Tributes
Jenny Gill
Mr. Speaker, I wish to continue the celebration of some incredible Tasmanian women and rise this evening to pay tribute to a beautiful and unique Launceston woman, historian and archivist Jenny Gill, who recently passed away.
There are few people in your life that, in various situations, you observe go around their daily passions and activities with such dedication.
As a young person in Launceston, I will never forget the moments I have seen Jenny Gill, whether it be in my schoolyard, in the local church, in the local choir, or reading her contributions in the local newspapers.
Jenny Gill was a very special and unique lady and made a significant contribution to life in Launceston and Tasmania. She was a much-loved community member.
When we say a lot about a member of our community when they pass it can only be true to say that Jenny was kindness and dedication to others personified. She had a real passion for storytelling as an archivist, as a historian.
She wanted to ensure that she captured life in Tasmania and that it was appropriately documented. She was a great and much-loved storyteller and just loved sharing the Tasmanian history. She was particularly committed to uncovering and telling stories of women and girls, and wanted to make sure their contributions were appropriately recorded.
Among some of Jenny Gill's achievements, she was a foundation member of the Launceston Historical Society, a pupil, historian and archivist of the Broadland House school, past and present old girls, an archivist at Launceston Grammar, volunteer in the DV Gunn archives and an author of a number of books as well as hundreds upon hundreds of columns in The Examiner newspaper.
For all of us born and bred in this great place in Tasmania to see the names of people sharing the history and traditions of Tasmania is such a rich and important part of our upbringings and our understandings. I always used to love reading her contributions.
She was a volunteer in the history department at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, and an archive parishioner in the Anglican Church at St Johns and Holy Trinity churches.
There is no doubt that many in the Launceston community will miss Jenny and her storytelling, her wry sense of humor and her kindness towards others.
This evening I place on the record my thanks to Jenny for her decades of loyal contribution to the Launceston community. Vale Jenny Gill.
23rd November 2021 - 6:32pm
Video - YouTube
Amanda Beams
Mr. Speaker, on this International Women's Day, I rise to celebrate a local in the northern Tasmanian community, a kind person who contributes so much in the Tamar Valley, in and around the communities of Exeter.
This week we have, fresh from competition in South Australia, a new world record set and Australian champion in Amanda Beams. I do not know how many people have followed the career of Amanda Beams. She is a fantastic competitor across a number of events.
In South Australia just this week, there was a Stihl Timber Sports Australian Women's Championships. She had what she describes as the most successful competition since it started in 2017.
The reason I rise to mention it, is that it is International Women's Day, and it is great in this week that we have someone right here from Tassie, right from the Tamar Valley, who is an incredible Australian champion who this week set a world record.
It is notable because on the occasions that I have had a chance to meet with Amanda, meet with her family and get to see her community, her tribe, around her, she is such a beautiful person, and she is so well respected, but she gives so much back. I have been watching the commentary over the last few days since they have journeyed in towards this competition she has been setting up with her fellow competitors.
Since the results have been announced she has done nothing over the last two or three days on social media but acknowledge everyone who contributes to make it possible for her, for the people she works with, the people in her community, the people who prepare all her equipment, the people who do the important things, like clean up after the event. She has spent days celebrating everybody else. I think that speaks to a really special quality in a human being.
So today on International Women's Day, with a world record and Australian champion, I want to recognise Amanda Beams. The results of her most successful in this Stihl Timber Sports Australian Women's Championships were as follows.
She was first in the underhand at 31 seconds. That was the world record. She earned six points. She was first in the stock saw, 15.33 seconds, also six points, and second for the first time. I think she has always come in third, and she had borrowed someone else's equipment.
Second in the single buck, 33.71 seconds, scoring 5 points, a total of 17, which made her the Australian champion. People who compete in their sports do all the prep and they prepare themselves mentally and physically, in terms of the technique to be able to compete, but when you are a sports person, or whatever you are doing in the community, and you do it with grace, determination and grit and you do it in a really kind way that supports those people around you, I think that is really special.
This evening I rise to celebrate you, Amanda. Well done. This evening I want to recognise one of the most beautiful elements of the Launceston and northern Tasmanian community, and that is our creative and cultural community.
Over recent weeks and months Launceston has been recognised for so many things: we got the Aussie Town of the Year; we have got our designation for a City of Gastronomy. Over the last few years it has been really tough for live performers, for live music, for theatre and for events. The Princess Theatre was dark for so long, but dark no longer.
The Minister for the Arts has already spoken about the Tasmanian Theatre Awards but I want to recognise the incredible people that we have in our community who give us so much.
The Launceston Players were successful in a number of categories and the Encore Theatre Company, who in submitting to the theatre awards, had 13 nominations across 11 categories and ended up being successful with nine awards. I congratulate and acknowledge we have this really incredible thing going on in our community where really little kids get involved in the ensemble.
They get involved in supporting, maybe back of house, and seeing how a whole production works together, right through until beautiful and graceful older members of our community, who have given a lifetime, both professionally and in community, to theatre. We are really lucky that people choose to call Launie home. We have some really great people who invest their time and their energy and expertise in these productions.
The Encore Theatre company were awarded the Outstanding Production Musical Theatre for Mamma Mia! It was a fantastic event, led by - and I know that it always takes a team but there often is one standout - by my former colleague at the City of Launceston, the incredible deputy mayor Danny Gibson.
He was awarded the Outstanding Direction Musical Theatre Award. To you Danny, you give so much. It is so lovely for you to be recognised in this really special way. Outstanding Musical Direction, Musical Theatre, Denise Sam and Michael Stock; Outstanding Choreography Musical Theatre, Michelle Withington.
This one is the one that I made a comment about. A whole range of people have chosen to move into the northern Tasmanian community but we have some incredible people who have had international careers, Outstanding, Original, Costume Design and Musical Theatre Anthony Phillips. Outstanding Lighting or Video Film Design Musical Theatre, Jason Bovaird. Outstanding Sound Design Musical Theatre, Marcello Lo Ricco.
Male Supporting Performance Musical Theatre, Matt Gower. Whenever a performance hits the stage, you go, 'We do this so well and it is going to be so amazing we are going to have the best night ever.' Wow, how could it better and better all the time, but the leads, the ensembles, the talent that we have in both men and women is just incredible.
They could all be professionals on the stage and have in other parts been professional and semi-professional. Congratulations Matt. And Outstanding Ensemble Musical Theatre, the cast of Mamma Mia!
To everyone who has played a role in what was a really heartbreaking time, they delivered an exceptional performance. I think it was about two years ago that this performance was about to hit the stage, only days before it was due to open, and the theatre went dark because of COVID-19 but they continued and they have delivered.
To all in our creative communities, I say thank you and congratulations.
8th March 2022 - 6:51pm
Video - YouTube
Queen Elizabeth
Mr. Speaker, I rise to make my contribution. We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love, and then we return. A small, but quite regular, beautiful turn of phrase from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
This afternoon I have the honour in rising to pay tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. I would like to quote a few of the many incredible moments that the Queen shared with us around the world, but also in Tasmania and particularly in Bass.
I also take the opportunity to reflect on things she said, and moments she shared with us. From the very beginning she declared: I declare before you that my whole life, whether it be short or long, shall be devoted to your service.
Throughout our lives in this place, the Queen has been a regular, positive and often sprightly, happy presence in our lives, whether it be as a child seeing her regularly on bank notes, stamps or coins, or as a young adult I would regularly see her portrait hanging in the council chambers or in local RSLs or community halls.
On the other side of the world, the Queen was always a constant and has always been a constant in our lives. In the days since her passing it has been a time of reflection not only on what the Queen achieved in her lifetime but also on the things we can learn about her poise and her grace, as the People's Queen.
Reflecting on her 70 years of service: When it comes to how to mark 70 years as your Queen, there is no guidebook to follow. It really is a first. I remain committed to serving you to the best of my ability, supported by my family. That is a really lovely reflection in that moment - that although everybody has a different experience of the Royal Family, and the Queen as their leader for so long, who so beautifully and gracefully led not only her family but also the Commonwealth.
She did it in such a remarkable way, as a woman from a very young age having to take on such great responsibility, with a balance of conviction and deliberation, and with a balance of poise and grace, but also a little lightheartedness and humour to remind us all that she was very much human, and just like all of us. I think you can agree, whether you are a monarchist or republican, Queen Elizabeth was someone we all held great admiration for.
Elizabeth was never meant to be the Queen. It was the abdication of her uncle Edward that saw her father, a shy Albert, take the throne. Shortly after her father became king, the Second World War began.
Throughout the war, Princess Elizabeth worked as a car mechanic in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, the women's army service. She was the first female member of the Royal Family to join the armed forces full time, and it gave her that natural and quite beautiful common touch.
Her marriage to Philip Mountbatten in 1947, the Duke of Edinburgh, was seized as an opportunity to brighten a national life still in the grip of a postwar era. When Queen Elizabeth became the reigning crown at the tender age of 25, after the death of her father, the monarchy was at a crossroads.
Its popularity and political power were flailing, but she declared before us all that her whole life, whether it be short or long shall be devoted to service. She lived by that each and every day in what were tremendously difficult times and also times where she was able to do that with a lightness and a spring in her step.
Regardless of whose company she was in, she could always relate, whether it be a commander or a commoner or a dignitary visiting at one of her residences. She worked with 15 British prime ministers, from Winston Churchill to the most recent, Liz Truss, whom she met just 48 hours before her passing.
She danced with presidents and dined with prime ministers, knighted Robert Menzies and made Enid Lyons a dame. Because of the deep affection we all fostered for the Queen, we grieve in her own words, 'Grief is the price we pay for love', and she was surely loved by many. Throughout her 70-year reign, Queen Elizabeth visited Tasmania seven times. Queen Elizabeth was the first reigning monarch of Australia to set foot on Australian soil in 1954.
On that tour she visited Tasmania and stayed at the historic Connorville wool property at Cressy. It was the only private residence the Royal Couple stayed in during their tour. In 1970, the front page of the Sunday Examiner Express read, 'Children ambush royal Rolls-Royce at Exeter' as the Queen walked through the north.
In 1977, during her Silver Jubilee, she met with children at Government House and large crowds gathered in Macquarie Street in Hobart. In 1981 she was photographed with then premier Doug Lowe and attended the Launceston Show, where she presented a ribbon for the best Jersey cow to Jenny Sykes.
On 27 April 1988, the Queen visited TSIT aquaculture senior lecturer Dr Nigel Forteath, and described a crayfish held by technical officer Barry White in Kings Meadows. In 2000, Queen Elizabeth II spoke at Launceston's Albert Hall and accepted posies from schoolchildren in Salamanca, accompanied by our very own, who was then Lord Mayor, Rob Valentine.
In total, she had six royal visits to Bass and attended a reception at Town Hall in 1954; the Mowbray Races in 1970; again, a reception at Town Hall in 1977; visited the Launceston Show in 1981; opened the School of Nursing at UTAS in 1988; and walked through the beautiful Launceston City Park in 2000. One of the things I have loved as a young woman in community watching her life and the way she delivered her service to community was that she also found moments and created what seemed to be a priority around having a little sense of humour to get through what would have been such a serious life. There are a couple of moments I wanted to reflect on that many people across the world will not forget.
In 2016, when promoting the Invictus Games with Prince Harry, there was a really nice interchange between the Obamas and the Queen. The Obamas jokingly said, 'Be careful what you wish for', and the Queen responded with a comical, 'Oh, really?', and then Harry's 'Boom!' When you have such a serious position and you are often called on for such strong and difficult decisions, to maintain your grace and have that lightness is something we could all take insight from.
There was also that moment where the Queen officially launched the 2012 London Olympics by parachuting out of a helicopter with Daniel Craig's James Bond as the theme music played, and even the corgis making an appearance. Again, it was a beautiful moment where someone can be so confident in themselves that they can be so light-hearted.
Who can forget - and I know others around the Chamber have mentioned this - at her Platinum Jubilee when she took tea with Paddington Bear and delighted people when she quietly pulled a marmalade sandwich out of her purse? I love those moments. With the lightness she also said: Throughout all my life and with all my heart, I shall strive to be worthy of your trust.
I will finish with a couple of the lessons that the Queen has shared with us. I mentioned family, but it seems that Her Majesty always maintained that her marriage to the Duke of Edinburgh was a big part of their success together. Together they were intensely curious about people. They wanted to understand people, to know what made people tick and what it was within them that could develop human capacity.
In this place, having such corporate knowledge or knowledge of a life, is very important and, through her service, visiting 100 countries, travelling and creating an understanding of the world.
On this opportunity, I say, Your Majesty, thank you for your service. May you now rest in peace. God bless the Queen and long live the King.
27th September 2022 - 3:26pm
Video - YouTube
Greg Green
Madam Deputy Speaker, this evening I rise to celebrate one of Tasmania's true gentlemen, who has inspired many across Tasmania for a range of reasons across his whole life but a gentleman who right now is inspiring people through his courage.
