Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Small Business) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today, like so many in this place, to pay my respects and speak on the condolence motion for Phillip Joel Hughes, an outstanding cricketer taken far too soon doing what he loved best. Phillip was born on 30 November 1988 in the small New South Wales town of Macksville. Today in Macksville the funeral and memorial will be held for this very young man, aged just 25 years.

Phillip started playing cricket as a junior in Macksville, where his undoubted talent quickly shone through. At the age of 17 he moved to Sydney to play for Western Suburbs District Cricket Club, having in front of him a most brilliant career. Phillip played two seasons with New South Wales in first-class cricket before making his test debut for Australia in 2009 against South Africa, at the age of only 20. He was the 408th person to play test cricket for Australia. It was an illustrious achievement in his career to have been the 408th cap in what is such a special and small club.

In just his second test match, at the age of 20, he scored a century in the first innings before scoring a further century in the second innings, making him the youngest test cricketer in history to score a century in both innings of a test match. Phillip played 26 test matches during his career and scored 1,535 runs with a batting average of 32.66—a great achievement. He also played 25 one-day international matches for Australia and scored 826 runs with a batting average of 35.91. He was the first Australian batsman in the history of one-day international cricket to score a hundred on debut.

But all the numbers and all the great achievements never tell the full story. Like all players, Phillip went through some peaks and some troughs—as we all do in life and through our careers—and experienced good and bad times. Those who knew him well have noted the remarkable way that he dealt with those inevitable setbacks and maintained his dignity and his friendships and built a fantastic career at such an early age. His determination to work harder and improve, because he loved playing for his country and had more to offer the game, is a tribute to his attitude as a professional sportsperson and character as a human being.

Last week, while playing for South Australia against New South Wales, he compiled 63 runs and was undoubtedly reminding the nation and the national selectors of his talent. What happened next was as unexpected as it was tragic and sad. On Thursday, 27 November 2004, Phillip passed away as a result of the injuries that he suffered from being struck by a cricket ball. There is no doubt that Phillip's injury and death has struck a very deep chord in all of us in this parliament, in his home town, in cricket, in Australia and much, much further. Right across the world, it seems to have struck a chord in terms of who Phillip was but also in the tragic way that life can be taken from us in the most unexpected of circumstances—in a game that is not meant to have an element of danger that would result in somebody losing their life, or as we go about our daily business, doing what we do best, working, playing, living our lives and not really contemplating that at any moment somebody could be taken away from us. What we have seen is this outpouring of tributes, not just from close friends and team mates but from ordinary Australians who would not have known Phillip Hughes apart from seeing him on the television but who really felt this connection—some affinity, some loss within themselves—which is why they are grieving as well as his family.

Over the weekend, local cricketers paid tribute to Phillip in many different ways and ordinary people put out their bats to honour his memory. Today, also, I am thinking of Sean Abbott—many other people who I know are thinking of Sean Abbott—a young man who has done nothing wrong and, simply by bowling a cricket ball, has been caught up in this tragedy.

At the end of all the tributes about his career on the pitch, Phillip was a son, a brother and, in many respects, an ordinary person like the rest of us, albeit an extraordinary one. Having recently experienced loss myself, like so many people in this House, you know that all of those things cannot possible replace the loss that you feel. I know that today his family and his closest friends will be confronting their deepest fears about that loss—his parents, brother, sister, friends and everybody. I extend my deepest sympathies, particularly to his parents, Greg and Virginia, and siblings, Megan and Jason—to know the difficulty they will be facing. There is no doubt that Phillip will remain in the memory of all Australians, No. 408, forever 63 not out. May he rest in peace.

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