Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Communications and Broadband) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

All members of this House and all Australians were horrified and deeply saddened to hear of the tragic helicopter accident which took the lives of three of the ABC’s most well-loved and most experienced employees—Gary Ticehurst, Paul Lockyer and John Bean. They died doing what they had done well for so long; bringing the vision of Australia—particularly the Australia that is beyond the cities where most of us live—those images and that life of the Australian bush to the rest of this nation. In doing that work over so many years they were part of the great mission of the ABC, which as a national public broadcaster is able to knit together this country and, in particular in the way it serves regional Australia and represents the views of regional Australia and the images of regional Australia, serves to remind all of us that there is a world elsewhere, that there is an Australia outside of the congestion and the busyness and the hustle and bustle of the city streets. While we may not be like the clerk in Banjo Paterson’s famous poem and wish that we were out of the city and out there with Clancy droving, nonetheless we can at least have some insight into that world courtesy of the ABC.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 10:19 to 10:32

Before we adjourned to vote in the division I was observing that the three men who died in this tragic helicopter crash, Gary Ticehurst, Paul Lockyer and John Bean, had spent much of their lives—particularly Paul and Gary—in recording and documenting the life in rural Australia. I speculated as to whether, like the author of Clancy of the Overflow, Banjo Paterson, we, looking at the wonderful pictures they brought back of life outside the cities, whether we, like Banjo Paterson, fancied ourselves leaving the busyness of the city and going out for a more rural life, going out into the wide open spaces of Australia. As we were coming back from the division the member for Forrest reminded me of his extraordinary gift for reading and remembering poetry and so we turned up that poem, Clancy of the Overflow, which I have not memorised, but those last two stanzas really sum up the image of an urban country like Australia that for all of its life—and we have been one of the most urbanised countries in the world, despite our vast land mass—how, as a very urbanised country, we still seek to stay connected with and to understand regional Australia. Those last two stanzas Paterson writes:

And the hurrying people daunt me, and their pallid faces haunt me

As they shoulder one another in their rush and nervous haste,

With their eager eyes and greedy, and their stunted forms and weedy,

For townsfolk have no time to grow, they have no time to waste.

And I somehow fancy that I’d like to change with Clancy,

Like to take a turn at droving where the seasons come and go,

While we faced the round eternal of the cashbook and the journal –

But I doubt he’d suit the office, Clancy, of ‘The Overflow’.

Gary Ticehurst, Paul Lockyer and John Bean did not suit the office and they died as they had lived. Gary Ticehurst had been the ABC’s lead helicopter pilot since the 1980s. He had logged more than 16,000 hours of flying time, most of those in his work for the ABC. He is remembered for many great stories that he enabled the ABC to cover, but probably the most spectacular was his consistent coverage of the Sydney to Hobart yacht races. Of course in 1998, in that tragic race, he played a very important role—much more important than just delivering us spectacular imagines of the yachts at sea—where he effected the rescue of 14 crew members of the yacht Business Post Naiad, which tragically lost its skipper and one of its crew. He was out there in that wild weather spotting the yachts and relaying their position to the search and rescue officials. He saved lives. He did not simply record the life of the sailors, he saved lives. He was loved by all of the people that he worked with at the ABC and, as I said, he represented the wings that enabled the writers and the cameramen to get out and record the life beyond the cities of this great country.

Paul Lockyer was one of the most distinguished journalists in the ABC and, indeed, in Australia. His career had spanned more than 40 years, which is remarkable because he looked so young. He was extremely well preserved. Clearly the life of being an ABC journalist is very good for one’s personal appearance. He always looked youthful and brought a vitality and an energy to all of his reporting. His jobs at the ABC have spanned just about every corner of its activities, but most recently his focus had been, as I said earlier, on regional issues. Very recently he was in Grantham when the floods hit in Queensland this year, as my colleague, Mr Buchholz has spoken very eloquently about. He was regarded as one of the people, one of their own, by the people of the Lockyer Valley—and appropriately, given they share a name—and the Mayor has said that every time he returned to Grantham, which he did many times after the floods, the locals embraced him as truly one of their own. He was a man of great compassion, great professionalism and embodied the very high standards of journalism.

