Australian Red Cross

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins:

That this council—

1. Notes that—

(a) 2014 is the centenary year of the Red Cross in Australia, a substantial milestone in the social history of the nation, and commemorates 100 years of humanitarian service to the people of Australia;

(b) many Australians have shared a personal connection with the Red Cross, from its humanitarian role during two world wars, to preparing for, responding to and recovering from natural disasters, or helping vulnerable people and communities overcome disadvantage, and through its world-class national blood service;

(c) for 100 years the Australian Red Cross has enjoyed a unique auxiliary status to the public authorities in the humanitarian field, working in partnership with governments of diverse political persuasions, in Australia and internationally, to alleviate suffering in a voluntary aid capacity whilst adhering to its principles of independence, neutrality and impartiality; and

(d) the Australian Red Cross is part of the world’s largest humanitarian movement, with millions of volunteers working in over 100 countries, united by the fundamental principle of preventing and alleviating human suffering, without discrimination, wherever it may be found in times of war, conflict, disaster or personal crisis.

2. Calls on all honourable members of this council to join the Australian Red Cross in celebrating the 100^th anniversary of its founding on 13 August 1914, nine days after the outbreak of World War I.

(Continued from 6 August 2014.)

The Hon. S.G. WADE (17:46): I rise to support the motion of the Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins. The motion calls on all honourable members of this council to join the Australian Red Cross in celebrating the 100^th anniversary of its founding on 13 August 1914, nine days after the outbreak of World War I. I am delighted to do so. Clause 1(d) of the motion highlights the international work of the Red Cross. In doing so, it reads:

(d) the Australian Red Cross is part of the world’s largest humanitarian movement, with millions of volunteers working in over 100 countries, united by the fundamental principle of preventing and alleviating human suffering, without discrimination, wherever it may be found in times of war, conflict, disaster or personal crisis.

I would like to focus on international humanitarian law and international humanitarian assistance that are referenced in that clause. The creation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and the birth of modern international humanitarian law stem from the vision of one person: Henri Dunant. Henri Dunant was a young Christian activist in Geneva. In 1848, he was involved in forming a group of young evangelical Christian men, and in 1855 he was involved in the establishment of the first World Alliance of Young Men's Christian Associations in Paris.

Nine years later, on 24 June 1859, Dunant was travelling through Italy on business. He came across the battleground of the battle of Solferino. The Italians and the French were fighting Austrian forces which were occupying Italian lands. By the morning of 25 June, wounded soldiers lay all over the battlefield. An estimated 40,000 soldiers were killed or wounded on that day.

On a European battlefield in the 19^th century, a wound was almost a death sentence. Military medical services were primitive and the warring parties considered physicians and nurses as combatants and legitimate targets. Soldiers bled to death, died of dehydration or succumbed to infections well before medical personnel could meet their medical needs.

Dunant was deeply moved, and he was moved to action. He soon had local townspeople organised to move the wounded into homes and chapels. Most remarkably, Dunant persuaded people to care equally for the wounded enemy. 'Tutti fratelli'—I ask forgiveness from Hon. Mr Gazzola, as I understand he is the only member of Italian extraction; I do not know how that is said—I understand means 'all are brothers'. He kept telling the local volunteers that it was a concrete demonstration of a Christian vision.

After the battle, Dunant wrote a little book called A Memory of Solferino, which brought the horrors of war to public awareness. The first edition of the book was published in November 1862. By October 1863, a committee had been formed and Dunant had gathered in Geneva 31 delegates representing 16 nations to discuss his vision.

The central idea of Dunant was neutrality. If medical personnel on the battlefield could be considered neutral parties by both sides, the wounded could be treated and many lives saved. It was a controversial concept at the time but it remains the bedrock of the ICRC. In 1864, Dunant and his committee organised a conference where 12 nations signed the 10 articles that formed the first Geneva Convention. In 1876, the International Committee for the Red Cross was established. In 1901, Dunant shared the very first Nobel Peace Prize.

