Page 3900 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 30 November 2021
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I feel so lucky that my path crossed with Andy’s. I will always continue to draw inspiration from his courage. Andy is so very missed, and always will be.
Mr Andrew Prowse—tribute
MS LEE (Kurrajong—Leader of the Opposition) (5.18): I thank Ms Cheyne for approaching me so that we can jointly pay tribute to a very proud Canberran, Andrew Prowse, who passed away at his home in Higgins beside his beautiful wife, Heidi, and their beloved dog, Monty, last month.
Andrew lived a life of compassion, of service, and of love. Andrew had always been interested in people and supporting those most vulnerable in our community. He was inspired to pursue a career in public service by his family and worked as a policy analyst at the Department of Social Services. Ms Cheyne has already spoken about Andrew’s many talents, but when asked why, of all the career paths available to him, he chose social and public policy, he responded:
I have always had a keen interest in social and public policy. I feel this was inspired by my mother who is a social worker, and my grandparents who all played a role in supporting others throughout their lives. There was a guiding light towards public service. I wanted to be able to contribute to societal wellbeing and be able to drive policy that would impact people from the ground up.
These are the admirable traits and influences that led Andy to pursue a career in the Australian Public Service to drive the positive policy changes from the heart of government.
In the first year of the unique and beloved Santa Speedo Shuffle fundraiser—quite a sight around Lake Burley Griffin in the middle of winter—Heidi asked Andy if he would be willing to share his personal story of living with cystic fibrosis. At the time not many people knew that he was living with the disease. It was not the right time for him to share his own story, and he responded, “I am running for everyone else living with cystic fibrosis.”
Andy always put others ahead of himself. On 31 July next year, Heidi will hold the 10th Santa Speedo Shuffle in memory of Andy and for all of the community living with cystic fibrosis. I encourage everyone in the chamber to please support that event.
Andy was an extremely proud Canberran. As his sister Lou said:
He relished in showing his family and friends around Canberra, highlighting all the new developments or innovative additions, and he enthusiastically gave Canberra history books as presents. He was really passionate about the Canberra community and he felt connected to the many networks he and Heidi came into contact with through his advocacy, his mentoring and volunteering in the CF ACT, Mental Health and Donate Life circles.
His other sister, Carla, added:
He was a proud Canberran who loved this city and loved giving back through his work and various community pursuits.
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