Page 430 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 18 February 2020
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
stopped. The resulting disruption would be unmistakeable. So many aspects of our daily lives are touched by generous volunteers who give of their time, their talents and their passion. To offer just one example, the ACT is filled with vibrant community organisations that support and serve tens of thousands of people. Virtually all these organisations are led by volunteers who spend hours in dedicated services.
These visible volunteers are supported by armies of everyday community members whose less seen labour is necessary to getting anything done. Every time that I attend a cultural event hosted by one of our multicultural community organisations, visit a temple, a mosque, a synagogue or other place of worship, help to launch another street library, take my family to a community fair or school fete, or spend an afternoon with a group of enthusiastic Scouts, I catch a glimpse of these numerous unsung volunteers. I am so grateful for what they do. In fact, I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank every volunteer in this community.
Some, like those I have just mentioned, serve within the framework of a faith group or a community organisation. Others simply serve the people around them in informal ways. For years, one of my elderly neighbours in Charnwood would take my bins to the curb and bring them back in again just to be thoughtful. He did this many, many years. I am grateful for people like this retired schoolteacher, for those who volunteer to help a struggling student, for those who keep an eye on the pensioner down the street and so on.
Paid work often occupies large parts of our waking hours, but most human endeavours are quiet acts of volunteerism. I am grateful to have been taught from a young age the value of serving and I am grateful for the good things that a lifetime of volunteering in my community has brought to me and my own family. As a wise man once said, as we lose ourselves in the service of others, we discover our own lives and our own happiness.
It is important to recognise the extent of volunteering around us, as well as the value that volunteering brings not just to our communities but to those who choose to serve. Volunteers enjoy greater physical and mental wellbeing and face less social isolation. Those who have learnt this important lesson early in their life have far better outcomes as adults.
I want to also thank VolunteeringACT for the incredible work that they do. I wish to note that VolunteeringACT are opening nominations for the Canberra region volunteering awards. I join with my Liberal colleague James Milligan in encouraging people to nominate volunteers for the nine award categories that they have: the young volunteer award, the senior volunteer of the year award, the inclusion award, the innovation award, the volunteer leadership award, the corporate volunteering award, the volunteer team of the year award, Canberra’s choice award and, finally, the ninth category, volunteer of the year award. We should do all that we can to raise the profile of volunteering as a way of life.
MR GUPTA (Yerrabi) (3.25): I am pleased to speak to the matter of public importance about recognising and valuing volunteering in the ACT. Volunteering brings people together to build a more active and inclusive community. It enriches the
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video