Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As a Victorian and an ardent 'Shinboner' I understand the role football plays in our community. For us as Victorians it is more than just a game, more than just a sport; it is a way of life. And Jim Stynes was a colossus. Jim Stynes was a trailblazer. In 1984 he made what was at that stage an unheralded move from Ireland to Australia to pursue a career in the AFL after an already very successful career in the Gaelic Football League, winning an all Ireland minor football championship with Dublin. Little did he know at that time the precedent that he was setting. Pioneer is a term too readily repeated these days, but Jim Stynes was a pioneer. When he arrived in Australia no-one could have predicted the impact he would have on the game, the community and society as a whole. Jim Stynes holds the AFL record for the most consecutive games—244. This achievement could not sum up Jim Stynes attitude towards life more succinctly—a fighter to the end, and someone who was absolutely relentless in his commitment. Jim was a four-time best and fairest winner, a two-time All Australian, an AFL Hall of Famer, a Melbourne team of the century member and, of course, the 1991 Brownlow medallist, awarded to the best and fairest player in the league. That was the first time someone born outside of Australia won this prestigious award. Jim's affection for his beloved Melbourne Football Club was unrivalled. A one-team player, his connection to the Demons extended beyond his playing career. In 2008, Jim Stynes was named chairman of the board. He arrived with the club burdened with debt and embarked on the debt demolition campaign, delivering on the $5 million pledge in August of 2010. Jim's commitment to his club was nothing short of superhuman given the graveness of his illness, but he never allowed his personal battles to burden those around him. Even during the depths of his own personal struggles, he was reported to be counselling others with their troubles. This was the Jim that we all knew publicly, a man who was always thinking of others.

Jim's duty to his community extended far beyond football. He was the founder of the Reach Foundation, helping disadvantaged youth. He was twice named Victorian of the Year and was awarded an Order of Australia for his contribution to sport and community. Unfortunately, Jim's battle with skin cancer is an all too familiar one in this country, with Australia recording the highest rate of skin cancer per capita anywhere in the world. It is essential that we all follow the SunSmart message and have regular checks.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Jim's wife, Sam, and his two young children, Matisse and Tiernan, who, most importantly, have lost a husband and a father at too young an age. One cannot express the sorrow and pain they must be feeling but, at the same time, the pride they must also feel to have loved such an inspiring and courageous leader of our community. We mourn the passing of Jim Stynes, a great Victorian and a great leader. He will be sadly missed.

Jamie Briggs (Mayo, Liberal Party, Chairman of the Scrutiny of Government Waste Committee) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too rise to acknowledge the untimely death of Jim Stynes. I do not make a practice of speaking on these motions unless I have some personal connection in this place, but I am originally from Victoria and, growing up as a young Victorian, one of my earliest memories of football was the 1987 preliminary final, where Hawthorn played Melbourne to take on the mighty Blues a week later in the grand final. Of course, Carlton belted the living suitcase out of Hawthorn in the grand final. But the preliminary final between Hawthorn and Melbourne was a very close game and Jim Stynes, in, I think, his first year of senior footy, famously ran across the mark of Gary Buckenara, who, with a 15-metre penalty, as it was in those days, proceeded to kick the goal taking Hawthorn into a grand final they were sure to lose—but, in any event, they made the grand final. It was one of my earliest football memories.

Jim Stynes played a significant part in the last 20 years of Australian football. It is a passion and religion in the southern states and is also growing, I must say, in the northern states and in the west, and Jim Stynes has been a significant part of that. To lose Jim at such a young age with such a contribution still to make to society is extremely sad. The member for Higgins, appropriately, went through his record in the game and so forth, and I will not repeat that, but I saw a comment by Patrick Smith in the Australian a day or so ago that I thought was extremely appropriate. He said that Jim Stynes arrived in Melbourne not knowing how to play football, but, after he left, Melbourne would not be playing football without him. That is completely true. Without Jim Stynes' commitment and passion for that football club, it is likely they would not be running around again this year.

He was truly a champion—a term that gets thrown around too often—on the sporting field and a champion off the sporting field. I feel terribly sorry for his young children and for his wife, Samantha. I will finish by quoting what Samantha Stynes said in her Facebook message when she announced his death:

Jim's lesson is that life was to be challenged and treasured.

