Margaret May (McPherson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of welcoming the Hon. Tony Abbott, Minister for Health and Ageing, into my electorate. Tony undertook the very special task of officially opening Hill View House at Merrimac, which is a new aged care facility. It is a $20 million state-of-the-art aged care project, which was commenced in September 2004 and began its operations on 29 December 2005. The federal government has approved 85 high-care and 43 low-care beds, and aged care will be provided to people with dementia, which is great for residents on the Gold Coast, particularly for those families who have the responsibility of caring for frail aged parents or relatives.

I was particularly impressed with the links that have been made with the local community, and that was evident by the people who were at the opening on Saturday. In particular, a link has been forged with the Merrimac state school, which is next door to the aged care facility. The principal, Randall Pointing, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the aged care facility for interaction between the young students and the frail aged in the nursing home. There has also been a memorandum of understanding with the multicultural communities on the Gold Coast. That is to ensure the appropriate placement of multicultural aged people who require care in this facility. I think that that is particularly appropriate on the Gold Coast, where we have so many people from different backgrounds.

I want to pay tribute to the people who organised Saturday’s official opening—in particular, Bronwyn Locke, the CEO, who is passionate about her role with Hill View Aged Care Pty Ltd. She has always been committed to the care and welfare of the aged in our community. She and Sandy Foote and her team at Hill View House provided a wonderful opportunity for the community to have a look through this new aged care facility on Saturday. The function went off extremely well and I know that, with these people at the helm, aged care on the Gold Coast has gone to another level.

Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They are pleased you’re the member too.

Margaret May (McPherson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

They certainly are. We did a tour through the aged care facility, and the minister was particularly impressed with the facilities that are being provided for aged care on the Gold Coast. I congratulate all those involved in the opening of Hill View House on Saturday and give special thanks to the Minister for Health and Ageing for participating in the official opening.

Harry Jenkins (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I call the honourable member for Richmond, and without making a partisan comment from the chair but to encourage people to take note of the Main Committee, let me say that a wonderful photo opportunity was missed just before when there were six members of the coalition on the government side from the one state—Queensland.

Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Slipper interjecting

Ian Causley (Page, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The chair could not comment on that to the honourable member for Fisher.