Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On indulgence: I would like to put on the permanent Hansard record a message of condolence for the tragic loss of life in Samoa last month. While Australians were stunned to hear the news of the devastation caused in the wake of the tsunami, the effects in the Ballarat electorate were direct and immediate. Vivien Hodgins, 55, a mother of two, was staying in Taufua, in the heavily hit area of Lalomanu, when the tsunami hit. She was holidaying with a friend, Claire Rowlands, also from Ballarat. Vivien’s death has had a deep reverberation across our community. Those I have spoken to in recent weeks, and in attending her memorial service last week, have described her as a loving mother and wife and an absolutely joyous teacher.

I am sure there are many in this House who were inspired into public service due to the input and energy of a teacher. For many of us, our dreams and ambitions began when we were lucky enough to have a teacher who believed in us, who pushed and prodded us to the next plateau and who, in one apt description I read, poked us with a sharp stick called the truth. For 33 years, Vivien Hodgins was a deeply involved teacher at Mount Clear College. She possessed patience, enthusiasm and love. She touched the lives of thousands of students who passed through her classroom. Viv was a bridge builder. She possessed unlimited endurance. She treated everyone like a friend. She was inclusive; she was inspired. She maintained contact with her students for years after they had left school. In short, she loved teaching and she loved those whom she taught. She was what is called in teaching circles a natural.

Vivien Hodgins was also a great traveller. She had a passion for fairness and justice. She sought out places that were exotic and hard to get to, where the local people were in struggle. She and her husband, Rod, visited Guatemala in 1983, where Indians and schoolteachers were being murdered by the military. They travelled to South Africa, where she touched firsthand the injustices of apartheid. At home she was passionate, involved and fun, conveying and sharing her appreciation and enthusiasm for the area’s natural beauty as well as for local galleries and markets. She was a film fanatic, a mother and both a teacher and a student of life. Her sudden and tragic loss has left a black shadow across her family, her school and our community. I want to send my deepest condolences to Vivian’s family—to Rod and their daughters, Stephanie and Carla. They have asked me if I can put the following message to their mother on the permanent Hansard record:

Vivien was full of love for people and the world. She was without ego and without a shred of malice. Her life was a life of service—to her family and her students.

She travelled the world and saw beauty and terror. She was deeply sensitive to both and lived her life in full awareness of its splendour and its fragility.

She was taken by nature, a nature that she communed with at every level.

She will be deeply and widely missed, but we, her family, believe she will live on in the memories of the many who loved her and were touched by her generosity of spirit.

Her legacy is one she would have never suspected, and only after her tragic death have we fully appreciated the extent of her grace and compassion.

May this woman be a model for us all who briefly walk in this wonderful world.

Rod, Steph and Carla.

I know the small central Victorian rural community of Blampied will also be mourning and rallying to offer solace and comfort to the family. In the spirit of Viv, the family emerge from their grief to encourage us all to support Samoan communities as they rebuild. They have announced the formation of the Vivien Hodgins Samoan Appeal, and I encourage people in my electorate and beyond to donate to that appeal.

Vivien was on holidays in the Pacific with another Ballarat teacher, Claire Rowlands. Claire is still recovering from her injuries, and I want to wish her a speedy recovery. I know she is a tough, brave woman, but I really want to encourage her to take care of herself and to let people take care of her. Finally, our hearts also go out to Ballarat’s Lili Aiesi. The tiny village she grew up in, Lalomanu, no longer exists. The tsunami took the lives of her sister and 10 of her cousins. Six of them were children aged between two and 14.

This year has been one marked by natural calamity: floods in the Philippines, earthquakes in Indonesia, typhoons off Vietnam, fires in Queensland and Victoria and of course the South Pacific tsunami. At these times we are all tested. Whether catastrophe happens in a far-off place or on our own doorstep, we are confronted with our own humanity, its strength and its fragility. The ties that bind us as a community, country or region become more apparent and possibly more relevant in the face of devastation and death. Long after the event, long after the headlines and the attention have moved on, families and friends continue to grieve.

I also take this opportunity to comment on Australia’s response to those recent regional events. In times of crisis we stand in solidarity with our neighbours. We acted quickly with aid, assistance and on-the-ground support in both Indonesia and the South Pacific. We worked around the clock not only to identify and help Australians but to supply help where it was needed. We did everything we could to support the rescue efforts in both Indonesia and Samoa. We stand ready as a country to act quickly and assist as future events dictate.

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