Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on indulgence, the opposition joins the Prime Minister in complimenting and congratulating the Australian Paralympic team at the 13th Paralympic Games, which finished last night in Beijing. The Prime Minister has spoken of some of the outstanding performances, including those of Matt Cowdrey and Tim Sullivan. He has reminded us, and we agree with him, of the way in which these people triumph over adversity—adversities which most of us will never face in our lives—achieving athletic performances that most of us of sound limb with no disabilities would be unable to achieve. This is a real triumph of the human spirit over adversity. Above all, it shows the great spirit and the great humanity of Australia, and not just from the courage of the athletes.

I make a special note of the group of Australian technicians who volunteered their time in the athletes’ village, along with their counterparts from Germany and other countries, and provided free prosthetic limbs to competitors from poorer countries who cannot afford new ones. That is a true embodiment of the Olympic spirit. All of them—the supporters, the managers, the athletes and the technicians who are providing new prosthetic limbs to those athletes from countries too poor to buy them—have done Australia proud. They have been great ambassadors for Australia, for the Olympic spirit and for the triumph of the human spirit over adversity. We wish them well.

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