Tony Smith (Casey, Liberal Party, Deputy Chairman , Coalition Policy Development Committee) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I join in this sad statement of condolence for someone who was well known and well liked not just in Victoria but beyond. Many millions of Victorians felt a connection with Jim Stynes. He died at the age of 45. The member for Mayo began his speech with a memory of the 1987 preliminary final, and I would like to start there too. I remember that day very well—like the member for Mayo, I am a Carlton supporter. Melbourne had been an underperforming team for many years but they surged through the 1987 season and, against great odds, won their way to the preliminary final. I remember that I had come home from work that day and saw the last few minutes on television, which was rare in those days—they did a live cross because the match was so close.

As the member for Mayo outlined, it was a heartbreaking finish for the club and for Jim Stynes personally. Melbourne looked like they had won the match. They had been in front pretty much all day, they had been in front at three-quarter time. Gary Buckenara, from Hawthorn, had taken a mark that was too far from goal and the siren rang. As it was ringing, Jim Stynes—who we had all got to know as the Irish recruit, who had come across and learnt the game at the instigation of Ron Barassi—I think I am correct on that—ran across the mark, which in those days was an automatic 15-metre penalty. That put the Hawthorn sharpshooter Gary Buckenara within distance to kick the goal after the siren. He did kick that goal and Hawthorn went into the grand final. For Melbourne supporters it was heartbreak, and Jim Stynes felt it. I read in the paper this week that he went to Europe to try and get away from it all, but someone walked up to him and said, 'Aren't you the bloke who ran across the mark in the preliminary final?'

That story has been told a lot. But it is a story that needs to be told because Jim Stynes was a determined person but also an affable and optimistic person. He came out from Ireland not knowing the rules of our 'southern code'. Then he had a setback. It took him a while to make the firsts and become a star player. He played in a premiership grand final the following year and, even though Melbourne lost, he was best on ground. He won a Brownlow Medal. He was not just a great footballer but a great person and a great community leader. It is rare to be a superstar AFL footballer but it is rarer still to be one of those players for whom every AFL fan has a soft spot. Throughout his playing career, every AFL fan thought Jim Stynes was a great person. He was a superstar for the Melbourne Football Club, and opposing fans respected that. Of course, he took that affable determination that so many people had underestimated into his full-on dedication in the community, as the member for Higgins outlined. It is too sad that he is now no longer with his family. He is someone who came from Ireland and became a great Australian. His family naturally will be devastated that he has been taken so early, but they will be forever proud for everything he did and for everything he ever was.

Andrew Robb (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Chairman of the Coalition Policy Development Committee) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a great privilege for me to have this opportunity to reflect on what has been an extraordinary life, that of Jim Stynes, and to honour that life in a modest way and to express my deep regret and sympathy to his wife and family, and to his parents, who in fact reside in my electorate and whose citizenship I presided over a few years ago. Jim and his wife were there, together with other family members. That experience, along with many others I have had with Jim Stynes, was one to remember. He was that sort of fellow. He was a leader of men and women, and he had a capacity to connect with people in all sorts of walks of life. He was known in the football world for his sportsmanship and his leadership role in combating racism and encouraging players to lead by example in their off-field endeavours. He brought so much to the game. He extended the proud history of Irish immigration in Australia. The first time I met him I thought of my family, who originally came from Ireland 150 or 160 years ago. It made me think at the time of the way in which it would be difficult to uproot yourself and come to another country and to seek to make your mark.

He was a man who made an extraordinary mark. But he had difficulties when he first got here—over the first two or three years—to establish himself and combat the expectations and cynicism in a lot of quarters over whether this experiment, if you like, would work. Despite the early setbacks he persisted and became an astonishingly successful ruckman. He played 264 games, including 244 consecutively without missing a game. In that context, that is an extraordinary feat in itself. I suspect in many games he did take to the field with injuries and problems that would have certainly meant that other players would not have fronted—would not have been able to contest a full match. Yet he played and he played in the ruck, which is a very significant contact part of the game.

