Claire Clutterham (Sturt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I had the privilege of launching the Parliamentary Friends of the Royal Flying Doctor Service on the front lawns of Parliament House. This is an organisation close to my heart. It was a deep honour to be joined today by Her Excellency the Hon. Ms Sam Mostyn AC, the Governor-General of Australia, who announced that she will be a patron of the organisation. Thank you, Your Excellency, for championing this wonderful organisation, led ably by federation chair Tracey Hayes and CEO Emma Buchanan.

The RFDS is an organisation that I am deeply passionate about, as many Australians are, and that's why I was determined to bring the RFDS into the heart of this parliament and establish the friendship group, to share the incredible work of the organisation with my parliamentary colleagues from all sides of the House here in Canberra. I am grateful to all my parliamentary colleagues who have joined the friendship group and who attended Plane in the Paddock today, where they had the opportunity to go inside and have a look at an RFDS plane kitted out to carry out aeromedical retrievals and deliver the finest care to the farthest corners of this great country.

So to all the doctors, nurses, LAMEs, pilots, engineers, dentists and administrators who work for the RFDS: thank you. They're the most dedicated and motivated cohort I've had the privilege to meet, all united by a common purpose—to do what they can for their fellow Australians. So let's keep the royal flying doctor flying.