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Afternoon Tea in support of National Palliative Care Week 2024
Palliative Care Queensland President, Associate Professor Anthony Herbert and CEO, Ms Louise O'Neill; staff, volunteers and supporters of palliative care; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon.
I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Custodians of the lands around Brisbane, the Turrbal and Jagera people, and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and to all First Nations people with us today.
Graeme and I are delighted to welcome you all to Government House this afternoon to mark National Palliative Care Week.
Some of you are here as board directors, members of staff, or as one of the dedicated army of Palliative Care Queensland volunteers; others are here representing care facilities, health and medical services, research institutions, peak organisations or government entities.
That level of diversity is a very encouraging indication of the growing acceptance and understanding of palliative care in our community, and, at the outset, I congratulate and thank you all for your commitment and tireless advocacy.
Of course, there are still barriers to overcome. Death today remains the last great taboo in Western society. End-of-life conversations remain challenging, and we still use countless euphemisms to avoid the discomfort of speaking directly about death and life-limiting diseases and conditions.
But the concept of palliative care is making a difference, helping to change attitudes and giving people the chance to live as well as possible for as long as possible.
For Palliative Care Queensland and for the national body, Palliative Care Australia, this has meant ensuring appropriate information and training is available for patients, their families and carers, as well as for society more generally.
Those efforts have ensured that there are now excellent and relevant resources for multiple sectors of Australian society: children, the LGBTIQ+ community, those experiencing homelessness, those serving prison sentences, multicultural communities, as well as excellent tools addressing sad news and sorry business for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
One of the most innovative and successful initiatives has been to establish Australia’s very first Ambulance Wish program.
The simple concept of granting someone their last wish has become a signature program and I congratulate Ambulance Wish Queensland and Palliative Care Queensland on five inspiring years of compassion and care. Together, you have given countless Queenslanders and their loved ones a meaningful day to remember and treasure.
As we celebrate National Palliative Care week, it is timely to reflect on the founding belief of Palliative Care Queensland: that the way we care for our dying is a significant indicator of our society’s values.
Thanks to everyone in this room – and the work of countless others over the past 30 years, we can be confident that there will always be someone available to talk to about living, ageing, dying and grieving.
That is a priceless gift to us all and, on behalf of all Queenslanders, I thank you for that.