Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 2 Hansard (28 February) . . Page.. 349 ..

Wednesday, 28 February 2001

MR SPEAKER: (Mr Cornwell) took the chair at 10.30 am and asked members to stand in silence and pray or reflect on their responsibilities to the people of the Australian Capital Territory.

Death of Sir Donald Bradman, AC

Condolence motion

MR HUMPHRIES (Chief Minister, Minister for Community Affairs and Treasurer): Mr Speaker, it is my sad duty today to move a motion of condolence following the death of Sir Donald Bradman. In the course of this debate, there will be others who will comment on the life and describe in detail the achievements of Sir Donald Bradman.

Sir Donald Bradman was not only the world's greatest batsman in terms of his remarkable scoring rate, top score, and record average, but more importantly he is remembered, and will continue to be remembered, for his sportsmanship, for the way he played the game both on and off the field. He played the game with a great flair and grace, but also with decency and humility. His legacy to the rest of us is the lesson that you can uphold high standards of dignity, honesty and fairness and at the same time play hard and win.

His legacy is that you do not have to have recourse to rudeness, unpleasantness or bending the rules to win. There is no way that he would have allowed his team to become involved in betting scandals, for example. He said that, if one of his players tried to sledge an opponent, he would give that player one warning and, if the sledging was repeated, that player would not be selected again. Such was the strength of his leadership that this was never an issue during his time on the Australian cricket team.

His ability and his character were an example to all. It is that example that will live on, I believe, as an inspiration to many around the world. Apart from his success as a cricketer, Sir Donald was also a successful stockbroker, a formidable golfer, an Australian squash champion, an excellent tennis player and an accomplished pianist.

For many years after retiring from playing cricket, Sir Donald devoted much of his time to administering the game that he loved. He continued to serve cricket as a selector, and member of the Australian Cricket Board, including as chairman for two terms. In 1987, his contribution was further acknowledged with the establishment of the Bradman Foundation. The foundation is a non-profit charitable trust, established to promote the growth and development of cricket in Australia.

In recognition of Sir Donald's achievements and devotion to sport in general, and cricket in particular, he has been variously selected as Australian sportsman of the century, Wisden cricketer of the century, and in the top ten of world sports figures of the century for the world conference on sport. He was also only one of two Australians to be selected in the top 100 world figures of the 20th century. This is quite an extraordinary achievement.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .