Paul Walshe’s mission to build a respite centre in Queanbeyan will take him to the former battle lines of Papua New Guinea.
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The recent recipient of the Order of Australia Medal is raising money for the facility by hiking the famously grueling Kokoda Trail, but that’s just a part of this man’s journey.
Mr Walshe has been lobbying state and federal politicians too and is hopeful of enlisting the help of the Ricky Stuart Foundation.
Earlier this week he met with the state member for Monaro John Barilaro and he said he was confident the project was progressing.
"I wasn't sure yesterday where the meeting would go but I walked out very satisfied that we got a good listening to and that he wants to do something about it,” Mr Walshe said.
The Ricky Stuart Foundation is responsible for building similar facilities.
“They are now working with an organisation called the Disability Trust in NSW to build another respite centre for children down in Wollongong,” Mr Walshe said.
"Ricky is very keen to do something in Queanbeyan because it's his home town and he sees a real benefit of being involved in this particular project.”
Mr Barilaro agreed the meeting was positive and he was continuing to work with Mr Walshe.
“I will be liaising with the NSW Disability Trust and investigating potential models that may be suitable for a Queanbeyan based centre,” the deputy premier said.
“Respite care is an important issue for the residents of the Queanbeyan region, carers are an invaluable part of our community and it’s important that they are provided with support.”
Mr Walshe said the need for the respite centre had become desperate with more than 250,000 primary carers in NSW alone.
With no such facility in Queanbeyan, disabled members of the community have been forced into nursing homes.
He plans to work with the council to allocate a spot for the centre and then with the state government to design the six bedroom respite facility.
"Once we have that, then we can sell that to the community,” Mr Walshe said.
“It's a bit hard to sell a blank bit of paper until you've got something they can visually see."
For the hike itself, Mr Walshe will draw on the energy from his three favourite sporting clubs – Canberra Raiders, Richmond Tigers and, of course, the Queanbeyan Tigers.
The Queanbeyan Football Club confirmed this week they would donate $500.
To donate money to help Mr Walshe on his hike head to rickystuart.org/donate/.