Of course, the most beautiful words are not nearly as persuasive or as compelling without the pictures, and John Bean, the cameraman who also died in this crash, had been working for the ABC as a cameraman for 20 years. He had worked on a whole range of Australian television programs: Australian Story: Catalyst, New Inventors, Gardening Australia, 7.30 and Landline. He, like Paul Lockyer and Gary Ticehurst, had a fascination with and a love of the landscape of Australia and his work on the documentaries Return to Lake Eyre and After the Deluge are great testimony to both his passion and his art.

These three men will be sorely missed by their families, by their colleagues and by all Australians. It was a tragic loss and, as I said, they died as they had lived, serving the people of Australia through that great public broadcaster, the ABC.

I would also like to take this opportunity to honour another great leader of the ABC, another great journalist, Ian Carroll, who many of us have known. He is the husband, of course, of Geraldine Doogue, another very distinguished journalist. Ian had a remarkable career with the ABC. He died of a very cruel disease, a very cruel cancer. He worked right up until the end of his life. He had contributed to so many programs over the years at the ABC. He was an interesting man; he was in his mid-sixties when he died. He rather belies the view of Gen-Y that only the people in their twenties can be great innovators. He is an encouragement to all of us because he was the founder, in large measure, of the ABC program Lateline, which of course has become one of the most significant current affairs programs in Australia and really is one of the handful of platforms on television where there is actually the scope for a reasonably informed, intelligent debate about public policy, which is an enormous part of the ABC’s role.

Also, over the last decade, Ian really pioneered the entry of the ABC into the digital world. In my view, the ABC does a better job on the digital platform—on the internet, with iview and its podcasts—than any other broadcaster in the world. If people want to correct me on that then I would be very interested to be proven wrong, but I think what they have done is extraordinary. You take the way in which the reach of so many outstanding programs and Radio National have been expanded exponentially with podcasts, the way that the reach of ABC television programs has been expanded dramatically with iview and, of course, the ABC’s many websites—whether it is opinions as in The Drum or so many other platforms—have really expanded the reach of the ABC. Far from being, as one might have expected, a rather stuffy old public broadcaster, it has become a real leader in digital innovation. This was done by Ian Carroll. He was the driving force. He was the one that more than a decade ago was pushing the ABC and saying, ‘This is the new frontier. Our world does not end at free-to-air television and radio. We have to drive into the digital arena’, and they have done it very well. Ian is also deeply missed.

It was a very tragic week for the ABC to lose those four men. All of them made a great contribution the ABC—a remarkable one and unique contributions in each case. All of them are very sorely missed, so it is appropriate that this parliament records our sadness at their passing, our respect for them, conveys our condolences to their family, friends and colleagues at their work, and also in doing this, recognises the great work that the ABC does to bring our wonderful large nation together, and in particular to bring together the far-flung parts of Australia, out in the bush in regional Australia, to the clerks in the city, who in the midst of the bustle, without the ABC, would only be able to dream of the splendours that Clancy enjoyed.

Simon Crean (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I, too, would like to rise in this condolence motion for the loss of three great reporters who told the regional story.

The ABC is the national broadcaster and whilst they have lost, in fact, four members of the ABC family last week that, in many ways, is part of the nation’s family, too, because of the stories they tell and the way they tell them. The cameraman, pilot and journalist who died in outback South Australia last week so tragically were doing what they did so well as a trio. They told the regional story, the Australian story, through the prism of the regions. They understood, better than most, the patchwork nature of our society—and that term has been used a lot lately, but each patch is different and the ability to explain those differences and present those differences is, indeed, an important work in its own right.

Paul Lockyer did this as the journalist, John Bean as the cameraman and Gary Ticehurst as the logistics operator, obviously getting them into remote areas, into difficult, otherwise inaccessible areas, certainly inaccessible for the purposes of a news cycle. They had been working together on news and feature projects in the Lake Eyre region. It was not the first time that they had been there because they had done a wonderful documentary on previous occasions in the Lake Eyre region. Like those who have had the privilege to see it with water and without water and to note the fascinating differences, to be able to record that and tell the story about it takes it to an audience that does not have the ability to access it but can nevertheless marvel at the wonderment of the change, the rehabilitation, the revival—everything that comes from the enrichment of water and flooding plains.

