Page 1095 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 30 March 2011
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(b) that the holding of an Older Persons’ Assembly in September 2011 will further recognise the valued status of seniors and provide useful discussion to guide the way ACT Government and government funded services that support seniors are accessed and delivered.
In the wake of Seniors Week, I would like to call on this Assembly to acknowledge the importance of seniors in our community. It was our seniors who established the city and the community that we now enjoy and they continue to contribute and participate in the community as family members, friends, neighbours, community volunteers and workers. This spirit of ongoing contribution that is exhibited by seniors was well articulated by the Roman writer Seneca who wrote in about 50 AD:
Retirement should be of such a nature, that however insulated a man keeps his leisure, he must be willing to be of service to individuals and to mankind by his intelligence, his voice and his counsel.
I wish to acknowledge the good work of COTA (ACT), particularly Paul Flint and the executive and Elizabeth Grant, who has led COTA very well for a very long time. And I recognise their work in coordinating the 2011 Seniors Week celebrations from 20 to 27 March 2011. This longstanding community organisation has been leading Seniors Week celebrations for over two decades. This year they organised the inclusion of over 120 events over the week, including a seniors expo which attracted over 150 stallholders.
Other events were the second grand party in Glebe Park, which offered live entertainment and fun-filled activities for seniors and their families. Indeed, I did not see Ms Bresnan there doing a Bollywood demonstration, but I would have welcomed it because it would have been wonderful. I played guitar there to see whether I could shock the socks off people, and I did.
But I need to recognise the work of the Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services Office for Ageing in coordinating all this activity, in particular Lindsay Burge, who is ubiquitous around these sorts of activities.
The Life’s Reflections photographic exhibition was again hosted at the Canberra Centre and, as always, displayed photographs that promoted positive and active ageing, intergenerational relationships in our community and Canberra as an age-friendly city.
Seniors Week is about celebrating our seniors, being mindful of their important place in the community. It is also an opportunity for seniors themselves to explore new community groups, make friends, find volunteering opportunities or just find out about local services. I would like this Assembly to acknowledge the value of positive ageing initiatives such as ACT Seniors Week and I call on this Assembly to encourage discussion and action to address issues faced by seniors.
While recent statistics reflect that Canberra is a healthy place to live, with the highest average life expectancy in Australia, there is still much we need to do as individuals for our health and independence. And it goes without saying that the ACT
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