Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party, Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to congratulate an award recipient under the Queen's Birthday Honours on the Gold Coast, Dr Roger Welch OAM. Dr Welch has given his life as an ophthalmologist to serving the most disadvantaged in our community, not just in the Gold Coast but also down your way in Parkes, Mr Deputy Speaker, where he has spent decades serving Indigenous communities and providing free eye care every year to service the most disadvantaged in our communities. It is always extraordinary to see professionals in all walks of life giving to those most needy and giving their time at no cost to recipients. Dr Roger Welch is certainly a very worthy recipient of recognition for this work. Not only has his served Aboriginal communities in your neck of the woods, Mr Deputy Speaker, and further afield; he is also a very keen environmentalist. He has published some of the best work globally on the pygmy seahorse, in terms of preserving that species. Unbeknownst to anyone but an ophthalmologist, the pygmy seahorse does not have an iris, as is necessary in the eye to accommodate a blinding flash under water, and photographing them makes them blind. He has brought that to global attention and began work to protect that species. He is a truly great Australian. He has served environment and he has served fellow man. I think he is a very worthy recipient and I pass on the parliament's good wishes to him.