Page 3819 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 22 November 2006

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .


surprised me, given how Jim suddenly died—was from a trip to Norway that included ocean kayaking in fiords. So it was a great shock to both my wife and me when we heard that Jim had passed away from a heart attack at the early age of 72.

Sanya, of course, is very much involved and still an active player in veterans hockey; she regularly competes in tournaments, and I certainly hope that she continues to do that. She is a very fine lady and a very fit woman too. I first came to know Jim and Sanya through my elder stepdaughter Patty, when she was somewhat younger than she is now. She and Ian Ritchie were partners for a number of years and he is a fine young man. Subsequently they separated and Ian happily married another girl, and Patty, of course, has gone her way too, with two young children. When we told Patty on the weekend that this had occurred she was quite gobsmacked by it all and terribly upset.

I got to know the Ritchies very, very well from the time that Patty and Ian got together and became partners. They are a very fine family and this came as a great shock. We have lost in Jim Ritchie a very fine citizen, a fine family man and a person who will be greatly missed by all his friends and loved ones. We have lost a fine Canberran and a fine Australian and I pass on my regards—and, I would hope, the regards of any of you who knew the Ritchies—to the family.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

The Assembly adjourned at 6.13 pm.


Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .