James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to pay tribute to Dr James Meucke, who has been recently announced as the South Australian of the Year. This is the third time I've been on my feet in the last couple of hours, so I'm grateful I've lasted this long. I thank the chamber for the leniency.

Dr Meucke is a very famous South Australian ophthalmologist—eye surgeon, to assist those opposite—but it's not for his services as an ophthalmologist for the South Australian community per se. I have actually gone under his knife; I never needed glasses until he had a crack at me a few years ago! But, more importantly, he established a charity with his wife, Mena, called Sight For All. It's an initiative that has raised money in South Australia to provide ophthalmic services in remote and regional Australia but also in developing nations in South-East Asia. They were established more than 10 years ago and they have undertaken so many fundraising activities to assist in the early identification of preventable eye diseases, particularly in young children throughout remote communities of Australia and developing nations in Asia. I pay tribute to him for that great honour today.