Just as the central idea of the ICRC is neutrality, the central idea in its sister movement, the international humanitarian law, is the simple idea that even wars have limits. IHL is the set of international rules which seeks to limit the effects of armed conflict on people and objects with the aim of reducing suffering. The Geneva conventions of 1949 deal with the protection of those on the battlefield, those fighting at sea, prisoners of war and civilians. Along with their additional protocols of 1977, they are the basis of international humanitarian law. Sadly, the conventions and their aim of limiting armed conflict are needed as much today as they ever were.

Australia has ratified the Geneva conventions and the domestic implementing legislation. The Geneva Conventions Act 1957 deals specifically with the capacity for Australia to prosecute those accused of grave breaches of the law of war as well as the correct use of the Red Cross emblem. The Australian Red Cross was established as a branch of the British Red Cross Society within days of Britain's declaration of war in 1914. Whether it be responding to natural disasters, providing aid for vulnerable people or through services such as the blood service, the Australian Red Cross has played an integral part in the lives of thousands of Australians over those 100 years.

Australia, of course, as a continent, is particularly susceptible to natural disasters. Within the past decade, more than 700 Australians have lost their lives and over 600,000 people have been affected by bushfires, floods, cyclones and natural disasters. The Australian Red Cross is always intimately involved in assisting communities and individuals recover from such disasters through the provision of food and emotional support as well as providing assistance for evacuees.

The Australian Red Cross has an international reputation throughout the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement as a leader in the promotion of international humanitarian law. Few, if any, of the other Red Cross societies have a dedicated IHL officer in every state and territory. I have had the privilege of being involved in the Red Cross 'Even Wars Have Laws' international humanitarian law program for a few years now. The program encourages schoolchildren to engage with the principles of international humanitarian law and highlights the importance of that law not only during times of war but in the context of everyday civilian life.

This year, I co-sponsored a successful IHL youth parliament together with the honourable Speaker of the other place and the Hon. Mark Parnell. The parliament was conducted in the House of Assembly chamber on 17 September, and the Speaker kindly presided. I want to pay tribute to the work of the local International Humanitarian Law Committee and, in particular, the work of Mr David Lascelles and Ms Petra Ball.

It is appropriate that we celebrate the centenary of Red Cross. It is also appropriate that, at this difficult time in world affairs, we pause to remember with deep respect the risk that Red Cross and Red Crescent staff and volunteers take every day to alleviate suffering in areas affected by war or disasters. We have two stark examples of that risk that have come to light in the last two weeks.

Only two weeks ago an ICRC delegate and staff member, Mr Laurent DuPasquier, was killed in Donetsk in the Ukraine when a shell landed near a Red Cross office in the city. The 36-year-old Swiss national had worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross for five years, having previously worked in Pakistan, Yemen, Haiti, Egypt and Papua New Guinea. Mr DuPasquier had been in the Ukraine for six weeks. Our condolences go to his family and friends.

Last week an Australian Red Cross worker was hospitalised in Queensland. The Australian nurse and Red Cross volunteer, Ms Kovack, returned to Australia after treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone. There was widespread concern that Ms Kovack had reported a fever soon after returning home. Having been cleared of the virus following extensive tests, Ms Kovack remains adamant that more volunteers, aid workers and resources are required to help fight Ebola. The Australian Red Cross continues to send specialist aid workers to Sierra Leone and Liberia where they are providing aid through health facilities.

One hundred and fifty-five years ago Henry Dunant witnessed the battle of Solferino. One hundred years ago the Australian Red Cross was established. I am pleased to associate myself with this motion and express my gratitude to the ICRC for all the good work that it has done in the past and what it will achieve in the future.

The Hon. J.S. LEE (17:56): I rise today to support the motion of the Hon. John Dawkins and convey my heartfelt congratulations to the Australian Red Cross on achieving the significant milestone of its centenary year. From 1914 to 2014—what a remarkable achievement as the Australian Red Cross is standing proud to celebrate 100 years in the social history of the nation.

I thank the very diligent member, the Hon. John Dawkins, for bringing this important motion to the Legislative Council. He made an excellent contribution, highlighting his involvement and personal connection with the Red Cross.

I also take this opportunity to acknowledge the member for Hartley, Mr Vincent Tarzia, in the other place for taking the initiative to call on the parliament to acknowledge the enormous contribution of Red Cross in delivering 100 years of humanitarian service to the people of Australia.

