Page 707 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 1 May 2007
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was very involved here in the ACT public service as well. Many ACT public servants, along with all of us here in the Assembly, are mourning the loss of a woman they worked very closely with.
Audrey was one of those women whom you see everywhere on the women’s circuit. She was at the International Women’s Day lunches and breakfasts; she was at awards. This morning I spoke at a symposium on women in leadership. Audrey is a person you would always see sitting at a table. I noticed it this morning when I looked around and did not see anyone in uniform. Audrey was always the one that you could pick out of a crowd.
The loss of Audrey was felt immediately, like a shock wave rolling through the community, but it will continue to be felt again and again as something comes up that normally we would have spoken to Audrey about or seen Audrey participating in—seen Audrey speaking and listened to her inspiring words such as the ones she used on International Women’s Day. We will feel it again and again.
Audrey worked closely with the Ministerial Advisory Council on Women. That is another example of a lot of work that she did at grassroots level in addition to meeting the demands of a highly stressful job. Audrey always attended meetings. She never sent a replacement; she always felt that leadership needed to come right from the top. When the Ministerial Council on Women held a roundtable on the prevention of violence against women, there she was leading the way and showing a huge understanding of women’s experience in pursuing their legal rights, whether because they had been victims of violence or for some other reason. Certainly she gave council members the feeling that this was something that ACT Policing was very much on top of and something that she was going to push further. I hope that, despite the fact that Audrey will no longer be able to participate, this initiative will continue—as a testament to the work that Audrey had already begun.
Others have spoken of our awe at how young Clair Phillips participated in the service on Friday. As Audrey’s daughter, Clair, so aptly put it then, her mum was “cool”. Indeed, she was. Her wisdom and dedication will be sorely missed. She inspired women, young and old, to persevere, to work hard, to be committed and to make their mark on the world in their chosen field. This is one of her greatest legacies to this community—a legacy that all members of our community will benefit from, a legacy that we as a community should treasure and one which we will always remember.
MR SMYTH (Brindabella): Mr Speaker, I offer my condolences to the family and friends of Audrey Ann Fagan and to all her AFP colleagues. On Friday last the AFP Commissioner, Mick Keelty, read the valedictory at Audrey’s funeral. It detailed Audrey’s career so well that I thought it appropriate to put it on the record in the Hansard record of proceedings in her parliament so that it will always be available to anyone who cares to read it. With the permission of Commissioner Mick Keelty, I read his valedictory:
During her 26 year career with the AFP Audrey made an indelible mark on our organisation, not only in an operational sense but as a leader and a fine role model to women, not just within the AFP but the broader community.
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