Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

on indulgence—Last Thursday night three of the ABC's finest staff members died in a helicopter crash. I think members of the House would have received that news on Friday morning with a great sense of despair. The three were Gary Ticehurst, John Bean and Paul Lockyer. It was for the ABC one of its darkest days. All three died doing what they did so well, going out and getting the story. Between them these three men shared a century of experience.

Gary Ticehurst was one of the nation's finest helicopter pilots with 38 years in his flying career, including 25 years as the ABC's chief helicopter pilot, and was famous for his coverage of 27 Sydney to Hobart yacht races. He displayed remarkable courage helping to rescue 20 crew members in that disastrous Sydney to Hobart yacht race in 1998, and many of us would remember that well.

John Bean was an exceptional, multi-award-winning cameraman. Reporters always wanted to work with him. Queensland based, he knew every corner of that state and I had the opportunity with Premier Bligh on Friday to reflect on some of the things she had seen him doing in Queensland. He worked on some of the ABC's most popular programs including the 7.30 Report, Catalyst, The New Inventors and Gardening Australia. Camera work is at the very heart of television, and images that tell the story often better than the words were his passion.

Paul Lockyer was one of the ABC's longest serving reporters—42 years. He spent years as a foreign correspondent in the killing fields of Cambodia, in the US under Reagan and in Manila under Marcos. He was responsible for Logie award-winning coverage of the Sydney Olympics but was best known in recent years for his sympathetic portrait of inland Australia, especially the Murray-Darling Basin and Lake Eyre, and coverage of the floods in Queensland this year. He was the first into Grantham the morning after the floods, bringing those reports which enabled the nation to understand what had happened there.

Last week I spoke of journalism and media as an honourable profession. The lives of these three gifted men prove that proposition beyond a shadow of doubt. Men and women of the media so often risk their lives to bring the story home in war and conflict, travelling to inhospitable places and making personal sacrifices which include danger, discomfort and austerity. Gary, John and Paul took these risks and told their stories. They were true professionals and true gentleman of the Australian media. Leigh Sales said that you could not name three people in the ABC news more loved and admired. ABC managing director, Mark Scott, said that they were news gatherers at the peak of their craft. Our deepest condolences go to their families, to the wider ABC family and to all of their colleagues and friends. These three remarkable men will be greatly missed and our media landscape will not be the same without them.

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