As the shadow parliamentary secretary for multicultural affairs, I come across many people who have benefited from the help of Red Cross. I would like to acknowledge Red Cross in the areas of migration support and settlement services that protect and uphold the health, dignity and wellbeing of vulnerable migrants.

Red Cross provides a wide range of programs and support to refugees, asylum seekers, immigration detainees and other people who are vulnerable as a result of migration. They also work to reconnect family members whose loss of contact is caused by international or internal conflict, war and disaster. With tsunamis, floods, bushfires, cyclones and heatwaves, people in Australia and across the world have faced hardship and suffering. Red Cross ensures that they are not alone. Professionals and volunteers of Red Cross have been there on the ground helping people prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters.

I thank the many community organisations within the multicultural sector for their continuous efforts in organising functions and making generous donations to assist the Red Cross disaster relief and recovery programs so that the valuable support of their emergency services teams can get to the disaster zones in Australia and overseas in a timely fashion.

On Saturday 26 July this year, the Italian communities, in association with Australian Red Cross, had a successful gala dinner dance. I pay tribute to a former member of the Legislative Council, the Hon. Julian Stefani OAM, and Mr Lorenzo Ferini, President of Fogolar Furlan, and all those involved in putting together a meaningful event to celebrate the centenary of the Australian Red Cross.

On a personal note, please allow me to acknowledge my brother-in-law, Dr Yew Wah Liew, who is a brother of Eddie Liew, for his long-term service and commitment to Red Cross. He is the manager of the Red Cell Reference Laboratory at the Australian Red Cross Blood Service in Brisbane. He has been working there for more than 24 years. There are many doctors, scientists and professionals like him who have devoted significant expertise over a long period of time to helping Red Cross to deliver much needed services to the most vulnerable communities.

In closing, I highlight the slogan on the centenary book of the Australian Red Cross, 'The Power of Humanity, 100 years of people helping people'. Thank you to some one million people, including professionals, staff, donors and volunteers, who are generously and compassionately helping Red Cross to make a positive, lasting difference to the life of many. That is a lot to reflect on over 100 years and that is a lot to celebrate! Happy anniversary, Red Cross. With those few words, I support this motion wholeheartedly.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.M. Gazzola.

Sitting suspended from 18:00 to 19:45.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (19:47): I am very happy to speak just briefly, noting that 2014 is the centenary year of Red Cross in Australia, a substantial milestone in the social history of the nation, and commemorates 100 years of humanitarian service to the people of Australia.

The reason I wanted to say a few words was that some of my earliest recollections of community service growing up on the farm just out of Bordertown were of helping my mother who was a local president and a member of the Red Cross. In fact I went to the parliamentary library today to get a copy of the book called Great Women of the Good Country. The 'good country' of course, as you would know as a former local government minister, is the Tatiara district. There is a whole range of women mentioned.

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins: It is not a town.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Not a town. It says here that in the early years after the Second World War she joined the volunteer service detachment and later became a Red Cross aid, so she started her involvement with Red Cross at a very young age and she had over 30 years' involvement. By the time this book was printed in the mid-1990s, she had been president of the local Red Cross branch for a considerable amount of time. My earliest recollections were that she was the coordinator of the Red Cross blood transfusion service in Bordertown so she had a list of all the people in the community who were on the roll to donate blood.

It was her job to work out who had been called last time and who needed to be called this time, and she would type up the notices and send them out and then the people would ring. We had a list next to the telephone, and I was probably only eight or nine years at the time and people would ring and say yes they were available or no they were not and we would tick them off. It was something she did for, I think, close to 30 years in that sort of coordination role, and I was very keen to be a blood donor. I think you had to be 18 and I think I turned 18 on a Friday and I gave my first unit of blood on the Monday night.

An honourable member: What was your blood alcohol content?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Well, probably quite low at that point. One of the things I feel a little guilty about is that I have only given blood a couple of times since becoming a member of parliament, but I was certainly a regular donor. It is interesting and it is one of those things: with that particular service in regional South Australia, Mrs Barbara Johnson, the wife of a long-time member—well, they are still members—of the Liberal Party in Naracoorte, was one of the nurses who accompanied the blood transfusion service around the South-East. So it was something that knitted the community together and it was a very vital service, obviously with the importance of a lot of people donating blood.

