Page 2477 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 23 August 1994
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MR MOORE: Madam Speaker, I rise to support this motion of condolence on behalf of Ms Szuty and me. Rather than reiterate some of the things that the Chief Minister and Mr Kaine have said about Lindsay Croft's past, I prefer to relate the last conversation that I had with him. It actually took place in Civic, beside the merry-go-round. On that occasion Lindsay was talking of his excitement at going to Harvard. He thought he would take the time to point out where I was going astray and some of the ideas he had which, if I was really clever, I could work on and develop. Some of those I have, indeed, taken up.
Madam Speaker, recalling that conversation with Lindsay Croft makes me realise not only the loss of that person to this community but, perhaps more importantly, the loss of such incredible potential that was there. I think that is one of the reasons why many of us felt such great sadness when we heard of Lindsay's death. His excitement about going to Harvard and what he wanted to achieve after that, which he shared with me in that conversation, are things that I will always recall as being special but things that, unfortunately, were not able to be delivered. Madam Speaker, it is for those reasons that we join with other members of the Assembly in extending our condolences to his family.
MRS GRASSBY: Madam Speaker, like so many people of all backgrounds who knew Lindsay Croft, I was shocked and saddened by his death in a car accident in the United States. I remember getting the phone call quite early on the morning that it happened. I just could not believe that it was true. As the Young Canberran of the Year, we in Canberra cannot afford his loss. As a national student advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, our nation cannot afford his loss. Above all, his death is a terrible loss to his parents and to his young wife, Rebecca, whom he married only a year ago. Unfortunately, I was unable to get to the wedding; but I believe that it was a very grand affair.
I have known Lindsay since his school days in Canberra and I have followed his career at university and in public life. He was popular and he was respected by students of all backgrounds. He was the first Aboriginal Australian president of a university student association. The crowning recognition of his career was, of course, the award to Harvard University. It was typical of his concern for young people that he and Rebecca were caring for two young Aboriginal students who were also studying in the United States and who were with them at the time of the fatal accident. Rebecca returned to Australia only yesterday, with her parents. She is suffering head injuries, which will take a long time to heal, I understand. The latest news of the young Aboriginal students is that they are recovering well.
Lindsay was only 27; but he seemed to have packed more into his 27 years than some people do in a whole lifetime. In that time he had achieved much and held so much promise for the future. Central to his life and work was his pride in his Aboriginality, which he inherited from his father, Joe Croft. Joe Croft founded his immediate family in Canberra, although his people, the Gurindji, have had their home in northern Australia for 50,000 years. The Gurindji heritage was always a source of enormous pride for him. Most Australians will remember the Gurindjis' fight for their land and their eventual success, which Lindsay was very proud of. During the first seven pioneering years of the
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