Page 2703 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 21 September 2022
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campaigner, helping me and others. John Hargreaves has many campaign stories to share regarding what he and Mark got up to.
Mark was a director and vice-president of the Burns Club and an active advocate for the club industry. He loved his community and was active in the Parents & Citizens Association, holding positions on the ACT P&C council. Another one of Mark’s passions was the raising and racing of thoroughbred horses—but, he would admit, with only some limited success.
He was well regarded in the snooker world, as president of the ACT Billiards and Snooker Association for decades. Mark was also influential on the national stage for the sport, in addition to being a club champion, and at times a professional player.
The Lanyon sub-branch met last night to remember Mark. The stories were many and reflected his diverse interests. A common thread was that, no matter what the topic was, Mark had a view and a genuine interest. He also had an absolute commitment to doing whatever he could to make his local community a better place. It was said that, in everything he did, he was a titan. The lasting memory that I have is of Mark wearing jeans with braces and making a contribution to a conversation.
Given his love of snooker, I will end with a post on social media by ACT Eight Ball Association. It says:
It is with great sadness and shock that we advise you all of the unexpected passing of one of our members and players, Mark O’Neill. Mark has been part of the snooker and pool community for many years, and a strong advocate for cue sports in the ACT. He was a loved and integral member. He was also known for his kindness, generosity, caring and giving personality. He was a community man who was always willing to assist others. He always left a positive impact on people around him and he will be sorely missed by all.
Vale, Mark O’Neill.
Environment—Zero Emissions Day
MS CLAY (Ginninderra) (5.33): I want to pause and have a shout-out about Zero Emissions Day, which is today. I do that in the context of quite a lot of worrying news that we received last week. Lead scientists published some pretty frightening information about the world heading past multiple tipping points. They spoke about the drying out of the Amazon rainforest, the melting of the ice caps and the weakening of the Gulf Stream. It is really hard in the climate movement, because we hear this sort of information, and we get so worried and frightened that we actually just shut down. We cannot process it anymore.
What is happening now is that scientists are getting a lot better at communicating and they have worked out that they need to do a lot more work on calls to action. We need to do a lot more listening and acting on those calls to action.
This report also said that some governments are doubling down on their fossil fuel addiction in relation to these events and they are not cutting emissions fast enough. It is a good time for me to stop and think, and for us to look at what we are doing here.
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