Ms BIRD (1:58 PM) —I take the opportunity today on behalf of myself and the member for Throsby to put on the record of the House the passing of Mr John Henry Parsons. John was a local gentleman—and I say that in the fullest meaning of the word—who ran the family business H Parson’s Funeral Directors in Wollongong, a long-established and well-known local business.

I knew John from an early funeral I attended in my role as the local member and, as with so many old Illawarra families, he said to me, ‘I am sure we are related,’ and I subsequently discovered we were. His funeral is today and, sadly, the member for Throsby and I are not able to join the family, but we extend our deep condolences to them. He will be sadly missed by many in our region.

He was, of course, somebody who many of us knew in the saddest of circumstances, but his smile, kindness and generosity to families in difficult circumstances will long be remembered. He was the beloved husband of Margaret; the loved, adored and cherished father and father-in-law of Julianne and David, Mark and Lisa, Alan and Michelle, Menita and Mark and Alison and Stewart, and much loved ‘Pa’ of his 15 grandchildren. The whole region wishes the family our deepest condolences.