Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this morning to draw the parliament’s attention to an important local community group in my electorate, the Hills Community Medical Equipment Pool, which operates out of Balcombe Heights Estate community buildings in Baulkham Hills. This not-for-profit service is one of the only units of its kind in Sydney and, I am advised, all of Australia. It is run by a core group of about 15 dedicated volunteers and provides a service of medical equipment such as wheelchairs, walking sticks, frames, crutches, commodes, bath boards, shower chairs, stools and raised toilet seats on a short-term loan basis for people who are in serious need of this equipment. These loans are commonly for six to 10 weeks, but there is flexibility for needy and terminal cases. Last Saturday I had the good fortune to preside at the general meeting of this very valuable community institution and I can personally attest that this is a remarkable service.

I acknowledge the following executive members: the president, John Goulding, who was one of the founders of this service in 1981; the vice-president, Leonie Dixon; the treasurer, Bruce Lawson; the secretary, Lyn Tomasone; the assistant secretary, Dianne White; the controller, Rhonda Goulding; the maintenance officer, Alan Stone; the community liaison officer, Jill Morgan; the trustees Rhonda, Bruce and Lyn; and all of the committee members. The Hills Community Medical Equipment Pool was launched on 30 May 1981 and is entirely run by volunteers. All of the equipment is donated by the community or through other donations to the service.

I want to make a couple of points about this here this morning. This kind of service—this kind of donating and loan of medical equipment to people who are in need of it for a very low fee—is one that cannot be provided by government. This is perhaps the only existing example of a community medical pool anywhere in Australia. Every time we hear a reference to this kind of service in this place, I like to think that this is an example of what Australia is about and what communities ought to be doing for themselves. There is no way that any government—state, federal or local—in this country could provide this service to people for the amount of money that these community groups charge, and the good work that they are doing for very sick and infirm people in my community is astonishing. What is more astonishing is that hospitals and healthcare facilities actually contact this service—this group of volunteers—to ask them if they have equipment for use in their hospitals and healthcare facilities, for loan and for patients who are leaving. It is absolutely and utterly amazing that the government, with all of its resources and power, asked this voluntary community service—run entirely by volunteers—if they had the equipment to loan to people that were leaving their facilities. It says that things are much better when we care for each other and ourselves than when we rely on government.