The other thing I think was of interest and played an important role was that the Red Cross were involved at a local level on the local disaster committee. Bordertown is a unique town in one sense but a bit like some of those along the highway. There was a level crossing with a major interstate railway line. It was on the major highway between Adelaide and Melbourne and, of course, it was on an air route between Adelaide and Melbourne, so there was a preparedness if a train was derailed and ran into the fuel depot and it blew up, or if a plane fell out of the sky and crashed onto the train.

Thank God it never happened, but there was always the chance we would have a significant disaster involving a lot of people being injured and a significant logistics operation, so the Red Cross were intimately involved in making sure they could provide not the first aider, not the nursing service, but all of the support for those disasters whether it was a big road crash, a derailment or even a bushfire. Thankfully, we did not really have any of those in my time and certainly in my mother's time, but it was seen as a really important way of being part of the community.

Just briefly, two of my children were the local Red Cross babies, which again was a fundraising thing. The kids were sponsored and they went to a state final. They must have got their looks from me because they did not do particularly well in those finals; nonetheless, it was a way of bringing the community together, and they were strongly supported.

I think regional communities have valued the service of the Red Cross. I know my colleagues the Hon. Stephen Wade and the Hon. John Dawkins spoke about the history of Red Cross in Australia, but I wanted to pay tribute to all the locals in the country towns. All they want to do is make sure they are part of that group in their local community and play a role whenever there is a crisis at hand or just providing a service by supporting the local blood transfusion service. I commend the motion to the chamber, and I thank the Hon. John Dawkins for bringing this to the chamber's attention.

The PRESIDENT: Thank you. I am sure that your daughter's gene pool does not come from you, mate: it comes from Meredith, without a doubt.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: One of the children happened to be my son; it was not both my daughters.

The PRESIDENT: You are out of order. The Hon. Mr Ngo.

The Hon. T.T. NGO (19:52): I know the Hon. Mr Ridgway's son is quite a good-looking bloke, so I am sure he has got his Dad's looks.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway: Sorry?

The Hon. T.T. NGO: I said you have got a pretty good-looking son. I met him in the lift a while ago, and I said he has got his old Dad's looks. I rise to offer my support for the honourable member's motion on the 100^th anniversary of the Australian Red Cross. Once again, I commend the Hon. John Dawkins for his leadership in acknowledging community groups such as the Red Cross for their tireless work not just in Australia but around the world.

The Red Cross has been active in Australia since 13 August 1914—nine days after the outbreak of World War I. It quickly became the leading wartime voluntary charity, appealing largely to Australian women. Only 25 years later, during World War II, the Red Cross became the largest charitable organisation in Australia, both in terms of the scale of its operations and also in the support it received from the Australian people.

From a national population of seven million people, nearly half a million people—roughly 7.1 per cent of the total population, which is equivalent to around 1.63 million members of today's total population of around 23 million people—mostly women, were members of Red Cross at that time.

Red Cross branches and volunteers were vital through the post-war reconstruction period, focusing on social welfare and national emergencies including floods and bushfires. The Red Cross blood service and first aid programs were also established at this time. The Australian Red Cross works tirelessly to help communities prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters; increase international aid and development; champion international humanitarian law; address the impact of migration; partner with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; reconnect socially isolated individuals with their communities; strengthen communities trapped in a cycle of disadvantage; and provide a world-class blood service.

Currently, the Australian Red Cross has 30,000 volunteers, including 2,400 South Australians. Volunteers help make daily phone calls to older people living alone to check that they are okay. This is very comforting for many elderly Australians and their children, who may be unable to speak to their parents on a daily basis, even more so as we enter the summer period. They also serve nutritious breakfasts to school children who may otherwise go without, provide a friendly face and customer service at Red Cross shops, and are trained to support the community if a disaster ever strikes.

The Australian Red Cross is a member of the international Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (the movement). The movement's mission is to prevent or reduce human suffering wherever it is found, and its focus in Australia is international humanitarian law programs and refugee services. In all its activities, their volunteers, members and staff are guided by the Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. They are:

1. Humanity: the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, born of a desire to bring assistance without discrimination to the wounded on the battlefield, endeavours in its international and national capacity to prevent and alleviate human suffering wherever it may be found. Its purpose is to protect life and health and ensure respect for the human being. It promotes mutual understanding, friendship, co-operation and lasting peace amongst all people.

