Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

I also join in paying tribute to this team of three of the ABC's finest people who have made a remarkable contribution to news over the years in different ways. Gary Ticehurst was a pioneer in helicopter news coverage and he was also widely respected within the aviation community. John Bean was an outstanding cameraman and was able to convey to people some of the real depth of the issues through the pictures he took. He spent some time with me on what is known as the wombat trail during the last federal election campaign with the Leader of the Third Party and I can attest to the fact that he is also good company to be with.

I would particularly like to recognise Paul Lockyer. I thought Paul had done all of the great things that journalists do, the big stories: big events such as the Olympic games, Foreign Correspondent and the big programs but, particularly in his latter years, he spent a lot of time telling the regional stories and spending time in regional communities. He was able to bridge the gap between country and city with warmth and conviction in the way he was able to tell the stories. For instance, during the flooding in Queensland there were hundreds of journalists and hundreds of stories, but I think the ones that touched us most were Paul Lockyer's coverage of what happened in Grantham. It was not just the gravity of the event. The way in which that story grabbed all of our hearts and minds was due to the way in which he was able to bring some of the humanity of that catastrophic event into the living rooms of Australians. He certainly was a great journalist, but I want to particularly acknowledge today the contribution that he made to regional Australia as someone who was prepared to get out into the country areas and tell the stories in a way that we all understood. His coverage of the drought also, I think, helped people very much to understand the personal tragedies associated with events like this. This team died doing something they loved in the remotest part of Australia, and perhaps the place where they would most have wanted to be. We certainly acknowledge their contribution to journalism, but today, especially, I also want to acknowledge their contribution to regional Australia.

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