Page 1423 - Week 04 - Thursday, 4 April 2019

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of a potential fuel shortage and allowing scrutiny of all possible fuel restriction measures through the Legislative Assembly. I commend the bill to the Assembly.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill agreed to in principle.

Leave granted to dispense with the detail stage.

Bill agreed to.

Adjournment

Motion (by Ms Stephen-Smith) proposed:

That the Assembly do now adjourn.

Mr David Stafford Finney—tribute

MS CHEYNE (Ginninderra) (5.45): Before I begin, and with the indulgence of my colleagues, which I think is agreed, I seek leave to have my allocated time extended by up to 2½ minutes so as to not interrupt the sensitive speech I am about to give.

Leave granted.

MS CHEYNE: Thank you, colleagues. It is an honour but one filled with deep regret that tonight I rise to pay tribute to an extraordinary Canberran, David Stafford Finney, or Dave. Dave was born in Adelaide in 1980. In the words of Dave’s mum, Julie Anne, every minute of Dave’s nearly 39 years was so full. He was by all accounts a handful, with a cheeky sense of humour and a capacity for mischief which never left him.

It came as some surprise, then, that when he finished school he joined the Navy, but he had been inspired by his father, who had served in the RAAF. It took him two goes to make it through recruit school after first joining in 1998, having been kicked out the first time for being a smart arse. But despite this rocky start Dave went on to serve this country for 20 years.

In his long career as a marine technician and electrical engineer he deployed and did tours to Bougainville, East Timor and the Middle East. Dave was incredibly proud to serve—proud of veterans past, present and future. He wrote of “being in the presence of so much devotion, strength, courage and outright heroic characteristics that it is hard to comprehend”. Dave may have spoken of the heroic acts of others, but he will always be remembered as a hero. He lived a life helping others and it is well known that he directly and indirectly saved the lives of many.

Dave came to international attention in 2016 when, in Hawaii on a maritime exercise with HMAS Canberra, he and a fellow sailor rescued a local man who was drowning after falling from a pier and was suffering from a serious head wound. With barely a second thought, Dave had stripped to his underwear and jumped in to assist. Dave


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