Page 3901 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 30 November 2021
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Andy touched the hearts of many Canberrans, including me. Andy kept in touch with me regularly. I was always blown away by his intimate knowledge of local issues and all things politics. But what I will always remember, as Ms Cheyne has already referred to, is his kindness. The one interaction that really touched my heart was when he asked me to reach out to Heidi because he knew that she had been working way too hard and was worried that she, as she did so often, was putting everyone else first.
At the celebration of Andy’s life a few weeks ago Andy’s father captured the Prowse family’s deep love for their son and brother beautifully:
Rest easy my son, knowing you have been courageous in life and made a difference for so many others with your love Heidi beside you. We will all treasure the memories you have left us forever. We love you dearly.
To Heidi, to Monty, to Andy’s family and friends and to everyone who Andy touched in his life, my sincerest thoughts and condolences on behalf of the Canberra Liberals. Madam Speaker, I end with the words from the love of Andy’s life, Heidi.
I’m finding it hard to articulate what we did and had. He just was such an exceptional human nothing like anyone I’ve ever known. A computer brain and huge heart he really made the world a better place for everyone he came into contact with and that flowed so much further than either of us could imagine.
Rest in peace, Andy.
Aboriginal Tent Embassy—50th anniversary
Mr Andrew Prowse—tribute
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong) (5.23): Madam Speaker, today, as with every sitting day, you commenced the proceedings with an acknowledgement of country in the Ngunnawal language. This is a significant and important reminder that we work, live and play on Ngunnawal land—a land that was possessed under First Nations laws and customs for tens of thousands of years, and a land where sovereignty was never ceded.
First Nations peoples in Australia have been traumatised by the generational actions and policies of subsequent governments and peoples in denying them their rights and traditions to live peacefully according to their spiritual, cultural and sovereign rights. That trauma continues today, and there is much to do to repair the damage and the harms that have been inflicted since colonisation.
Nearly 50 years ago, the McMahon government announced the implementation of a new system that rejected granting independent ownership of traditional land to Indigenous people in favour of 50-year general purpose leases. That announcement sparked action among many Indigenous groups and directly contributed to the founding of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, when Michael Anderson, Billy Craigie, Bertie Williams and Tony Coorey drove to Canberra from Redfern and set up a beach umbrella on the lawns opposite what is now Old Parliament House on 26 January 1972.
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