Paul Lockyer was one of the ABC’s most experienced journalists and he also had a great ability to tell the stories. He cut through and gave all Australians an unrivalled insight into the bush and to remote communities. He had a real passion not just for news, but a passion for the regions, and that is a great thing to see. It has been an essential ingredient of the great message that the ABC has been able to convey over the years through television and radio, but it is more than just the telling of the story, it is giving strength to the regional voice. It is believing in it, having the passion for it and articulating it in the most effective ways. All of his stories conveyed empathy, respect and a deep understanding of the issues that faced people who live and work in regional Australia. They do think differently than we do here in Canberra. They see issues through a completely different perspective and their challenge, always, is ‘how can we better our opportunities?’, rather than the hurly-burly that goes on here for so much of the time.

I mentioned before that they perished in the Lake Eyre region, but Paul had undertaken an outstanding series on Lake Eyre which he was in the process of filming. His compassion covering the recent floods also made him a household name because Paul was the voice, the only journalist effectively, to be able to get into Grantham after that devastating flood that took so many lives and changed forever the nature of that peaceful valley, a valley that carries the same name as Paul himself. But he was the voice. He was there and he was able to bring the story—the hurt, the pain, the understanding, that empathy I talked of before—he was able to bring it to the outside world, so as people were grieving he was able to demonstrate an understanding and awareness in the rest of the community of just what had happened in terms of a community that effectively had been washed off the map.

John Bean was an award winning cameraman who was with Paul at the time of the Lake Eyre series and the three were filming when the tragedy occurred. The filming, itself, will be a lasting legacy to them. It is just so tragic that they were taken in an area that they understood, that they loved and that they wanted to tell the story about.

They were experts in their field, extraordinary men who not only captured the spirit of regional Australians, but helped to tell their stories. As the ABC’s former head of international, John Tulloh, recently said of Paul Lockyer: 'He had in abundance the best virtues of humanity. So many that you would not know where to start. It’s no wonder that strangers who featured in his stories, especially in the bush, trusted him. They probably recognised the kindred country-boy spirit in him. They knew he would never exploit them and always would tell their stories faithfully and knowledgeably.'

I think that is important because the regions did trust him. He was from them and he returned to them. He never forgot them. He loved them and loved the regions in a way that he saw part of his life’s mission was to better tell their story, their challenges, their triumphs and, on a number of occasions, their miseries. John Tulloh went on to say, 'He felt for the despair and plight of farmers and their families in the dust bowls who were part of his stories.'

As I mentioned at the outset, Paul was well known for his coverage of the devastation in Grantham and in the recent Queensland floods. In relation to that, Mart Warburton of the Grantham Recovery Council said this of him: 'One of few reporters who could balance his professionalism of the job and the compassion of the heart—a true gentleman. Since the first meeting in January until now Paul would ring from time to time just to see how I am going and how the community is recovering. When he was able to come back to Grantham he would make a huge effort to try and see as many residents as he could that he knew from the disaster. We all felt that we were more than a story to Paul. That’s why he was an honorary Grantham local, a friend, and always welcome in our community.' John Bean was also a man of immense capability and popularity. He was described by his friends and colleagues as incredibly humble, positive and warm, with an infectious laugh, and like Paul and Gary was a master in his field. It is terribly important with the stories of regional Australia that the visuals are there. The skill of the cameraman is essential to complement the editing, the text and the delivery of the reporter, and John Bean was an incredible part of this team that so sadly has perished. As John’s wife, ABC Landline reporter Pip Courtney, said, ‘I just hope lots of people have a Beannie in their lives like I’ve had.’ That infectiousness and that lovability were very much part of everything that those who spoke of John are reminded of.

Gary Ticehurst was an extraordinary pilot. John Tulloh recalls this in relation to Gary Ticehurst:

In my time at the ABC there were many stirring deeds by reporters and crews, but for me there was none greater than during the disastrous 1998 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. That is when Gary and cameraman, then Peter Sinclair, hovered in gale-force winds above stricken yachts and life rafts in tumultuous seas to coordinate their positions with rescuers, turning away only when in his calculation they had just enough fuel left to return to land. They made it with just a few litres in the tank and it was said his actions saved the lives of probably 25 crew members in that race.

It is the skills of these pilots that we rely on not only for the accessibility and the logistics work that made up the trio, in terms of the three that perished, but also the bravery, skill and precision and the ability to understand your capacity but also the task at hand and to have the determination to make the judgment, but most of all to put the saving of lives at the forefront of the determination as part of the job that he saw as his requirement to undertake.

