16 June 2020
Senator for South Australia the Hon Don Farrell has met with Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (SA Branch) CEO/Secretary Adj. Associate Professor Elizabeth Dabars AM to personally deliver a large box filled with hundreds of messages of support for health care workers from his constituents.
The handover of some 1,300 cards praising the work of health workers was prompted by the Senator’s campaign to encourage public moral support for our frontline troops during the COVID-19 pandemic emergency, by letter box-dropping thank you cards for residents to write messages on.
Senator Farrell says the response has been “overwhelming’’, with returned cards continuing to pour into his Adelaide office.
“We took the view that nurses in particular were doing a fantastic job in some of the most difficult circumstances that I’ve come across in my lifetime, but weren’t necessarily getting the recognition they were entitled to,’’ Senator Farrell said.
“Both in terms of the job they were performing but also the risks they were taking in terms of dealing with the COVID crisis.
“So we decided to seek messages of support from South Australians and we’ve had an overwhelming response from them.’’
Ms Dabars thanked the Senator and the public for their support.
“We are, on behalf of our professions, very pleased and honoured to be able to receive the cards because we do know our members have gone in with such bravery and courage in the face of this crisis and putting themselves and in fact their families at risk often, but nevertheless they’ve continued to turn up,’’ she said.
“It’s really heartening to see all these messages saying thank you.’’