Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight with great sadness to make some remarks about the highly esteemed, globally respected Professor David Cooper AO, who passed away last Sunday on 18 March. In my role as chairman of the parliamentary liaison group on HIV, blood borne viruses and STIs, I came to know Professor Cooper, and it was one of those cherished and trusted friendships that we in this place get to make, as our work often intersects with the lifework of great Australians.

Scientia Professor David Cooper AO was one of the first responders when the HIV epidemic reached Australia in 1986 and was also the inaugural director of the research centre that has come to be known as the Kirby Institute. The Kirby Institute is now world-renowned for its ongoing global leadership in the fight against the global HIV epidemic. The Kirby Institute recorded Professor Cooper's passing by saying this:

David's life was dedicated to the prevention, treatment and cure of HIV and other infectious diseases. These diseases disproportionately affect the world's most disadvantaged communities, and David firmly advocated health as a fundamental human right in all of his endeavours. His leadership as a clinician and researcher was extraordinary, and it is difficult to imagine our many collaborative efforts without David at the helm.

The acting dean of the University of New South Wales medical school, Professor Anthony Kelleher, said:

He contributed to the development of every therapeutic drug used in HIV. All over the world he was respected as a leader, and at home he was an insightful colleague and unparalleled mentor.

The Rabbi David Freedman gave the most powerful, gracious and inspiring tribute in honouring the great work of Professor David Cooper. I spoke to Rabbi Freedman this morning, who was pleased to allow me to share some of his remarks in the Senate this evening. The Rabbi David Freedman said:

As I embark on this tribute, I have to pause and admit that it is an impossible task to give a full account and description of a human being; his life, his experiences, his passions, ambitions, his successes and achievements in the short space of ten or fifteen minutes.

But even if one could do this with the average human being, with David Cooper it would be utterly preposterous, for David was different from the average person—there was in fact nothing average about him at all.

Since his passing, tributes have flowed from friends and colleagues alike. They speak of his humility, his energy, his passion, his leadership qualities, his courage in speaking up for those with no voice of their own, in giving hope to those whose lives appeared hopeless, and having immense courage when struck down three months ago by a cruel, relentless disease that took him from us.

Rabbi Freedman reflected on his reading of a transcript of an interview from ABC Radio National in 2015, in which David Cooper tells the interviewer that being Jewish perhaps helped him relate to his patients and the stigma they faced. As a 15-year-old medical student at the University of Sydney, the value of human life, the core belief of Judaism, was never taken for granted. Professor Cooper said:

There were a lot of Jewish kids in the medical school and I think that my values were very much formed around these young people whose parents were Holocaust survivors—we were Jews, we were different, and we were persecuted because of that. I saw the same sort of thing in the vulnerable patient populations that we dealt with.

It was when living in Boston that David became aware of the strange new disease affecting the immune systems of homosexuals. Knowing that he could be returning to a specialist position at St Vincent's Hospital, in the heart of Sydney's gay community, David Cooper began to research the disease and ensure that his hospital would be at the vanguard of caring for those who were diagnosed with this new and frightening and potentially deadly condition. As Rabbi Freedman reminded us:

One needs to remember the irrational reaction and fear that gripped society at that time. Health workers were afraid to touch HIV patients, minority groups in society were shunned; prejudice prevailed! But David and Ron Penny were the public face of reason, compassion and active support.

It was this, together with the amazing advances in the treatment of this disease, for which he received so many honours and accolades including his appointment in 2003 as an Officer of the Order of Australia.

In 2007, he was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, and in 2015 he became a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. In 2016 he was awarded the James Cook Medal by the Royal Society of New South Wales.

It's worth noting that the Senate commended Professor Cooper on his receipt of the James Cook Medal.

Rabbi Freedman also reminded us that in the Mishnah we read the astonishing statement that he who saves one life it is as if he has saved the entire planet, teaching us that each human being has intrinsic value, that each and every human being, irrespective of race, religion, gender, colour or creed, carries within them a divine spark—and it is our duty, beyond all others, to protect life, to enhance life, to enrich life. Professor David Cooper fulfilled this axiom of Jewish law hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of times, if not more. Rabbi Freedman concluded his remarks by sharing that David was a hero of his people, of our nation and, indeed, of course, of his family—comments which I concur wholeheartedly with.

There are many privileges that come to us as parliamentarians: the opportunity to work on issues that are of personal interest to us and the opportunity to represent our communities and be a voice for their concerns and for their hopes and aspirations. And, on occasion, we have the opportunity to rise to the challenge to be part of something meaningful, part of a lasting reform that liberates the lives of many. But the greatest privilege, I have to say, is to meet and join, even so fleetingly, in the journeys and contributions of some truly remarkable and inspiring people. Professor David Cooper AO is one of those people, and I'm greatly indebted to the generosity and wisdom that he shared with me over the last few years. My thoughts are with his wife, Dorrie, and her family and his many, many friends. Your loss is shared by so many, many people, not just in Australia but across the country. Vale, David Cooper.