Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to congratulate for his award of a Member of the Order of Australia John Francis Gosling. Mr Gosling would be known indirectly to members of this place because he is the father of the member for Solomon. When Mr Gosling returned from Vietnam some 50 years ago he began working to train guide dogs and has been doing that continuously since. He is now in his seventies. His award was for significant service to people who are blind or have low vision.

For 12 years he was a board member of the International Guide Dogs Federation. He was chair of the development committee, a former member of the accreditation and development committee, an assessor for six years between 1982 and 1998, and the recipient of the prestigious Ken Lord Award in 2018. Mr Gosling served Guide Dogs Victoria—formerly the Royal Guide Dogs Association of Australia. He was an adviser for some 10 years, from 2008 to 2018, a manager of the guide dog services from 1985 to 2008, a chief guide dog and orientation mobility instructor, a recipient of the independence award and he also assisted with the establishment of Integra Service Dogs Australia in 2015. This is a very well-deserved award for somebody who has given five decades of his life to the blind and to guide dogs in Australia.

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