Mr. Greg Green was present on Saturday evening at a dinner held to celebrate and recognise him. Greg is a building surveyor working out of Launceston.
He has worked on projects all across Launceston and Tasmania, and has influence nationally. Six months ago he was diagnosed with MND. Six months ago, Greg and his beautiful wife, Wendy, noticed a few moments where things were not quite connecting and received the diagnosis. In true Greg fashion, he decided with his family to face and fight MND.
Being in the construction and consulting industry sector, working day in, day out with some incredible people in Tasmania, in Greg's way, he continued to work and to share his story with those he worked with. It did not take long for the northern Tasmanian and entire Tasmanian community to step in behind Greg and his family and to help him fight what is - insert unparliamentary word here - a real cow of a disease. Some of his industry colleagues suggested early on that they would love to honour him, and his past and ongoing services to the Tasmanian construction industry, with a dinner.
Greg thought this might have been a couple of guys down at the pub having a beer, having a quiet moment together. It turned out, through the incredible work of a committee and some impassioned northern Tasmanians, to be a dinner that packed out Launceston's largest dinner venue at the Country Club Tasmania and sold out by word of mouth within days, before anyone else outside that inner circle could find out about it.
On Saturday evening, 350 people packed in to Country Club Tasmania and I know they could have sold two or three times as many tickets. The event was extraordinary for a number of reasons. The reason why Greg agreed to have the event was, firstly, because he and his family know that whatever they can do to ensure that no other families in the future go through what they are facing, they wanted to stand up and fight back on MND. To do that, they wanted to raise funds to contribute to future research. The incredible people in this industry, within Greg's network and supporters of his family, had raised $100 000 towards the fight of MND before the doors opened on Saturday evening.
Then, due to the incredible generosity of people within that industry and Greg's network, so many experiences and opportunities for raffle, lucky door, silent auction and loud auction items were donated that by the end of the evening in the room - and I have no doubt that beyond Saturday there will be a rounding out of this, $175 000 was raised to contribute through Tassie Freezing for MND, through Fight MND, to continue the important work done to support people in the community living with MND and their families and people that support them; to extend the opportunities for research and the great work that Fight MND do to create guidelines and frameworks for the work around MND research.
On the night, the room was filled with emotion and energy. One of the other reasons why Greg agreed to have the dinner, as well as raising funds, was to give the industry an opportunity to come together and have a pause. We all know the industry is overheated and there are lots of challenges. Yes, it is buoyant but with that comes challenge. It is hard finding a workforce, hard to get supplies. All those things mean this industry is under pressure right now. Greg thought it would be a great opportunity for them. They do not always come together just to relax and be together so the night was full of opportunities for that.
I MC'd the evening. It was hard sometimes to bring them to the attention of what was going on in the room but there were three moments through the night where you could hear a pin drop. Bravely demonstrating his courage and inspiration, Greg came onto the stage with Andrew, who had been one of the lead organisers, to speak briefly about his gratitude to the industry and the people in the room but also his personal experience.
It was an important moment for Greg, his wife Wendy and his children, Nathan and Jarrod, for him to have that moment in the room. The other part of the evening where you could hear a pin drop, was a beautiful success story, out of Launceston but from Tasmania. Dr Rosie Clark who is at the Menzies Institute, who with a team of people is actually leading research into MND: here in Tasmania, a Launceston girl.
Through her PhD research, a lot of MND research is about the overheating or the over-excitement of activity. She came across this concept of balance and what if we could inhibit that and what work could we do. This is my paraphrasing clearly, of what is a very clever concept from Dr Rosie. She is the first person in the world that said this is something if you look at it and she is leading that research right here from Tasmania. She gave a presentation I imagine was quite confronting for Greg to hear about all of these challenges, but to everybody in the room, it consumed their attention, for them to learn more about MND and the impacts of MND.
The third moment of the night, Greg's boys Nathan and Jarrod, came up onto the stage to thank everybody for what they had done on the night and to talk about Greg as a father and how his parenting of them had framed them as husbands and fathers in community.
Tonight, I stand to celebrate Greg Green, an incredible man who will continue to make an incredible contribution in our community and to say to Wendy, Nathan and Jarrod we stand with you and we will fight back against what is MND.
Video - YouTube
22nd November 2022 - 6:19pm