Currumbin Wildlife Hospital: house sale proceeds a lifeline for sick koalas

Australian Wildlife recovery post-bushfires

Proceeds from the sale of a waterfront home at Palm Beach will be donated to charities including the ailing Currumbin Wildlife Hospital. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT


PROCEEDS from the sale of a waterfront home at Palm Beach will be donated to local charities including the ailing Currumbin Wildlife Hospital.

Australia’s busiest native wildlife hospital, which treats more than 600 koalas each year, is among six beneficiaries of the estate of the late Iris Ripley, with 90 per cent of proceeds from the sale of her home at 62 Nineteenth Avenue, Palm Beach to be split between the charities.

Mrs Ripley lived in the home at 62 Nineteenth Avenue, Palm Beach for 24 years.


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The four-bedroom home fronts its own sandy beach and has a private boat ramp to access Tallebudgera Creek and the ocean beyond.


The four-bedroom home fronts its own sandy beach in one of the southern Gold Coast’s most sought-after locations, and will be auctioned on February 25.

Marketing agent Laura Robinson, of Ray White Elanora Tugun, said Mrs Ripley was an animal lover with a keen sense of humour who was well-known within the tight-knit community.

“Iris was a lovely woman with a great sense of humour, always had a smile on her face and could be very funny,” Ms Robinson said.

“We got to know her about 15 years ago when we were selling another waterfront home nearby. We often used to see her in our Nineteenth Avenue shopping centre and she would pop in for a chat.

Iris Ripley was an animal lover with a keen sense of humour.


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“She was a popular local character and always an animal lover. It was no surprise that three of the six beneficiaries in her will were related to animal welfare,” she said.

The 607 sqm property is for sale for the first time in 24 years and offers direct access to Tallebudgera Creek via a private boat ramp. Ms Robinson said inquiry from local and interstate buyers was strong.

Proceeds from the sale will be split between the struggling wildlife hospital, which had 14,000 wildlife admissions last year but is covered financially only for the next three months, and other not-for-profit orgnaisations, including the Queensland Police Legacy Scheme, Currumbin Valley Rural Bushfire Brigade, the Animal Welfare League shelter in Coombabah, Gold Coast ambulance service, and Wildcare at Nerang.

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Palm Beach is defined as a high demand market by Realestate.com.au, with a slew of high-end boutique developments and hip new eateries and nightspots breathing new life into the once-sleepy coastal enclave.

The median price for a four-bedroom home in the popular suburb is $1.08m, up 38.5 per cent from five years ago, with recent nearby sales including 85 Mallawa Drive, which sold under the hammer for $1.05m — $185,000 above the reserve price.

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