Page 3992 - Week 12 - Thursday, 20 October 2005
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firestorm. From scenes of Aborigines lighting controlled burns through to a bullock dray, farmhouses and a burnt-out car, you are released from now and lost in time.
Some people, like Bevan and Enid Turnbull, who were the first to rebuild, lost everything, and Jo and Greg Matthews lost all but their clothesline full of clothes. The story tree vividly reflects these and many other anecdotes of the scars that were left by the fires, and yet it has brought the community closer together. This is in no small part due to the efforts of one of the more vocal members of the Mount Taylor Estate, Mr Mark O’Neil, whom I have mentioned already tonight. Mark has been an amazing support for the members of this small community and has been the first to offer support to others affected by the fires.
At the unveiling of the story tree on that Sunday, my colleague Minister Hargreaves also gave a moving and true tribute to Mr O’Neil. I was honoured, as I am sure were the others in the crowd, including Chief Police Officer Audrey Fagan, the head of our Emergency Services Authority, Peter Dunn, as well as firefighters and our SES volunteers, to have been invited to be part of this event, and I look forward to being kept abreast of the continuing efforts and to even more significant carvings of the tree.
SIEV X anniversary
Mental health
DR FOSKEY (Molonglo) (5.56): I want to acknowledge that yesterday was the anniversary of the sinking of an unidentified vessel known as SIEV X and to alert members to an exhibition on at the moment at the Uniting Church’s Pilgrim House that was launched by Mr Stanhope last night. Mrs Burke and I attended, and there may have been other members that I did not see.
I just want to report that it was a most moving experience to hear one of the survivors of the SIEV X give a most amazingly graphic description of what happened as she struggled to survive for some hours, worried that her son had already drowned. As we know, most of the people on that leaky boat—mostly women and children—did drown. Last night’s launch was of the preferred design, which comes from schoolchildren, for a memorial to the survivors of and the people who were lost from the SIEV X. It is hoped that the memorial will be placed on Lake Burley Griffin. The issue at the moment is whether we can get a permanent status for that memorial, which is a work of art as well as a graphic reminder of what happened. So that is something to keep your eye on.
I also want to speak about two places I went to last week. Last week was Mental Health Week and I visited two places that I think are worth a mention here. Often we in the house do not know what goes on in the community sector, particularly amongst people with a mental illness. The two places I am referring to are Warren I’Anson House and the Grow House in Narrabundah. I acknowledge that those are places that provide some brief accommodation for people with a mental illness. They are very important and each has very different groups around it.
Probably many people here will remember the circumstances under which Warren I’Anson House was established following the very sad death of Warren I’Anson. At the moment, the house serves to provide respite in a group setting for people with a mental illness. All of us probably need that social input, but perhaps people with
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