2. Impartiality: it makes no discrimination as to nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions. It endeavours to relieve the suffering of individuals, being guided solely by their needs, and to give priority to the most urgent cases of distress.

3. Neutrality: in order to continue to enjoy the confidence of all, the movement may not take sides in hostilities or engage at any time in controversies of a political, racial, religious or ideological nature.

4. Independence: the movement is independent. The National Societies, while auxiliaries in the humanitarian services of their governments and subject to the laws of their respective countries, must always maintain their autonomy so that they may be able at all times to act in accordance with the principles of the movement.

5. Voluntary service: it is a voluntary relief movement not prompted in any manner by desire for gain.

6. Unity: there can be only one Red Cross or Red Crescent Society in any one country. It must be open to all. It must carry on its humanitarian work throughout its territory.

7. Universality: the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, in which all societies have equal status and share equal responsibilities and duties in helping each other, is worldwide.

As an Australian of Vietnamese origin, I would like to pass on the Vietnamese community's gratitude to the Australian Red Cross for all the support it continues to provide to Vietnam, even well after the war ended 40 years ago when international aid to Vietnam reached its peak.

Many Australians who have worked, or continue to work, for the Red Cross have provided invaluable efforts to Vietnam with the organisation's ethos in mind, that is, recognising humanity whilst being impartial, neutral and independent and recognising that the pain and suffering of the Vietnamese is also Australia's pain and suffering. To this end, on behalf of the Australian Vietnamese community, I say thank you to the Australian Red Cross. Finally, I commend the Hon. John Dawkins for moving this motion in this place.

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT (20:01): I take the floor to speak very briefly on behalf of Dignity for Disability in support of the Hon. John Dawkins' motion celebrating the centenary year—100 years—of the Red Cross in Australia. I would like to reiterate and support the many positive comments that have been made by previous speakers about the work that the Red Cross has done, and continues to do.

As canvassed by my fellow colleagues, the Australian Red Cross provides the community with significant and important humanitarian services locally, nationally and internationally. The work of the Red Cross is invaluable to the most vulnerable in our community, whether that be those requiring a blood transfusion, refugees looking for lost family members, elderly people needing transport or children who need breakfast before they start school. The Red Cross provides services and runs programs for all of these groups, and many others in need.

The work I would particularly like to illustrate is the important work the Red Cross is currently carrying out in West Africa, where there has been—as I am sure all members would be aware—the deadliest outbreak of the Ebola virus we have ever seen.

Australians, including the Cairns nurse who was featured in the news bulletins last week, continue to volunteer locally and abroad to ensure that people can lead full and healthy lives. In the case of Ebola, heading to West Africa is riskier than your average volunteering experience, but Australians and many others continue to put themselves in harm's way to uphold the humanity principle of the Red Cross, which I quote:

…born of a desire to bring assistance without discrimination to the wounded on the battlefield, endeavours, in its international and national capacity, to prevent and alleviate human suffering wherever it may be found. Its purpose is to protect life and health and ensure respect for the human being. It promotes mutual understanding, friendship, co-operation and lasting peace amongst all people.

It is also interesting to note the basic principles that drive the work of the Red Cross: humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity and universality—pretty reasonable concepts, I would have thought, especially at a time like this. I commend the Red Cross for their ongoing important work and commend the motion to the chamber.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (20:04): I rise to speak in support of the motion put forward by the Hon. John Dawkins in support of the Australian Red Cross and the Red Cross movement. The Hon. John Dawkins spoke about the noble history of our Red Cross, particularly about its formation after the outbreak of World War I, which was, of course, called the Great War at that time, and about the more than one million volunteers, donors, members and staff who have made such an enormous difference in the lives of those in need across not only Australia but obviously across the globe. Today, I would like to talk about, in particular, part (d) of this motion, which reads:

The Australian Red Cross is part of the world's largest humanitarian movement, with millions of volunteers working in over 100 countries, united by the fundamental principle of preventing and alleviating human suffering, without discrimination, wherever it may be found in times of war, conflict, disaster or personal crisis.

