Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Hansard source

I take this opportunity to pay tribute to Lance Corporal Jack Patrick Fitzgibbon, a young, upstanding Australian who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving his country. His untimely passing at just 33 is a tragic loss for his family, his friends and his loved ones. It's also a tragic loss for his fellow soldiers. And it is a tragic loss for this country.

Like his father, Jack respected and loved the Australian Defence Force. As Joel recently recalled, Jack's admiration for the Army dated back to when he was just three years old. Joel had brought Jack a shirt from a recent visit to the Lone Pine Barracks near Singleton, and it was a shirt he deeply treasured. No doubt it represented something bigger—an opportunity to give back to the country he'd watched his dad serve as a politician and one from which he had enjoyed tremendous opportunities. And so Jack's decision to enlist as a young man in 2014 actually seemed to be an inevitability. He served for more than a decade, most recently as a proud member of the special forces 2nd Commando Regiment.

Lance Corporal Jack Patrick Fitzgibbon wore his uniform with pride. Australia is eternally grateful to all who serve in uniform. There really is no greater honour. For Jack's service and his ultimate sacrifice, his comrades and country stand proud, as does the greater community of the Hunter and, in particular, Cessnock, his home town. Of course, we saw an outpouring of grief from the community at his funeral last week.

I knew Jack through his dad, Joel, whom I at least met in 1996, when he was elected to this place and I was a staffer. When I was elected in 2010, he, from memory, was the Chief Government Whip. I'm so pleased that my colleague the member for Paterson is here and also the member for Shortland because, representing the Hunter region, you would have known Jack and you would have known, of course, Joel even better.

I think it's fair to say to the member for Paterson that Joel and I agreed on just about everything. I think it is pretty certain that Joel and I agreed on everything, and the biggest thing that we agreed on was that, for Labor governments to obtain the honour of being elected and be long-term Labor governments, we have to govern from the centre. We have to appeal to and we have to understand people who have aspiration, and there are different forms of aspiration, depending on where you live and what your circumstances are. And you have to respect that aspiration, even when it is different from your ideology, from your point of view, from where you live or from your vantage point. It has to be respected. I am pretty certain the member for Paterson will agree with me that that is exactly what Joel instilled in all his kids, including Jack—that respect for other people.

Joel and his whole family, Eric—right through—are part of Labor royalty in New South Wales. We talked about Jack's funeral in Cessnock; Eric was suitably sent off as well, from the same church, and we acknowledged Eric's tremendous role here. But it is for me—in the number of hats that I wear—as president of the New South Wales branch to demonstrate and to articulate in this House what a loss this is for the New South Wales branch and how much respect we have as a party for the Fitzgibbon family, and I think that that was demonstrated in Jack's send-off as well.

I'm reliably informed that in 2006 Jack even became a member of the Bellbird branch, which I'm sure was the case. Growing up—I know this for a fact—he played for the Cessnock Goannas. He was school captain at St Patrick's primary, and, I'm also reliably informed, that's where Anne, Joel's mum, once taught as well. Lance Corporal Jack Patrick Fitzgibbon's name has been inscribed on the school's honour board, and it's a place for distinguished alumni. While his life was cut short, his achievements were immense. For this he will be remembered not only by his former school but by this country.

To this end, on behalf of the people of Greenway and on behalf of the New South Wales branch, I offer my deepest condolences to Joel and Dianne, to Caitlin and Grace and to Kass. We extend those condolences to members of the Second Commando Regiment, who are coming to terms with their great loss. Let the memory of Lance Corporal Jack Patrick Fitzgibbon live on forever, and may he rest in peace.

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