Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

on indulgence—We mourn the passing of Archie Roach. Our country has lost a brilliant talent, a powerful and prolific national truth teller. Archie's music drew from a well of trauma and pain, but it flowed with beauty and a resonance that moved us all. We will always have his voice.

As he sang Archie gave Australia a priceless gift, with songs informed by his own experiences as a member of the stolen generations. He brought us face to face with the truth. His music spanned the breath of the human experience. He was an elder, a storyteller. He was a source of wisdom, compassion, encouragement, generosity and forgiveness.

The circumstances of Archie's life may have been tough but they never ever hardened his indominable spirit, and above all of that it shone through to us in the music. He sang to us with love and patience, but he also sang with a humility that was as powerful as his talent. Indeed, he never asked anything of us, just to open our ears. And yet he opened his heart to us, his strong but tender heart.

His voice arrived like a warm embrace, and in the process he made the universe feel just that much bigger. Archie took us to some beautiful places, but the path he took us on to get that beauty could sometimes be a rugged one. He did not shy away from either pain or sadness, but neither did he from love. As Archie put it: empathy was his impetus.

His talent was recognised with plenty of awards along the way and an induction into the ARIA Hall of Fame, but it is hard to escape the feeling he prides nothing more than being able to share his music with us.

I met him on a few occasions at various music events, and he was as humble in person as you would expect him to be when you listen to that extraordinary voice and when you read or listen to the extraordinary words that he wrote.

May his family draw consolation from the thought that maybe Archie now just walks in another place alongside his beloved Ruby once more. While we grieve Archie's death, we will try to heed his words: 'We won't cry. Oh, we will lift our spirits high, up to the sky.' We will hold onto everything that Archie Roach gave us. We will celebrate him and all that he created. What a remarkable man. What a privilege that our lives overlapped with his. May he rest in peace.

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