Hibiscus Coast Hospice in-patient facility opening

May I begin by greeting everyone in the languages of the realm of New Zealand - English, Maori, Cook Island Maori, Niuean, Tokelauan and New Zealand Sign Language.

Greetings, Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni and  as it is the afternoon (Sign)

May I specifically greet you: Howard Jury, Chair of the Hospice Hibiscus Coast Charitable Trust, your fellow trustees and your kaumatua Pereme Porter; Julie Joyce, General Manager and all the Hospice staff and volunteers; Mary Schumacher, Chief Executive of Hospice New Zealand; Your Worship Penny Webster, Mayor of Rodney District; Distinguished Guests otherwise; Ladies and Gentlemen.

Thank you for inviting Susan and myself to attend the opening of the Hibiscus Coast Hospice's new inpatient facility here in Orewa today.

I have been asked to formally open the new facility, but before I do, I would like to speak briefly about the significance of this facility and of hospices generally.

Hospices and hospice services are special because their sole focus is caring those with terminal illnesses and their loved ones.  The focus is not on healing—for that is no longer possible—but preparing everyone for their loved one's death and in making that experience as positive and comfortable as possible for everyone.

The hospice movement has played an important role in changing our view of death and those with terminal illnesses.  When death is seen not as an aberration but as the final stage in life, it follows that those with terminal illnesses deserve as much respect and human dignity as everyone else.  Many people with terminal illnesses continue to contribute to society and the economy right up until their death.

The hospice movement has not only lobbied and fundraised for the necessary funding to provide services for those with terminal illnesses but also to change the mindset of the health system. 

Increasingly palliative care as a medical speciality is being seen as just as valid a career choice as obstetrics or orthopaedics.  Allowing someone to live the rest of his or her life as free of pain as possible, and with the greatest level of normalcy, should be seen as just as worthwhile an outcome as healing a fractured leg.  It is therefore pleasing to note that Hospice Medical Director Professor Rod MacLeod teaches postgraduate palliative care at the Auckland Medical School.

As our population ages, hospice services will be increasingly in demand.  Last year alone, I am advised that 8000 people and their families used hospice services in New Zealand.

For more than 20 years, the Hospice Hibiscus Coast Charitable Trust has served a large area north of Auckland, providing the community with specialist in-home palliative care.  These services have enabled more than 160 people a year to remain in their home, close to their families and loved ones, until they die. 

However, a combination of a growth in the area's population, New Zealand's ageing population and the success of the service, has seen increasing demands for an in-patient facility.

I wish to congratulate the trustees, the staff, the volunteers, donors and wider community for its work in raising the $7 million required to build this magnificent facility.  I also wish to congratulate the trustees, core paid staff and the hundreds of volunteers that provide the services that give meaning the bricks and mortar, nails and weatherboards, that stand before us.

Before unveil the plaque and officially declare this facility open, I will close in Maori, offering greetings and wishing you fortitude in your endeavours. No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tena koutou katoa.

(Unveil plaque).  It gives me great pleasure to declare this Hospice Hibiscus Coast facility officially open.