Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

It was one year and one day after the terrible tragedy at the World Trade Centre in New York and other associated terrorist attacks in the United States of America. Those attacks changed the way we lived. Thereafter no-one could go to an airport without being totally and utterly screened, without having all of those checks take place. The memory of the loss of life on that day of infamy in 2001, 9/11, will live with us forever. 12 October 2002 was another such day. Australians, 88 in total, died in that attack. In total, 202 people died, with a further 209 injured.

I remember very well the heroic stories, and there were many from that, but one of them for Australian football and sporting followers was Jason McCartney, who was injured at Bali. On 6 June 2003—not that long in the scheme of things after the devastation—he returned to the Australian Football League. He'd had a lot of hospital treatment and he had horrific injuries, but he returned to play for his beloved North Melbourne against Richmond. He was heavily bandaged, he wore a long-sleeved top and he had to wear protective gloves. He had the numbers 88 and 202 embroidered into his jumper, 88 representing the number of Australians who died in the Bali bombing and 202 representing the total number of deaths. Those numbers were also held up by many in the crowd. Not before and probably not since has there been such a show of support for a player from two sparring AFL clubs. Supporters from both clubs rose as one. I can remember watching it just on TV, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up, because the bravery that Jason showed was quite remarkable—an inspiration not just to sports followers but indeed to us all.

He only had a modest number of possessions, three kicks, one mark and one goal. But the goal brought cheers from both sides. Right towards the end of the game, with just two minutes left on the clock and Richmond in front, Jason collected a bouncing pass inside the forward 50 and he toe-poked the ball through to a teammate, Leigh Harding, who finished by kicking a six-pointer from close range to put the Kangaroos ahead for good. North Melbourne ran out as the winners by just three points. In a nice way to end the night, he retired from AFL. He fought so hard to get himself back on track to play that game, having gone through the Victorian Football League to get himself match fit and ready for the AFL—a more demanding major competition—and then retired on the night. He wanted to do it not for himself but in the spirit of all of those who passed away in the Bali bombing.

In the Riverina, I knew some of those who lost their lives in that tragedy. Three deaths had links to my local area. There was Clint Thompson from Leeton—just a young fellow, who had so much of his life to give and to live; it was taken from him. There was Dave Mavroudis from Wagga Wagga. David's family and David himself lived opposite me in the suburb of Tatton. They were two of six members of the Coogee Dolphins football club. There was also Shane Walsh-Till, originally from Coolamon, and I knew Shane well because I played cricket with him. It won't be any surprise to the member for Hinkler that he was far better than I was at cricket.

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