Over the years I have had a lot to do with regional reporters and the professionals who cover regional stories. I have always found that the regional media are great to deal with. They are interested in you being there to understand their circumstances, to identify and hopefully to help. The regional reporters also call it how they see it. It does not always go our way, but that is the nature of journalism. They do know their stuff and they do know their regions and their audiences. In this tragedy Australia has lost three men who knew their audience, who knew their issues and who knew how to convey the stories of regional communities in a very powerful and compelling way. I know that they will be deeply missed and I extend my deepest condolences to their family, friends and colleagues.

Whilst I am on my feet, could I also have the indulgence to place on record my condolences for the passing of Ian Carroll, another ABC journalist whose death I think happened around the same time but after the condolence motion was moved in the parliament by the Prime Minister. I met Ian Carroll over 40 years ago when I was making it in the industrial movement and he was a reporter for the ABC in those days. It was an exciting time because there were many industrial disputes in those days when we did not have something that came to emerge called the prices and incomes accord, which in its own way helped transform the nature of this country.

I was involved in a trade union—the Storemen and Packers Union. I had just finished at university and Ian was on the round with a lot of other key journalists at the time—Ben Ainsworth, Barry Donovan, and Michael Gordon, who is still writing with the Age as National Editor. This was an exciting group to be involved in. But Ian, you knew at the time, was more than just a reporter and certainly more than just an industrial roundsman. He did have a creativity. He had big ideas about him. He went through the ABC in a number of guises but the two areas that he picked and was innovative with, and why the ABC are privileged to have these people work for them and why the nation is the better for it, were where the media was moving and the emergence of the moving media cycle. He understood that. And for that reason he pioneered the ABC Lateline program; he saw a niche. As the 6 o’clock news moved more to domestic tragedies and the like and less to political stories there was a market still there for strong political debate, and so Lateline developed and Lateline stands today.

He also understood the technology and the importance technology could play in terms of enabling the message reach of the ABC; not just the media dimension, but the message, the storytelling and all that went with it. He was instrumental in driving the ABC in the direction of the embrace of the digital economy. It is fortuitous that we reflect on that in this condolence motion, because the government is undertaking at the moment the convergence review that is looking at this whole question of the convergence of technologies. So the circumstances in which his legacy will be remembered are terribly important. I place on the record my condolences for his passing and my very best to his surviving family, in particular Geraldine Doogue.

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

Over the years I have had the great fortune through my portfolio to engage with many members of the ABC regional news and current affairs world—sound recordists, cameramen and camerawomen, journalists and on occasions helicopter pilots. Having seen the work of that crew, I simply wanted briefly to record my sorrow at the loss of three of their number, all truly experienced and outstanding representatives—Gary Ticehurst, John Bean and Paul Lockyer. Each of the three had a distinguished career, but each of the three was well known more importantly still for their decency, humanity and professionalism. Gary Ticehurst, whilst a pilot of 25 years with the ABC, was rightly remembered most importantly for his courage during the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race in 1998. As other honourable members have recorded, he chose to put the safety of those in the water and in stricken boats ahead of himself and brought his helicopter perilously close to some very tight moments, but in so doing he guided a rescue crew in and was responsible—

Kirsten Livermore (Capricornia, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! A quorum is not present in the committee at the moment so the chamber will be suspended until the chair is resumed.

Sitting suspended from 11:00 to 11:02

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

As I noted before the suspension, Gary Ticehurst put his own safety a distant second during the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race of 1998. It is fair to say that there are many families that remain whole as a consequence of that decision.

John Bean, of course, was an awarded cameraman. His work took him right around the country and he had worked in rural Australia. I make this point because, having worked with many ABC journalists and camera crew across rural and regional Australia, I have a sense of the passion they have for their job. It is important to acknowledge that they are a fundamental glue—whether we agree or disagree with any particular story—to the ability of people in regional Australia to have a voice, to have access to an understanding of the broader things that are occurring within their region and to simply be in connection with the rest of the country.