We are currently faced with some really divisive discourse in our federal parliament, our media and our community. I cannot help but reflect upon that as I reflect upon this motion. Therefore, I welcome the opportunity to speak in the parliament today about the wonderful work of the Red Cross in welcoming people and including and helping people from all walks of life into our communities. In particular, I would like to commend and recognise the Australian Red Cross for the great support they provide to refugees and asylum seekers.

The Australian Red Cross provides vital support to refugees, asylum seekers, immigration detainees and other people who are vulnerable as a result of migration, through a range of valuable services and programs. Of course, quite often when one is fleeing persecution, and there is also the fleeing of war, it really goes back to the heart of why the Red Cross is there in the first place. Through these Red Cross programs that organisation works to protect and uphold the health, dignity and wellbeing of vulnerable people. Importantly, the Red Cross also works to reconnect family members whose loss of contact is caused by international or internal conflict, war and disaster. The Australian Red Cross does this through programs such as their asylum seeker assistance scheme, migration support program and community detention program.

As stated in part (d) of this motion, the Australian Red Cross is part of the world's largest humanitarian movement, with volunteers united by the fundamental principle of preventing and alleviating human suffering without discrimination wherever it may be found. I would like to highlight this important work because I believe that Australia has lost its way as a country with this approach and the Australian Red Cross and the Red Cross movement in general has a lot to teach us.

The Australian Red Cross has been monitoring conditions in immigration detention facilities for over 20 years. In fact, at one point we were the only country in the world to have mandatory immigration detention, much to our shame. Much to those other countries' shame, we are not the only country that continues to have that inhumane approach to those who are fleeing persecution and war.

The Red Cross is an experienced and neutral organisation that people can turn to with any issues or concerns. This, of course, is vitally important where we have this immigration detention regime. The Red Cross aims to reduce harm and increase resilience amongst people in detention, particularly those who are so vulnerable. I note that the Red Cross believes that immigration detention should only be used as a last resort and always for the shortest practical time. People in immigration detention facilities are entitled to the maintenance of good health and wellbeing and to be treated with dignity and respect, and all efforts should be made to mitigate the negative impacts of that detention.

Humanitarian observers from the Red Cross conduct independent humanitarian monitoring of immigration detention facilities, assessing the general conditions as well as access to services and the treatment of people detained. Previously, they had been the only independent organisation to visit all detention facilities on at least a quarterly basis. As a result of this monitoring, the Red Cross has been able to raise issues of humanitarian concern and engage in confidential advocacy with the Department of Immigration and the Australian Advocate. I would commend them for this vital role, although bemoan that we need to have them play this role within our country where we have gone down this path of mandatory immigration detention.

With those few words, I echo my colleagues' support and gratitude to the Hon. John Dawkins for, yet again, highlighting the work of civil society and community organisations in this parliament. With that I commend the motion.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (20:09): First, I thank my colleagues the Hon. Mr Wade, the Hon. Ms Lee, my leader the Hon. Mr Ridgway, the Hon. Tung Ngo, the Hon. Kelly Vincent, and the Hon. Tammy Franks for their contributions to this debate, and a number of other people who have also indicated their support for the motion and, obviously, their support for the Red Cross.

The contributions we have had on this motion today have provided a wide range of examples of the work of Red Cross locally, nationally and on the international stage. Each of the speakers has brought a different context to their own experiences with the Red Cross. In particular, we have heard of the involvement of the Red Cross in the Tatiara district, in the Bordertown area particularly, and of course in Vietnam. We have also listened to a range of other ways in which the Red Cross has had an impact on society generally over the last 100 years.

I also acknowledge the fact that you, Mr President, have indicated your support in perhaps reactivating your blood donation regime. I think you are probably like a number of other people who give blood donations for a time and then, for whatever reason, lose track of it but then wish to come back. I would certainly support any work you might suggest or any other member who is interested in raising awareness of blood donation. That is how I became involved—through the Hon. Mr Gilfillan and the now Speaker of the House of Assembly, who were the ones who activated new members in my day. With those few words, I commend the motion to the council.

Motion carried.