Ross Cadell (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At 11.30 on Sunday night in the Hunter Valley, a bus full of people who had been celebrating a wedding had a terrible accident. The Hunter Valley is home to the people of Singleton. Singleton Roosters are out there grieving the loss of their teammates and grieving the loss of their friends and family. We've lost Zach Bray, Tori Cowburn, Rebecca Mullen, Andrew and Lynan Scott, Angus Craig, Darcy Bulman, Kyah McBride, Nadene McBride, Kane Symons. That is not the only loss: the first responders who showed up to see the severed and broken bodies—it was terrible to deal with—and even the media who are dealing with this, seeing this and going through this. The driver made a terrible mistake. His family will be suffering. They'll be going through all this themselves. Nobody wins in this horrible thing. Also, Maddie and Mitchell, who got married, will never have a wedding anniversary they can celebrate. It is a horrible incident, it is a horrible thing, and it brings our road toll up much more.

Can I reach out to this community. My parents were part of this community. We had the Singleton TAB. I went up there working—I probably filled out some tickets on Melbourne Cup Day for some of these people. I hope they get together at the Horse & Jockey, have a few beers, remember that friends and their good times, and truly come together as community. We've reached out to Mayor Sue Moore from Singleton and to Mayor Jay Suvaal from Cessnock.

Let's not just remember. Let's look at what we can do. If you are in the Hunter, let's get out and donate some blood—plenty of people need it. Do the right thing and stay away from the scene. And just support in any way you can. Thank you.