Page 3527 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 25 August 2009
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that her contribution was greatly valued by her fellow directors and company management. I know I speak on behalf of all of those Actew staff and board members who worked with Barbara when I say that she will be sadly missed.
In 2006, as the Chief Minister has mentioned, Barbara received the Medal of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for her work in the ACT in business, sporting and cultural areas. She made an outstanding contribution to the community of Canberra throughout her life. She committed herself to improving our city and to building a stronger and more connected community.
As the Chief Minister said on the occasion of Barbara receiving the award of ALP life membership, “Barbara is the kind of individual who makes the ALP such a great force for good in this country—dedicated to improving the life of her community and willingly shouldering the administrative tasks that keep the party running and keep it growing.”
I was sitting at Barbara Byrne’s funeral on Friday, listening to stories from friends and colleagues, and I tried to recall when I had first met Barbara. I could not do it because, you see, Barbara was just always there. She was always there in the party, she was always there, out and about in the community. She was at every meeting, every community event, particularly in Weston Creek, and she was at every fundraiser, particularly any fundraiser supporting young women. She was widely respected amongst her peers. I think the turnout at her funeral of many average Canberrans but also notable Canberrans showed the impact she had made in her life.
I refer also to the strength that she showed in her illness and the support that she kept providing to others despite her own issues that she was facing at the time. It did not surprise me at all to learn that Barbara had organised the funeral from beginning to end, including the selection of all the music, the readings and who should speak at it.
Barbara will be sadly missed. I do not know what the next ALP fundraiser will be like without Barbara, but I know that certainly—and this is something she felt herself—she had lived life to the fullest. I support the Chief Minister in expressing my condolences and my support to her partner, Harold, who will miss her greatly.
MR BARR (Molonglo—Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Children and Young People, Minister for Planning and Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation) (10.15): I rise briefly to acknowledge the sad passing of Barbara Byrne but, more importantly, to recall a rich and varied life lived in the service of others.
Barbara’s life has probably had an impact on every person in our community, although many will never have heard her name. Her remarkable career spanning 38 years in the public service, many of those spent in Canberra’s more formative years, saw her serve Canberra and the Australian community in a number of areas.
As we have heard, as a volunteer she made a massive contribution to Canberra and the life of this city. As sports minister, I would just like to spend a few minutes talking about Barbara’s contribution in this field. She was a member of the ACT regional AFL advisory board and president of her beloved Weston Creek Lions AFL club,
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