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The Hon. JOHN RYAN [12.09 a.m.]: For the past 28 years Anglicare's Kingsdene Special School and Residential Service at Telopea has provided a unique educational and caring environment for children with disabilities. Kingsdene combines a school and residential program for children aged between 9 and 18 with a moderate to severe intellectual disability. For many families Kingsdene has been a lifeline, providing them with respite care in the task of bringing up children who have high support needs, and its educational program has enabled many children with disabilities to develop living skills to help them live more independently. Kingsdene was established in 1974 by its founding principal, the late June Mary Pecover. I came to know about Kingsdene personally many years ago when I met my wife, Alexandra. In 1980 she worked there in a position with the very politically incorrect appellation of "housemother". She recalls working for Mrs Pecover.
Last November a mounting deficit forced Anglicare to tell parents that the school would close at the end of 2004. It costs Anglicare a total of $1.8 million a year to run Kingsdene. Until recently the support it received from the State and Commonwealth governments together was $850,000 a year, leaving it to find the other $1 million. Anglicare approached the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training and the State government departments of Education and Training and Ageing, Disability and Home Care for assistance. In early June the New South Wales education Minister rejected Anglicare's pleas for any increase in funding. Fortunately, Kingsdene had some powerful advocates, not least of which was Ms Mary Lou Carter, chair of the Kingsdene Parents Council, the Hon. Ross Cameron, the Federal member for Parramatta, and radio broadcaster Ray Hadley.
The happy end to this story is that Anglicare has now secured last-minute financial support from the Federal and State governments that will see Kingsdene remain open beyond 2004. Yesterday Federal education Minister Brendan Nelson announced funding of $350,000 to help the school get back on its feet, and the State Government has wisely provided a similar amount. Mr Peter Gardiner, Anglicare's Chief Operating Officer, described the outcome as a miracle. He said, "Our prayers have certainly been answered." While I congratulate Anglicare and the Kingsdene parents, the battle is not completely over. Anglicare still needs to find around $220,000 a year to keep Kingsdene going. It has now established a special fund with the intention of finding 1,000 donors willing to provide $20 a month. I signed up this morning for this worthy cause and I urge other people of goodwill to do the same.
Speaking of things Anglican, I congratulate a friend of mine, the newly consecrated Bishop of the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn, Bishop Trevor Edwards. Trevor had been Rector of St Matthew's at Wanniassa in the Australian Capital Territory since May 2003, and prior to that he was an Archdeacon of South Sydney. He also served in the parishes of Caringbah, Broadway, Hurstville Grove and Camden, where I came to know him and his wife and their four sons. I had the pleasure of attending a packed St Saviour's Cathedral in Goulburn on Saturday 12 June 2004. I attended in a private capacity as a mate together with my wife, Alexandra, and I noticed that the member for Burrinjuck, Katrina Hodgkinson, and the Federal member for Hume, Alby Shultz, made up part of the congregation.
Presiding at the service was Dr Peter Jensen, Archbishop of Sydney, and the Most Reverend Peter Watson, Archbishop of Melbourne and formerly Bishop of South Sydney, delivered the sermon. The additional attendance of the Archbishop of Brisbane, Dr Phillip Aspinall, made it something of a national event. While I do not pretend to understand the internal organisation of the Anglican Church, the consecration of Bishop Edwards is something of a triumph for Anglican Church unity. The Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn is noted for having a High Church tradition. The new Bishop Edwards is a well-known evangelical. The spirit of the event was best summed up in the comments of Bishop George Browning, who is the Diocesan Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn. He said, "Some people have been tempted to think of this appointment as a plot. It is: it is a plot to ensure the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ." I am sure that Bishop Trevor Edwards will be a great servant in that diocese and I wish him and his family all the best for their work in the future.