Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to pay tribute to a valued local, a friend and an all-round legend, Billy Metcalfe. Billy is a proud Kurri boy and a passionate community advocate. On 1 April this year, Kurri's favourite dynamic duo, Billy and Di Metcalfe, called it a day for our beloved Station Hotel. They celebrated 20 years as being some of the best publicans at the iconic and oldest pub in Kurri Kurri. For two decades they provided locals with a space to talk, laugh, shed a tear or two and just generally get together. Billy has been a fantastic example of community minded business activism, having spent much of his life advocating for improved facilities for our town and our region. It was bigger than the pub. It was bigger than Billy himself. It was about Kurri; it was about our community; it was about his love for the place.

Billy and I have known each other since I was a little kid. I can't actually tell you when I first met Billy, such was his legendary status. He's a relative of one of my best friends. The first time I really realised that Bill was so passionate about our region was when he started to talk to me about the Richmond Vale Rail Trail. He knew that this disused railway line, which was built by the great entrepreneur John Brown, was going to be something that could change our region forever. If people were allowed to ride bikes and walk along the full 48-kilometre stretch of rail from Kurri Kurri all the way into Hexham and then on to Newcastle, it would open our region up to jobs and potential, to tourism. It would educate our young people about our rich and diverse mining history, the environmental pieces that go through that track, the old bridges—just an incredible piece of community infrastructure. Billy had a vision and still has that vision for that infrastructure. I tell you now, Bill: I want that project as much as anyone.

Billy has not only created a haven in our town with the Station Hotel; he's created so many other things. He's been part of the Kurri Mongrels bush riding group, where the guys and girls get together and ride their mountain bikes out through the bush of Kurri Kurri. It is just such a fantastic spot. Most rides take off from the Station Hotel. Billy and Di put in extra accommodation because they could see the opportunity for people coming to our area to visit the murals of Kurri Kurri and then go on to the vineyards for concerts. Also, in a recent article by Kylie Martin— (Time expired)