Prime Minister
Geelong
PM: Thank you very much to Jenny Macklin for that introduction.
And it is with a great sense of delight that I join her here today, the Premier, Jenny's counterpart Mary Wooldridge and of course our local members who are very great lobbyists, indeed so persistent they will chase you down a corridor, into an office, up-hill and down-dale to make sure they are putting the case for Geelong and the greater region.
So it is great to join Darren Cheeseman and Richard Marles as well.
We are here for an exciting announcement.
I feel like it has been a weekend of excitement for me and Geelong.
I had the great delight to coming down here Saturday night with the Premier to turn on the lights at Kardinia Park and then watch Geelong go on to a great victory, even though I'd have to say, Richard, Darren, even the Mayor I think, they were pacing around in the lead up to three-quarter time and in the minutes afterwards, and I was there saying "it'll be fine, Geelong is a strong team, they will kick away in the fourth quarter".
Notwithstanding that, at the end, Richard Marles says to me "never in doubt", having exhibited all that nervousness in the match. But it was a great evening of excitement.
As exciting as that, I really feel a bigger sense of excitement today because today we are taking the next big step forward in rolling out DisabilityCare around the nation.
And for everyone who is there wearing a t-shirt, Every Australian Counts, or holding up a sign, yes, every Australian does count and DisabilityCare is about making sure we are not leaving anyone behind and we are particularly not leaving behind Australians with disabilities.
Our nation for too long has not embraced into our national life people with disabilities.
We have allowed people to struggle with underfunded and fragmented services.
We as a nation have determined we are going to change that.
I want to thank the Premier for the partnership that he entered into with me to make sure that we are rolling out DisabilityCare in Victoria and we can count down now the days to the launch right here in this region on 1 July.
You have got the launch office here, 120 people working away to make sure that we launch on 1 July and DisabilityCare goes live.
We have had to make the decision, too, about where the headquarters of DisabilityCare should go, DisabilityCare's headquarters for the rollout all around the nation.
There have been a couple of contenders to be the headquarters of DisabilityCare but it is with a great sense of delight that I announce today that the national headquarters of DisabilityCare will be right here in Geelong.
This is great news for Geelong.
Why did it happen? Not because Minister Macklin is a Geelong supporter, we need to make sure that no one thinks that's the reason, though she is a very passionate Geelong supporter.
Why here in Geelong? First and foremost I'd like to thank the Premier because our partnership around DisabilityCare has extended to Victoria saying it would invest $25 million to see the headquarters come here to Geelong.
Secondly, because Geelong is undergoing some tough times. The Ford decision has not been an easy decision for anyone and I met with some of the directly affected workers on Saturday and saw the hurt in their eyes and listened to them talk about what it means for them and their families.
It is exactly the right time to be bringing another source of jobs to Geelong so I am very pleased that we are able to put the DisabilityCare headquarters here.
It is also a tribute to the representation strongly from Richard Marles and Darren Cheeseman who have said to me consistently and very persuasively that given Geelong is the home of the Transport Accident Commission, this is a community that already has expertise in running something that is there to support people with disabilities and given that expertise, it was a natural fit for the headquarters of DisabilityCare to come here.
So the DisabilityCare headquarters will mean up to 300 jobs. The jobs will start rolling out from next year in 2014.
It will be in full operation when DisabilityCare is in full operation and it means right around the country people will always look to your part of the nation, to Geelong, to this region for leadership in DisabilityCare, leadership in rolling out this incredibly important scheme for the nation.
Darren said in his introduction that this is an important piece of social policy.
It is the biggest reform agenda since our nation decided to create Medicare and its head office is going to be right here and I know you are going to do that wonderfully, very proudly and hold that banner of DisabilityCare high and make sure that as a whole community you are saying to each other and to the whole nation that every Australian counts.
I want to thank the Premier too for the fact that our partnership on this is extending, to the State Government making modifications at the railway station so it is easier for people with disabilities to travel here.
I thank him for that. That's another sign of further commitment.
So thank you, everyone, you deserve it and I am going to enjoy in the years to come coming down here to visit DisabilityCare and to see all of the hard work that's happening from head office, but that's only possible because of all of the hard work of so many Australians here and around the nation who lobbied for, pressed for, raised their voice for DisabilityCare.
It's starting. It's real. Roll on 1 July.
Thank you.
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