Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is my sad duty to inform the House of the passing away of Mr Anthony Thompson—or Tony, as he was known always to me. Tony was President of the Elizabeth RSL, having served in Vietnam with the 7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, between 1970 and 1971. Those were particularly trying times in Vietnam. The War Memorial describes the work that the troops in Phuoc Tuy province did as 'demanding, dangerous and monotonous'.

I knew Tony in his capacity as the president of the RSL. From 2006 to 2011, he was a vice-president and then took over the presidency from 2012. He was always a well-liked and active member of the community. He was always out there at the RSL, basically making sure that everything was in good order and making sure the club ran well. It is a particularly well-attended community club and has many former service members and many community members as well. Tony, in particular, was very active in raising money for Legacy, manning the stalls around Remembrance Day and around Anzac Day and making sure that we were all reminded of the service not just of those who served but also of their families, and of the consequences and legacy of those conflicts to both veterans and their families.

It was always a pleasure to help serve on the stalls at Elizabeth or Munno Para shops to help raise money and to sit with Tony and get some fairly unvarnished advice about politics. He was always a great supporter of mine. I did greatly admire him and like his support. He always had some pretty colourful advice about the member for Sturt. He was no fan of the member for Sturt, so I am sure he would appreciate me saying that in these remarks.

Tony Thompson was a great Australian. He served his country, he served his community, he was loved by his friends and family and he will be very greatly missed by me. His rather sudden and untimely death will be felt by everybody in Elizabeth and in Munno Para.