Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was delighted to recently host two positive ageing forums, in Mount Barker and Victor Harbor, in my electorate. Mayo is the oldest electorate by mean age in South Australia. The needs of older people living in our community, including the aged-care system, has been a significant priority in my work in the parliament over these last five years. I believe that positive ageing is far broader than aged care. For me, this is one of the most pressing matters facing us, as the proportion of older people grows. We have a wealth of amazing elders, who built a thriving community and represent one of our greatest assets. Their skills, experience, energy, goodwill and knowledge are resources that my community and the positive ageing forums aim to tap into and foster.

With such events there are so many people to thank. Our venues, Cornerstone College in Mount Barker and Investigator College in Victor Harbor, were so helpful and kindly allowed us the use of their sports and arts centres during the school holidays. While special guest Ita Buttrose AC was sadly unable to attend, impacted by the travel restrictions in New South Wales, we were very fortunate to have been able to attract some brilliant local speakers. I'd like to thank each of our speakers in turn for their generosity in sharing their knowledge and experience: Mr Ian Henschke, the chief advocate for National Seniors, generously gave his time to present at both forums; Mr Graeme Goodings, an Australia radio and television journalist and a much-loved South Australian, shared his personal story of overcoming bowel cancer; Ms Carolanne Barkla, chief executive of Aged Rights Advocacy Service, guided participants through advanced-care directives and what elder abuse looks like; Lynn Field, from Dementia Australia, spoke about dementia and living with dementia in the community; Ian Yates, the chief executive of Council of the Ageing, spoke to the south-coast audience on the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality And Safety—it was great to hear from Ian Yates on behalf of COTA; and, on the south coast, Maggie Beer, iconic South Australian and author, enthralled us with her insights on the need for nutrition, flavour and ultimately pleasure in food for people of all ages, whether you're cooking for one or living in residential care.

I'd like to thank the wonderful local speakers: Joanne Lauritsen, deputy CEO of Grandparents For Grandchildren South Australia, who talked about what they're doing to support grandparents who are in the role of parents; Geoff Edwards, from the University of the Third Age, Adelaide Hills U3A, spoke about how their organisation is keeping positive ageing at its heart; Belinda Sheldrick shared with us how we can demystify self-managed aged care; Valerie Lillington enthusiastically spoke and sang about the 'Victor Challenge', which is Valerie's idea for recognising our older people with a Duke-of-Edinburgh-style scheme; Deirdre Henderson shared her experience of caring for a family member with dementia with support from Dementia Australia; and Dr Jenny Slape, Hills author, spoke about creating a culture of respect that connects and cares for people with personalised dementia care.

I'd like to especially thank our generous sponsors who provided participants with nourishing goodies and goodie bags. We had the best goodie bags—better than any show or organisation has ever seen before. Jurlique provided a beautiful lavender mister for every person who attended and encouraged people to visit their farm gate and have a farm tour; The Yoghurt Shop; Beerenberg family farm provided beautiful jams, which was a lovely treat for everyone; Mountain Fresh Fruit Juices—every bag had a fruit juice that was made in Mount Compass; Bunnings Mount Barker provided reusable shopping bags; and Ceravolo Orchards, which, again, is another fantastic Mayo business, provided us all with delicious local apples.

Each of the forums had an associated expo. I can't list them all, but thank you to all of the organisations who had a stall, who listened to people and who did such a terrific job. I'd also like to thank the volunteers in my electorate who helped get this happening and did the registrations; local mayor Dr Moira Jenkins, for her acknowledgement to country; and Mount Barker Mayor Ann Ferguson, who also did an acknowledgement to country as well as providing Anzac biscuits. Thank you to everyone who was involved. I look forward to doing more of our positive ageing expos.