Page 1709 - Week 06 - Thursday, 30 July 2020
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
and ageing, particularly during and post COVID-19. In the last few weeks and months, she was also speaking out against militarism and the impact of war, and the rights of refugees and asylum seekers; supporting investigative journalism; and sharing her pledge to learn about first nations people as an act of reconciliation. Her 70th birthday last year was a fundraiser for the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre. I am told she was dressed in gold and danced energetically to the women African drummers.
As ACT Senior Australian of the Year, Sue spearheaded a letter from a range of Australians of the year, calling for immediate bipartisan action on climate change. She understood that our environment is central to our wellbeing.
Sue was President of Women with Disabilities Australia for four years and was subsequently given life membership. She used that platform to set up and nurture Women with Disabilities ACT, which is now a flourishing, vital and vibrant organisation in its own right. She worked hard with its CEO, Clare Moore, to understand that all women were included in their work, including girls, feminine-identifying and non-binary people with disabilities. Just this month, they released a report on perspectives of the impact of COVID-19 titled The responsibility has fallen on us.
Sue’s contributions are so varied and so vast that I doubt whether any of us here can encapsulate them all, as the Chief Minister noted. They included providing advice to both the ACT and the federal government about the introduction of the NDIS, as co-chair of the ACT Disability Expert Panel and a member of the NDIS independent advisory group. She was a member of the Council of Australian Governments, COAG, Advisory Panel on Reducing Violence against Women and their Children and a member of the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network. Her input has influenced the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Most of all, Sue was a woman of zest, energy and optimism, and immense caring. All she wanted for each of us was to share respect and compassion with each other. She was not a glory seeker but was ever mindful of encouraging and supporting younger and older women to find and use their voice. In this way, her work and her legacy will continue. Yes, Sue, there is more work to be done, and you have ably set it up so that others can continue that work. Sue was a true social justice and human rights defender and a Canberra legend. There are many in Canberra and beyond who have learnt from her, benefited from her wisdom and resolved to make this a better world—which it definitely is because she was in it.
I offer my sincerest condolences to her family: stepchildren Karyn, Ruth and Alex, and daughter Luisa; their partners, Adam, Ta and Chris; and her grandchildren, Jenara and Yilani. I also express my condolences to those of you who worked with her and were mentored by her. I hope that in some small way your loss is offset by knowing how much she meant to so many people. May we all continue to honour her by remembering to use respect and compassion with each other as we work for a better world.
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Minister for Advanced Technology and Space Industries, Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Minister for Planning and
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video