Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I rise to pay tribute to a great man in my local community on the Central Coast—a man whose life never made newspaper headlines. He never built a business empire, he did not invent a world-changing device, and he did not deliver an oration that soared into the pages of history. He was a man who died last month, quietly—as quietly as some may say he lived. Born on 9 February 1955, Jim Copland was a reserved person with a dry sense of humour, a love of computers, music and sport, especially soccer and cricket. He was a gifted guitarist and an accomplished musician and he spent a lot of time playing for other people, particularly in nursing homes. I knew Jim for over 20 years as a resident of Narara, the husband of an incredible lady, Fran Copland, the father of Gareth and Dan Copland, father-in-law to Bec Copland and grandad to my own children's friends Hannah, Elijah and Sophie.

I knew even less about the insidious disease that we now know as Huntington's, which slowly captured and then consumed his body year by year, inch by inch, as it marched silently inside of Jim, gradually destroying neurons and his central nervous system. It is indeed an insidious disease, and to date there is no cure. Last month, when Jim died, it was Huntington's Disease Awareness Month in New South Wales. Unfortunately the disease is genetic, and anyone with the defective gene that causes Huntington's will not only develop the disease but also have a fifty-fifty chance of passing it on to their children. The angst this causes family members and their loved ones is enormous, and I have watched as Fran, Gareth and Dan and his family grappled with the impact of the disease not only on Jim but also on themselves and their own future.

It is indeed an honour to have known this man and to know his family because, despite the impact of this disease on his memory, his physical movements, his moods and even his bodily functions, Jim and his family never once allowed him to be defined by his illness, but he was very much defined by his Christian faith. He made a lifelong commitment aged just 15 at a Billy Graham crusade with a timeless hymn,How Great Thou Art, soaring in the background. While I did not know him when he was 15 or indeed even that well during his life, one thing I did know of Jim through those who did know and love him best was that in good times and bad, in pain and in sickness and in darkness, Jim truly lived out that hymn. He lived out the Psalms. He lived out Job. He lived out his life in such a way that all those who came in contact with him, even at a distance like I did, got a glimpse of what it means to truly live out the truth of Job 19: 'I know that my redeemer lives.'

He taught us all, and he gave us all one of the greatest gifts that we could be given: the dignity of the human person despite the circumstances. Jim showed his wife, his kids, his grandkids, his friends, his community and even me how we can live well through the most difficult circumstances imaginable. He bequeathed that to us all. As I said at the start, he was a great man who has left a great legacy for us all to continue. He will be greatly missed. May he rest in peace.