David Feeney (Batman, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Justice) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to talk of Mr Kurt Steel. In a political life you will encounter the odd adversary. That is the unfortunate experience for many young people who approach our Labor movement, beaming with the urge of change. So it is rare that someone might emerge from the cauldron of student politics, local activism, Young Labor leadership, a national political campaign and the political affairs of the Australian Capital Territory and its Labor Party branch with more friends and admirers than when they started. It was not Kurt's skills, which were many. It was not his competence, which was momentous. It was his authenticity, his honesty and his warmth. Canberra is a colder place today. Kurt Steel was 25, a true believer, a dedicated patron of many campaigns and, more recently, a press secretary to my friend Andrew Barr. He was a leader at the University of Canberra Students' Association, in Student Unity, in Young Labor and throughout the works of the Labor Party here in the ACT. He did it all without any of the impulse and aggression that members of Young Labor and its associated efforts are so often accused of. Rather, he did it with grace and with a grin, and he enjoyed it. Here was a man who was not afraid to be normal, who never forgot who he was. Here was a man whose eyes we could trust and whose smile we could share. Kurt was worth it. Labor has lost one of our brightest stars on the other side of the world. More importantly, a loving Canberra family has lost a young man who had so much more to give. On behalf of those who knew Kurt and who worked with him, who rallied with him, who looked up to him and who loved him, I am sorry. I send my condolences and I wish him peace in rest.

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