Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to say thank you to the member for Canberra for sharing those insights from a personal perspective with us. I offer my condolences on behalf of the electorate of Hasluck to the families of the three ABC staff killed in a helicopter crash last week, 150 kilometres north-west of Marree in the Lake Eyre region. I watched that 7.30 report the member for Canberra referred to and what I got a really good sense of was the individualism of the three—the spirit and the essence of who they were and their work. You looked through the eyes of the cameraman at the scene he was shooting and what you saw was an incredible encapsulation of the absolute richness and beauty of the Australian landscape. I suppose in one sense the three epitomise what the ABC has always strived to do, and that is to provide within Australia innovative and comprehensive broadcasting services of a high standard. You do not achieve that unless you have quality staff—like these three were—to broadcast programs that contribute to a sense of a national identity and inform and entertain and reflect the cultural diversity of Australia community. I see that regularly through ABC programs.

The stories of Paul Lockyer, who came from my hometown of Corrigin, really went to the heart of a community or the heart of a group of people and reflected their feelings and the way in which they saw the world from their patch within Australia. The combination of the three was an incredible combination. They were, if I can use this term, like 'Three Amigos' because they were very rarely apart when they were working together and because of the interpersonal relationship that seemed to prevail. The very powerful still images of the three of them standing there with a helicopter in the background in a sense captured the relationship that the three had in the context of their work.

I had the incredible privilege of being the chair of the ABC advisory committee for two years and I got to know many of the ABC people. I got to know the professionalism but more importantly what I got to appreciate and have a real sense of was the family element that was so strong within the ABC.

The ABC is important and the people who do the work on the ground, who deliver the programs and services we take for granted, provide Australian society with a communication network that reaches into the remotest regions of this nation. The work that they pull together is of a high standard and high quality and they often do it with meagre resources. But the resources have never been a constraint to the quality of what they have produced and delivered for all Australians in their work. The passion that was certainly evident in—

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The loss of these three in particular would have been a significant blow within the ABC, given the closeness of the people who work together. The member for Canberra described the staff at the ABC as one large family, and this has certainly been exemplified many times in my interactions with the ABC. Journalist Paul Lockyer, pilot Gary Ticehurst and cameraman John Bean were tragically taken away from their families, their friends, their colleagues and the nation. Their deaths are a tragic blow to journalism in this country.

Without risk there is no reward, and these men took their pursuit of balanced and informative news to the highest level. Over the past few days there has been a raft of wonderful and touching stories that have come out of the ABC and the wider news community from friends and colleagues of the three men which recount their experiences together. What touched me in Canberra were comments many people had put in the condolence book in the ABC offices within Parliament House.

Paul Lockyer had spent over 40 years as a journalist and covered some of the most important and historical moments in our time, both in Australia and abroad. I think the sentiments that were expressed by their families at the end of the report on 7.30 superbly encapsulated the degree of emotion, respect and deep love that family members had for the three. From overseas postings in Asia through to leading the coverage of the Queensland floods, Paul was a beacon of everything good and honest about Australian journalism.

The ABC have produced many great staff, superb journalists and brilliant cameramen who have put together over 40 years some of the incredible stories that we take for granted on a nightly basis. Their growth has been epitomised through their 24-hour dedicated news channel. They capture the essence of who we are. They produce quality stories that reflect the Australian way of life.

In closing, I would just like to add my condolences to the families of the three who we have lost.

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