Paul Lockyer, who was of course the best known of the three to have perished in the Lake Eyre helicopter tragedy a week ago, was a journalist who brought to life the drought. He then brought to life the rains and the magnificent spectacle of Central Australia in full bloom, both for its environmental benefits but also the human stories that went with it. Again, a tragedy which perhaps became the leitmotif of his work was his role and work in Grantham in the immediate aftermath of the tragic inland wall of water that tore through that town at the start of this year.

I simply wanted to record my sorrow at their passing in such circumstances. Like many in this House, it was my portfolio, not so much my electorate, that took me into many circumstances where I have worked with ABC regional crew. They do a tremendous job. To lose three of their principal leaders was a great loss for them and the community, but above all else a loss for the families of Gary Ticehurst, John Bean and Paul Lockyer.

Stephen Jones (Throsby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before entering parliament I had the great honour to be a union official, the National Secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union. One of the best groups of members I ever got to represent were the employees of the ABC. They were without doubt some of the most intelligent, committed and talented people I ever represented in my industrial capacity. It was with great sadness that I and my colleagues at the CPSU learnt that long-term ABC journalist Paul Lockyer, cameraman John Bean and pilot Gary Ticehurst had died in tragic circumstances. They were filming the flooding at Lake Eyre in Central Australia and the helicopter crashed in a remote location on the lake’s edge. Investigators from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau only reached the scene on Friday night. We had hoped that it would not end in tragedy in that 12 or 14 hours after learning about the accident, but regrettably that was not the case.

Paul Lockyer was a distinguished international journalist who produced a truly remarkable body of work, and in statements in this place and elsewhere many people have paid tribute to that work. He had been a correspondent in Washington, Singapore and throughout Asia and had won a Logie award for best TV reporter. His work in recent years focused on regional and rural issues and his work on the Queensland floods this year won universal acclaim. I am quite certain that he will, tragically posthumously, receive further awards for that work. Not only that; it is clear from the outpouring of grief and regret from not only his colleagues at the ABC and in the Australian media community but also from the broader ABC family that Paul was highly valued as a good friend. The qualities that made him a good friend and a good mate shone through in his journalism and touched audiences everywhere across Australia. It is not easy to win trust let alone affection from people who are living in regional Australia, but it was clear from his reports from regional Australia that he was good with people and they in turn respected and trusted him with their stories.

At the time of the accident, Paul, John and Gary were filming for another acclaimed documentary for ABC Television on Lake Eyre. Paul Lockyer was one of the ABC’s most experienced journalists, with an award-winning career spanning more than 40 years locally and internationally. Many speakers in this condolence motion have spoken about Gary Ticehurst, who was by all accounts one of the best amongst the media pilots. I never met him personally, but I know of him by fame and reputation. On more than one occasion during that infamous Sydney to Hobart race he put his life at risk to ensure the safety of the crews on stricken yachts hit by storms. He was famous within the profession and it is fitting that his work is paid tribute in this debate.

Brisbane based cameraman John Bean worked for the ABC for 20 years across a diverse range of programs, in news and entertainment, including international assignments. In my time representing workers at the ABC we used to represent the people who were behind the camera and the people who did not generally get the fame that the journalists and others did. They were famous and well-respected amongst their colleagues but generally little known amongst the Australian public. It is tragic and perhaps ironic that it takes a tragedy such as this to make the Australian community stand up and recognise the wonderful value of their work; they come out from behind the camera and become visible to us.

These men were not only dedicated media professionals; they were also husbands, fathers, sons and uncles. I know this is a terribly difficult time for their families. I take this opportunity and join with all of my parliamentary colleagues to extend my personal sympathy to their families and friends and to the entire ABC community, who I know are missing them dearly.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I associate myself with the eloquent and moving remarks of the members for Wentworth, Flinders and Throsby and the Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government this morning—and others too—in this condolence motion. My sincerest condolences are offered to the families and many friends of the three ABC news crew who died in a helicopter crash while filming near Lake Eyre in outback South Australia on Thursday, 18 August. We were sad to hear of the loss of award-winning journalist Paul Lockyer, experienced pilot Gary Ticehurst and gifted cameraman John Bean in such tragic circumstances.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has a long and proud history, with news crews working relentlessly and tirelessly to bring Australian news, world news and regional news to our living rooms. Paul and John, as news gatherers, did it marvellously well. The helicopter pilot was one of the best. Australia’s media has been dealt a harsh blow. They brought to our small screens the stories of the people, the outback, rural and regional Australia—what I like to call real Australia—and the colour, exuberance, vibrancy and vitality of the bush. The media has lost three of its finest. The nation is poorer as a result. They were fine men and fine Australians. May they rest in peace.

