Brett Whiteley (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

There are few people in the towns across my electorate of Braddon who are as well known, or have such legend status, as Leigh Bishop. Leigh is known for his contribution to the sport of bowls in Tasmania, in Australia and all over the world. Sadly, we have lost Leigh. He passed away last week. Leigh's bowls career lasted longer than I have been alive.

He started playing bowls at the age of 29 in 1951 and continued to play for over 60 years. During Leigh's lengthy career he also achieved some truly outstanding results. He played for Tasmania for 23 years; he won four state singles titles, six state pairs, one state triples, one state masters singles, six state masters triples and four state masters fours. In 1976 Leigh went a step further and represented our nation in the bowls world series in South Africa, where Australia came second, just missing out on first place on percentage.

A passionate man, a great man and eager to share his knowledge, Leigh wrote a bowls column for the local paper, for 42 years, something which many in the community would have looked forward to reading. The north-west coast has lost a true character and pillar of our community. At 93, Leigh passed away surrounded by his family at Rubicon Grove. Leigh was a gentleman. He was a man of integrity and credibility; a man with a great sense of humour and a great sense of community—and more than that, a man with a great sense of family. My thoughts and prayers are with his family: his wife, Meg, and his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. May he rest in peace.

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