He became the only overseas born player to win the highest individual honour in the AFL, the Brownlow medal. He won the best and fairest award four times for Melbourne, received all sorts of other All Australian honours, representing the state in the State of Origin and was inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame. So he is man who obviously achieved such an enormous amount, yet through all of that the humility of Jim was extraordinary. He did not see that what he was doing was anything special. He had gifts—he had wonderful gifts. He made the most of those gifts, and that is all that can be asked of somebody.

My initial contact with Jim was through the Reach Foundation when I attended some of the fundraising functions and then got the opportunity to observe Jim in action. He had this extraordinary capacity to connect with young people. It is something that is hard to describe because it is an intangible, but I did have the great privilege of seeing him work with young people. He had this ability to help them confront the issues that were bedevilling them. It is true of so many problems in life, I think, that if you have the courage to confront it, it can make an enormous difference to the resolution of those problems. I am the last one to speak about that, having spent 43 years denying something. But it takes a lot for people to confront issues and Jim Stynes had this wonderful ability. He gave support and self-belief. You could see the self-esteem of some of those young people growing with his belief in them. Almost before your eyes you could see them gaining strength and courage from not just his words but his manner, his identification. He would ask the hard questions but in a way which was not passing judgment, it was in a way which would help some of these young people confront their issues.

The program he has been responsible for in Reach, I think there are now some 60,000 taking part nationally each year. It is modelled somewhat on his personal experience in Ireland with programs where young people work with other young people in camps to improve self-belief and to develop resilience and emotional awareness amongst young people. At 45, to achieve what Jim has achieved is quite remarkable in many respects. To have 60,000 young people each year taking part in these programs, these camps, is a most extraordinary thing, quite apart from what he has done with the Melbourne Football Club and the inspiration that he has been for so many millions of Australians in the way in which he has tackled issues.

He has left an indelible mark on his adopted country and quite a number of extraordinary legacies. He was a giant of a man in so many ways. Yet through all of that, you would not have found a more humble and self-effacing individual who had all the moods of all the rest of us, but overwhelmingly was a person of great character and with great concern about others. He just oozed interest in what you were doing and what you were saying. When you were talking to Jim Stynes you felt that you were the only person that was important, notwithstanding his responsibilities and notwithstanding the fact that often he might have just been out of hospital for four days, having had several cancerous growths removed. That happened so often; it was quite remarkable.

I would just say about Jim that he showed in so many stages of his life that striving and struggling to reach our own potential is ultimately what gives meaning to our lives. It is what dictates the uniqueness and the dignity of each person, and Jim's life teaches us that life is meaningful. He was a man who found great meaning in his own life. He was a man who realized that life was expecting something from him despite his circumstances. Despite the fact the he was riddled with cancer and was battling in these last three years with such an overwhelming threat to his life and all of the endless operations and chemotherapy and all of these issues, through those three years he grabbed a football club that was inexorably sliding into a dysfunctional state and turned it on its head. He resolved a $5 million debt; breathed commitment, hope and interest into a board; developed a strong and effective administration; and in so many ways very significantly turned around the fortunes of the Melbourne Football Club, which for me is something of great significance seeing that I have been barracking for them since 1957. The last time they got a flag was 1964. I have taken much greater interest had more involvement in the club over the last few years since I came back to Melbourne and assumed the parliamentary role that I have. Again, I have had the privilege in that connection with the Melbourne Football Club in the last few years to see Jim quite often and to just interact and pass the time of day and catch up with what he is doing. At no stage through all of that—and, of course, much of that has been a time when he has been very ill—would he ever reflect on his own state of health. He was always putting a brave and uncomplaining face to the world.

I want to convey my deep condolences to his wife, Sam, to his kids and to his brothers and sisters, and a special mention to his parents, who as I said earlier are in my electorate and are wonderful people. I have met them on a couple of occasions now and I would see them at the club now and again. They share, as you would expect, the same qualities of openness. They are people who are so easy to talk to and relate to and, whilst being extremely distressed and upset and sad, they must be immensely proud of their son, who has been such a wonderful example to all of us and who has already made in his short time in Australia such an extraordinary contribution—someone who has been Victorian of the Year on two occasions and Melburnian of the Year because of the community work he has conducted and his other leadership responsibilities. The Melbourne Football Club, the AFL community and Australia have lost a great son with the passing of Jim Stynes. Thank you.