Tony Windsor (New England, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

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We share the same age, so it also brings home one's own longevity in a sense. I used to speak with Paul on the phone a bit about some of the regional issues that are out there. He would ring from time to time just to see what I thought was happening, what was not happening or what should be happening. The last time I spoke to him was in relation to a story on a piece of legislation that I will actually be introducing into this parliament on the next sitting Monday to do with coal seam gas, coal activities and groundwater issues under the EPBC Act.

Paul was one of those who are very, very astute. He was obviously a very professional journalist. I think there are a lot of journalists in Australia today who should actually look at how professional these people were—Gary as a professional helicopter pilot; John Bean as obviously one of the best in terms of his capacity to operate a camera and his ability to send the message back; and Paul as the journalist. They were a great team. But to send that message back you needed a great photographer.

The last time I spoke to Paul he actually said that he was looking forward to going back out there. We shared a common interest, I guess. We used to talk occasionally above the love of inland Australia, the deserts and the way in which water is so vital to this nation in a range of areas. I think he was particularly captivated by the way in which the Channel Country in Queensland related to that very dry area around Lake Eyre and how that region absolutely came to life when it rained in the Channel Country in Queensland.

He was going back out to do a follow-up story on that when the tragedy occurred. His capacity to tell the real story of regional Australia—the country stories—as I said probably went back not only to his roots in regional Western Australia but also to the professional edge he put to it. Too often these days we see journalists who want to make themselves the story, be part of the story or present their interpretation of the story. I think the great attribute that all three of these people had was that they were able to relate to the people they were talking to. Paul Lockyer never looked down on country people, as some journalists who do not understand those real issues of country Australia tend to do. They do not mean to do it and I do not blame them, but it sends a body language message to many. I think we saw the way that they were accepted in Grantham as well. They were not in there like voyeurs looking at the damage and trying to pick up the story of damaged people; they were there in a sympathetic way to tell the tragedy of the story of the people actually on the ground.

My brother-in-law and good friend Andrew Pursehouse and his wife, Cynthia, spent about three hours with Gary on probably the last story that they did in New South Wales, at Breeza, looking at a similar issue, the impact of mining activities on water resources. I know they represent a whole group of people right across regional Australia who have engaged with Paul, Gary and John on various occasions and told their story. Tim Duddy, who has been a champion for regional Australia as well, also spent much time with Paul on that same story in my local region.

On the morning that we heard that there had been a tragedy in Lake Eyre I went to our local ABC radio station to offer my condolences, because they are a real family. There was no-one more respected than Paul Lockyer in terms of journalism. Everybody knew Gary Ticehurst and most people knew John Bean. The emotion in our local ABC—and I am sure it was right across the nation—was palpable. People were genuinely upset. Catherine Clifford, the news announcer, did an extraordinary job—she knew Paul very well—in being able to go to air at 6.30 and make those announcements.

I make my contribution today not just on behalf of myself, my family and obviously the community I represent, but very particularly for that ABC family that is out there right across Australia who have lost these extraordinary professionals. My eldest son, who is a farmer but is also a helicopter pilot, had contact with Gary Ticehurst on a number of occasions, particularly in the Kimberley area a few years back when the movie Australia was being filmed. Right across that network of professional pilots and helicopter people they all know each other and obviously they feel for the families as much as we all do.

I would just like, if I could, to mention a common friend of both Gary Ticehurst's and mine, a fellow called Ian Wiskin, who, with Gary, was instrumental in forming the Helicopter Association in New South Wales. They were also involved in the national association. Ian, as many would know in this House, has been here on a number of occasions to represent various issues. He was very close to Gary Ticehurst. I will be attending the funeral of Paul Lockyer tomorrow in the company of Ian Wiskin and we will convey some of the messages that I have heard from other members and other members of the community as well.

I extend the sympathy of my family and that of the electorate of New England and regional people generally to the families of these people. Because of their absolute devotion to their task and their capacity to relay the stories as they really are,they will not be forgotten, particularly by country Australia. I think other members have spoken about that. We feel extreme sorrow for their families on this very sad occasion.