Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today with the melancholy duty of informing the House of the passing Father Brian Ashworth at the age of 83 on Thursday, 19 June. Father Brian was a very determined man who cared deeply for his parish and community in and around the city of Mt Gambier where he lived and worked for over four decades. After completing two years of service in the British Royal Navy, Father Brian moved to Australia and entered the Anglican ministry. He served parishes in Victoria before joining the Australian Army as a chaplain. This service in the Australian Defence Force saw Father Brian serve as a chaplain to our service men and women in Victoria, New South Wales, Malaysia and Vietnam before returning to civilian life in 1971.

It was then that Father Brian became rector of the parishes of Penola, Coonawarra and Kalangadoo before moving onto Mt Gambier where he was the Anglican priest for 38 years, taking in Saint Thomas's of Port Macdonnell, Saint Luke's of Mt Schank and St Paul's of Glencoe. Father Brian also initiated the formation of the Scout groups in both Penola and Mt Gambier. I can happily report to you that the Scouts continue to provide young people with valuable skills and life experiences in these two towns today.

Father Brian was recognised locally as the founding father of Anglican Community Care. The chief executive of that organisation, Mr Rob Foggo, paid tribute to Father Brian yesterday when he said, 'Without his foresight and passion for social justice, Anglican Community Care would not exist today.' Father Brian also served as a board member and sometime assistant chairman of the board of Boandik Lodge, an aged care facility in Mt Gambier. I worked alongside Father Brian as a trustee of the Carinya Gardens Cemetery Trust and can testify to his passion for communities in the lower south-east.

Father Brian continued to serve his local community as chaplain to the Mt Gambier police for 14 years, providing pastoral care for both the police officers and other emergency services personnel in the south-east. I was touched to read a tribute to the life of this remarkable man penned by his wife, Anne, in Tuesday's edition of the local Mt Gambier newspaper, The Border Watch. Anne Ashworth remembers her husband's dedication to the Anglican Church.

One of the greatest joys of Brian's parish work was the nurturing of children in the church from baptism through confirmation to adulthood and marriage. Testament to his capacity as a spiritual leader was his ability to build numbers within congregations, especially young family units.

Father Brian's funeral will be this Friday, 27 June, at Christ Church in Mt Gambier. On behalf of the House, I extend my condolences to Father Brian's wife, Anne, his family.