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Tuesday, 20 March 2012
Page: 3487

Ms GILLARD (Lalor—Prime Minister) (14:01): I want to say a few words about the sad loss of Jim Stynes. Jim Stynes is known to Australians as a great footballer, no matter what football code you follow. He was an athlete who drew attention from the crowd and was well known around the country.

Since his days in football he has become even more well known, firstly for his dedication to and work with disadvantaged young people. He had a real passion for working with Australia's youth through his very own Reach Foundation. As a government we have been very pleased to partner with the Reach Foundation to help disadvantaged young Australians. Jim was absolutely passionate about supporting teenagers who had been bullied, were suffering from depression or were at risk of substance abuse. He then took his vision further and focused on the needs of Indigenous teachers and students in Indigenous communities around the country using his own sporting career and his love of football to help inspire them to stay in school and to achieve at school.

Jim Stynes is well known as a Melbourne footballer and a Brownlow medallist. He is someone we are used to seeing on the sporting field and, to use that term of the Irish, we saw him then in a hero's light. But in these last few years what we have seen is courage in a very different context as he remained defiant despite a crippling cancer that was slowly taking his life away. We as a nation have not witnessed all of the private moments of courage of Jim Stynes as he faced this illness. We have had an insight into some of them, but in these final days and weeks I am sure that in his most private moments he continued to show the courage that he had become famous for.

I was in Sydney last Friday to celebrate St Patrick's Day at what is billed as the biggest St Patrick's Day event in the world outside Ireland. Jim Stynes was a great Irish person—a great Irish man. When I spoke about the Irish influence on our larrikin spirit I said that the larrikins that we celebrate are larger than life—sceptical, iconoclastic, egalitarian and defiant. Those words summarise Jim Stynes, particularly the word 'defiant'—defiant in the face of this illness, showing remarkable courage. He will be missed by Australians from many walks of life. He will be missed by the footballing community. He will be particularly missed by the Melbourne Football Club where he not only was a star player but also came back as club president to inspire the club onwards in what have been some difficult days for the Melbourne Football Club and for those who barrack for the Dees. More than anything else, of course, he is going to be missed by his family. Their pain today must be so great. Our very sincere condolences go to his wife, Sam, and to his two children, Matisse and Tiernan. Jim Stynes, we are going to miss you.