Page 371 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 15 February 2005
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Prue Borrman, whom many of you will know, wrote this:
I first met Charlie when he started work at ACTCOSS. He came out to visit me at the Health Care Consumers Association office at the Pearce Community Centre and we talked about the health consumer movement and how he came to be working at ACTCOSS. He took time to understand where I was coming from and I found an instant ally. He embraced and challenged my ideas and we started to work together to broaden the involvement of health consumers in the community in a couple of areas through ACTCOSS, something I had wanted to do for some time.
I felt far less isolated as a sole worker in one of the many community organisations in the ACT and was very pleased to work with Charlie who picked up and worked with my enthusiasm. He had great respect for others.
That’s what Charlie did so well, he saw the big picture, drew the threads together and then worked actively to create and build connections.
I valued his sharp intellect, the challenges, insight, warmth and vision, his inclusive approach to everything: in a nutshell his courage and leadership.
In between sadness and disbelief at Charlie’s passing I have also had a very strong sense that Charlie is OK. That the strength of his spirit continues to connect with all that knew him. He connected and will continue to connect so that we work for a fairer, just and more loving world.
And so we do.
MR SMYTH (Brindabella—Leader of the Opposition): On behalf of the opposition, I extend our condolences and best wishes to Charlie’s mother, Anna Lena, who is with us this afternoon, to his brother, Andrew, in particular to his partner, Pam, who is with us, and her mother, Marjory, and from his first marriage his wife, Christine, and in particular his children, Tina and Kari, and to all his friends and those who mourn Charlie’s passing.
In many ways Charlie is somewhat the Australian story. He came here as a migrant at the age of 10 and in a few short years managed to cram in an education at Hawkesbury Agricultural College, went jackarooing and was an avocado farmer, a restaurateur, an aid worker, a deputy director at ACTCOSS and many other things.
When I got the phone call early on Saturday morning, it actually came from a member of the mental health community who had heard the rumour and asked if I could verify whether or not Charlie had died. After making a few phone calls, it was quickly apparent that he was dead. It was the number of people who wanted to know so quickly and who were so concerned about Charlie and about his family that really shows the sort of tentacles that a man like Charlie Pahlman had into his community: he was well and truly anchored here.
What can you say about the man? As has been said, he was a deputy director at ACTCOSS, he was a political candidate, a tremendous family man, a good bloke. I think a measure of the man is the way that he arranged his personal affairs. Charlie had been married to Christine. He had met Christine in Thailand, where they had married and had two daughters, Tina and Kari. But when that had not worked out, he remained close
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .