John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The ninth of September marked the end of the 2012 London Paralympics. For the record, Australia finished fifth on the medal tally with 32 gold, 23 silver and 30 bronze. It was a memorable result.

This year's games were the 14th summer Paralympics. The Paralympic movement owes much to the vision of one remarkable man: Sir Ludwig Guttmann. A talented neurosurgeon, Guttmann's Jewish heritage meant that he was forced to flee Nazi Germany in 1939. He resettled in England, where in 1943 he was asked to establish the National Spinal Injuries Centre at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. His dedication to this work began when as a teenage hospital orderly he watched on helplessly as a paralysed coalminer eventually died of sepsis. At the time, the prognosis for patients with spinal injuries was poor—very poor. Most died within months; but, of those few who survived, most were institutionalised for life.

At Stoke Mandeville, Guttmann and his dedicated staff revolutionised care for patients with spinal injuries. They introduced rehabilitation methods, such as regular turning of patients and decreased use of sedatives, to convert what was once an 80 per cent mortality rate into an 80 per cent survival rate. Importantly, Guttmann introduced sport as a means of promoting physical and psychological health—a measure designed to promote patients' fitness, their sense of purpose and their dignity. Convinced of the benefits of sport to his patients and the wider community, Guttmann organised the first Stoke Mandeville Games on 29 July 1948. The event, which consisted of a series of archery events for ex-service men and women, was held on the same day as the opening of the 1948 London Olympics. It would prove to be an auspicious and audacious date, because from these humble beginnings the Paralympic movement was born—a movement with the vision to enable Paralympic athletes to achieve sporting excellence and inspire and excite the world.

I think there was much about this year's Paralympics that was both exciting and inspirational. Tonight, of course, I cannot give a full account of all the wonderful performances at this year's games, but I would like to mention just three outstanding Australian athletes this evening. The first, Kieran Modra, won a track cycling gold in the 4,000-metre pursuit. Kieran's performance is astonishing given that in December last year he was involved in a serious training accident that left him hospitalised with fractured vertebrae in his neck and lower spine. Kieran, a veteran of six Paralympics, overcame these injuries to not only compete in but excel at this year's games.

The second athlete, swimmer Jacqueline Freney, dominated the pool in London. Her eight gold medals equalled the feats of Michael Phelps at Beijing and made her the most successful athlete at this year's games. Freney outswam the field in events ranging in length from 50 metres to 400 metres, and across the disciplines of freestyle, backstroke, butterfly and the medley. Her anchor leg of the four by 100 metres women's medley, where she gave her Russian competitor a half-pool-length start, was an absolutely heroic effort.

Finally tonight, I want to mention Matthew Cowdrey, who took home seven medals from this year's games to become Australia's most successful Paralympian of all time. Cowdrey has won an astonishing 13 gold medals in the pool at three Paralympics. His five gold medals at this year's games equalled his record haul in Beijing in 2008.

I am sure many, many Australians and many in this parliament believe that the achievements of our Paralympians are remarkable, but their efforts really focus attention on how we perceive and value people with disabilities in Australian society. The name 'Paralympics' was first used officially at the 1960 summer games in Rome. It derives from the Greek preposition 'para', meaning beside or alongside. As the origins of the games' name suggest, we should value the achievements of our Paralympic team alongside those of the Olympic team. The performance of these athletes, their dedication, their perseverance and their skill demand not our patronage but our respect. The efforts of these athletes demand that we judge them not by their disabilities but for their astounding abilities in the pool, on the track, in the stadium, in the velodrome or on the court. Likewise, they challenge us more broadly to value people with disabilities for the abilities they have—for their capacities and for the contribution that they can and do make. That is why we must continue to work on lowering the barriers that impede the full participation and the full citizenship of people with disabilities in all spheres of Australian society.