a great deal from these visits. These organisations play a most valuable role in our society and I am of the opinion that we should give them all the necessary support so that they can continue to deliver a good standard of service and, in fact, we should be aiming at improving their existing services.
This report deals with what the committee considered to be the major issues, and there certainly were a lot of them. There are some issues that were not mentioned in the report, but then the committee was limited in its time and resources. My colleagues, Dr Kinloch, Mrs Nolan and Mr Wood, have spoken about many of the issues. I am just going to take up one of the issues, and that is transport.
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