Deborah O'Neill (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to put on the record my condolences on the passing of Lionel Rose, the famous Australian boxer. The condolence motion was discussed a little earlier this morning. Sadly, Mr Deputy Speaker Murphy, you were not here to hear the words of the member for Swan, who gave a quite detailed history and a very personal testimony to the life of Lionel Rose and what he contributed to Australian society. I also acknowledge the presence in the chamber of the member for Hasluck as the first Indigenous member in the House of Representatives. He shares with Lionel Rose that he was a first in Australian history, as Lionel was the first Australian of the Year and I think the first Australian champion in his teens as well. So there are a number of firsts happening here.

Lionel Rose was born in the late 1940s and grew up in Victoria in an Aboriginal settlement called Jackson's Track. The history is that his dad was a boxer, and the talent obviously ran in the family. Lionel Rose's talent was identified when he was quite young. Clearly Lionel saw an opportunity to use his talents to advance his life. By the age of 14 he was well engaged in boxing. By the age of 19, after a very short period of time—a space of just five years—he became the bantamweight champion of the world against Fighting Harada in Japan. I also recall, from when I was a young girl, not just the energy around that fight with Fighting Harada but also the fight with Rocky Gattellari.

As much as I might not be the person in this parliament who is most associated with boxing, in the absence of there being an eldest son in my family I sufficed, as the eldest daughter, as my father's companion in watching the boxing on the television on many, many evenings. It was a great passion of his to follow the boxing, so I was given the commentary of his view of many fights over many years. I recall very fondly the time I spent with my dad and the pride we felt watching Lionel Rose and his progress to the world championship, as well as the things that happened in the time that followed.

We listened on the radio, as well, to the reports of that boxing match. I can still recall the energy all these years later, even though I was only a child at the time. I can still recall how it captured a part of the imagination of Australians that an Aboriginal person was representing us, and we were very proud to be associated with Lionel's great success. One of the images I also recall is the victory parade that greeted Lionel on his return. For me there is an image of him in a sports car and of a ticker tape parade. How appropriate that such great recognition by a quarter of a million people was given to such a fighting hero of our nation.

The Prime Minister yesterday recorded Lionel Rose's success, a career of 42 wins from 53 bouts—no mean achievement—and, in fact, 12 knockouts amongst those successes. His refusal to fight in South Africa was also noted by the Prime Minister. We understand the courage and conviction of the man who lay beneath the fighter in that action.

As much as I enjoyed watching the boxing with my father, I think a more enduring love in my life has been a love of music. I can absolutely recall as a young girl hearing Lionel Rose's voice singing I Thank You for Just Being You. What good words they are to have as we remember him today. He was the first Aboriginal person that I knew, through the television. In my world there were no people in my class who identified as Aboriginal. There were no people in my community that I was familiar with who were Aboriginal. Lionel Rose was the first Aboriginal person that I met through the media.

I recall a man with a great smile, a man of humility, a man who was a world champion and a man who was seen as a hero. He is an inspiration and that is why I am pleased to be speaking here to this condolence motion. He is an inspiration to all young Australians, an ideal that teens might achieve great things, that they might become the very best in the world in their teen years and that success at that level is not only for the old but for those who have talent at any age. He is an inspiration to the first peoples of this nation: to follow your dreams, to believe in yourself and to achieve recognition not just in our own country as an Australian of the Year—the first Aboriginal Australian of the Year—but internationally, for the talents that lie within when they are unleashed are a great thing.

Also, for all Australians generally, he was a complex man. He lived a rich life—a tapestry of great times and also great sorrows, as we heard from the member for Swan. But he was a man of particular talents in the fields of sport and music. One of his own songs was titled I Thank You for Just Being You, but I am sure that there are many Australians today who would say, 'I thank you, Lionel Rose, for just being you and the great joy you brought to our lives.'

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