Page 2053 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 21 June 2011
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My thoughts as a Liberal and as a Canberran are with the family at this very sad time. We all celebrate the life of Jim Murphy and thank him for his legacy and his heritage.
MR HANSON (Molonglo): There have been some wonderful speeches today about a wonderful man. I am glad, Alistair, that you followed Brendan, because his was a very moving speech. Mr Coe and I actually turned up to the funeral of Jim Murphy quite early. We wanted to get there early. We turned up, and there was standing room only. We stood with several hundred other people outside St Christopher’s. Certainly a sight I have not seen before, and maybe we will not see again, was so many people inside the church and so many people standing outside and listening to every word of the very moving speeches that were given.
Some great words have been said today, but one thing I found quite moving was reading the Canberra Times website where some comments are made, and it is an opportunity to post articles and for the family to post as well. I would like to read some of those comments from people who have known Jim Murphy, people who were either great mates or who hardly knew him at all. I think it is an expression of what the community felt about Jim Murphy, and I would just like to read some of those comments into the Hansard. Firstly, this is from his son Damien:
On behalf of mum, a.j , Jen, Vicks and myself. I would like to say to all of our close friends and the greater community thank you! Thank you! Thank you! For your overwhelming support and comments. The reaction from the community in a city that was cherished by this great person is truly humbling!
Dad was (as mentioned) the most generous and hard working person I ever knew, and it is amazing to see how much that has been observed and recognized by the community. Once again all we can say is Thank you, but the biggest thank you goes out to you dad for your endless generosity and kindness! You will be sorely missed. RIP dad.
That is from Damien, but I am sure they are the sentiments from his brother and from his wife, Margaret, and from the rest of the family.
Some of the other comments:
Even though I have come to know Jim closely only recently, what struck me most, was his generosity, friendly smile and his wit.
My heart goes out to Margaret, AJ and the family.
I will miss him.
Josef W
To me he was Uncle Jimmy, our families were close when we were young. I have so many fond memories of Uncle Jimmy and my heart goes out to Auntie Marg, Damien and AJ.
Emma Tattam
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