Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Action, Environment and Heritage) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In addressing this motion for Greg McNicol, I speak both as a local member representing his parents and as a friend. As a friend, we go back to 1978, 33 years ago, when we were each 12 years of age. It is three-quarters of my life that we knew each other. Against that background, let me begin by expressing my condolences and the condolences of the House to Greg McNicol's family: to his father, Graham, who I know has been so deeply affected by this loss, and to his mother, Maureen, who is going through difficult and challenging times of her own but who has been the absolute rock of the family for decades and decades. Although she was a good foot shorter than Greg McNicol, or maybe a little bit more, he was always terrified of his mother. She was a woman of stout heart and she remains a woman of stout heart despite great challenges. Her family relies upon her as the absolute rock of their existence.

Let me express my condolences to Greg's brother Steven and his sister Karen, but most significantly, to Greg's wife, Katie Scartezini, who remains a Brazilian citizen. Greg and Katie lived together in the United States. Katie is an extraordinary woman. She is a figure in her own right nationally in both countries as a speaker and author. She has an extraordinarily positive attitude to life and she found her life partner some eight years ago in Greg McNicol. Each of them had had their own journey and for Greg this was the coming together of his life. There had been some dark and difficult days along the way but he found his partner and he was in the best place of his life. I last saw him on the balcony of my own home on the Mornington Peninsula, where 17 months ago he came to visit. We spent an evening one summer between Christmas and New Year with friends Peter Beamish, Ian McConville, my wife Paula, Gregory McNicol and his wife Katie. He talked about the journey he had made and the fortune he had had in finding his partner, and he talked about his plans to renovate, to build small local communities in America one block at a time.

He recognised that the global financial crisis caused enormous hardship but he also saw in it the opportunity to be engaged in a commercial venture, at the same time operating towards the higher angels. In particular, Greg set out at that stage that he thought in some of the more depressed cities in the United States there was a possibility, particularly in African-American communities, to give people a sense of hope, possibility and opportunity by taking some of these rundown buildings and working with the residents on progressively upgrading and reforming them to make them a family community. He set out to do that and he was doing that in a number of places, most notably in Detroit in Beniteau Street. It was sadly in that street that he met his end while attempting to do the best by the residents, to create a small, local community that would provide a way forward and an opportunity, a sense of living at its best to people who might otherwise have struggled. It is a great tragedy, a senseless strategy. My one comfort, and I know the family's one comfort, is that in Katie he had made his life partner and they had shared time together. The great tragedy is that their hopes for a family were never realised.

The second element of this motion is to express the gratitude of the House:

... to the City and Police Department of Detroit for the speed with which they have apprehended the alleged killer, and urge that the investigation is continued until such time as police are certain that no other parties were complicit.

I particularly want to speak on behalf of family who have asked me to convey to Mayor Dave Bing and to all members of the City of Detroit Police Department their thanks. They are thankful for all that has been done so far but they have concerns that the investigation should be fully conducted in the event that there was more than one person involved in the killing. That is a matter for the police, but as a House we express our hope that the police will not rest until they have exhausted all inquiries.

In particular as part of the thanks on half of the family I want to thank the Foreign Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, and his chief of staff, Philip Green. Both acted personally to assist Katie and her brother Giovanni obtain the requisite visas to move from Brazil, where sadly Katie was at the time of Greg's death, up to Detroit to gather his remains and bring Greg's remains back to Australia. They were assisted by the Australian ambassador, Kim Beazley, and by the United States embassy in Australia. I especially thank Deb Blakie from the consular division of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Her assistance has been herculean, compassionate, caring and fundamental in helping the family bring all the details together.

On behalf of the House, I also make the point that there is no animosity towards the city of Detroit. There is great respect for the people of America, particularly those engaged in the great renaissance through which Detroit is now passing. It is a city which has seen its hard times. But last year it had its lowest murder rate in some decades. Sadly, it still has a murder rate of over 300—and my friend, the son of Graham and Maureen and the husband of Katie, is one of this year's victims. There is a great challenge in each of our cities but we wish Detroit godspeed in their work. This brings me to the last part of the motion, which states:

(2) respectfully call on the Mayor and City of Detroit to create a public park in the vacant land adjacent to where Mr McNicol was both working and lost his life, with an appropriate recognition of Mr McNicol's vision for a better local community.

Greg's vision was not just the building at Beniteau Street; it was to create a living community by way of a small local park on the adjacent vacant block. It is a simple vision and I ask the mayor to do all he can. Mayor Bing, we know of you in Australia and we know of your city in Australia. We have great respect for you and for your city. We ask that you consider acquiring or converting this land in some way to create a small family park with picnic tables, seats and benches, to allow locals to sit beneath Greg's favourite tree and to live a proper family life with some calm and serenity to which we are all entitled.

I want to finish with a special note of thanks to Ed Husic, the member for Chifley. He suggested this motion. He is from the government side of the House. It was a very thoughtful commendation and the family pass on their thanks. He has established an enviable early reputation for honourable conduct in this House. Finally, I commend this motion to the House, but I say goodbye to my friend. It has been a difficult time. We will miss you, my friend.

Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I echo the condolences expressed by the member for Flinders about the death of an Australian expatriate, his high school friend, Greg McNicol. At the outset, I extend my condolences and deepest sympathies to Mr McNicol's wife, Katie, his father, Graham, and his mother, Maureen, and to other family. From testaments and reports in the media, Mr McNicol was a driven, self-made businessman who leapt across the Pacific from his home in Mt Eliza, Victoria, to the United States of America. His death touched Australians back home with tributes flowing from his Mt Eliza community and in Detroit where he made many friends. He was a property developer setting out to start a dream and bring his skills and talents across to the United States. Embodied within Greg McNicol's story are those national attributes we admire so much. Often we celebrate the efforts of other business people and sports people because it is natural to garner easy coverage for their endeavours. But Greg McNicol represented our country uniquely. I learnt a lot about his efforts, and the tragic circumstances that surrounded his final moments, through a thoughtful feature article that ran in the Sydney Morning Herald a few Saturdays ago, written by Nick Miller and Chris Johnston. He was, as the Herald article said, on a 'journey from the Mornington Peninsula across the world to Los Angeles and then Detroit was a journey of self-discovery. He knew there was something out there for him; he just had to find it.' His was not a journey necessarily anchored simply in self-advancement. He was trying to make a difference in the lives of people in tough neighbourhoods. Greg McNicol wanted them to savour hope for a more secure, comfortable future. He was doing incredible work, investing in properties he wished to rebuild. His most recent project involved renovating a rundown 10-unit apartment complex in Detroit, where his mind saw a vision for a better community, improving the quality of life for tenants while providing more affordable accommodation.

Representing the seat of Chifley, where I have had the great pleasure of attending the openings of many new social housing initiatives, Mr McNicol's work spoke to me. It was something I could relate to. I have seen firsthand what a difference new, well-presented accommodation can make in the lives of people who never imagined they would be so fortunate to experience this, especially if they had been stuck on public housing queues for a decade or more. So, regardless of location, this fellow citizen of ours, Greg McNicol, was helping to offer others a brighter future, something our parliament should surely take the time to honour.

To describe Mr McNicol's achievements, I quote the Herald article of 21 May:

His tradesman's skills—roofing, plumbing, carpentry—were relics of his previous life; when he left school early he was an RAAF mechanic for seven years. After that he built his own wholesale nursery.

Then he moved to California and got into the building trade, earning US qualifications in plumbing, electrics, construction and building codes.

From what I have learned, Greg McNicol did not do things by halves. He moved into the properties he was renovating to make sure they were protected—and to apply the work ethic he was renowned for, as recounted by his sister Karen, when she said he was the 'first there in the morning and the last to leave'. Through his industry and hard work he earned the respect of local residents in Detroit, who had nicknamed him the 'Crocodile Hunter'. Residents cooked for him, fed him and offered him company and support. But as much as he offered a better future for some, Mr McNicol had to make tough calls about others, sometimes evicting tenants as part of his redevelopments. As a result of an argument he had had with some tenants he had sought to evict, Mr McNicol was shot at close range. To quote the Herald:

Neighbours, angry because they liked McNicol and knew he meant well, brought bandages. Some tended to him. But it was too late.

I understand the member for Flinders, Greg Hunt, has spoken to Foreign Minister Rudd to ensure that the Detroit police thoroughly investigate Mr McNicol's death, and we have heard some of the other measures that he has followed through to ensure this is the case. Having read Mr Hunt's letter to the Mayor of Detroit, David Bing, I understand Mr McNicol's family and friends have vowed to see through his work, and I am sure many in this House extend to them every single encouragement with their efforts. As local Detroit resident and friend Flo Benson said:

There are people like Greg taking a chance in Detroit, who are not going to get stopped. This time next year this property will be thriving, the way he knew it would. His life won't be in vain.

The member for Flinders, in his letter to the mayor, remarked: 'Greg's passion was to help some of the poorest neighbourhoods in America, one block at a time. The heart of that vision was the apartment complex at 4110 Beniteau Street.' I note the letter by the member for Flinders extended a modest but important request, asking the city to consider acquiring the adjacent vacant block to help create a small park for residents, a park that might be named after Mr McNicol. To quote the member for Flinders, this would be 'a small but profoundly meaningful gesture not only for Greg's family but also for nearby residents'.

As I speak on this motion I think of my own communities in Chifley that have experienced their own trying times of late, where the community has come together to help those feeling the pain of loss. I look to my own area where the death of young Keisha Abrahams touched so many people. Our local newspaper, the Mt Druitt Standard, recently featured photos of a purple fence erected in her memory—purple being her favourite colour. Community members built the fence and Emerton Hardware donated the paint. Dozens of messages from passers-by have been left on the palings. The support and outpouring of emotion and concern have been constant over the course of the year.

In mid-August last year my wife, Bridget, and I visited the local temporary shrine dedicated to Keisha. As we left our flowers we were moved on that cold night by the warmth of others in their well-wishes for Keisha. I hope when the pain eases with the passing of time that a fitting memorial will be set up to remember Keisha, as a landmark testifying to the compassion and spirit of Mount Druitt's communities.

But tonight we honour an Australian who has left. I would like to extend my deepest sympathy to Mr McNicol's family, his wife and his friends. We in this parliament offer our condolences as we remember his life and extend thanks to the community for their valued support and hope that others who were so close to him find comfort in this time.

Yvette D'Ath (Petrie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.