Page 2658 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 26 September 2007
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Mr Speaker, I would like to add just a couple of my own comments, if I may. Very sadly, this is the second time this year that we have stood in this place to farewell a highly respected and dedicated member of our community. This is also the second time we have been reminded, in a very public way, just how delicate and precious life is. It is an enormous loss when we lose people of such calibre but even more so when you lose people in the prime of their lives. To Terry’s wife, Helen, and children, Maddy and Lara, my thoughts and my prayers are with you today. I pray that you will be given the strength and courage to endure the journey ahead.
I did not personally have the pleasure of knowing Terry Connolly, but many who did have said the following about him, and, Mr Speaker, I thought it was worthy of recording some of these things in Hansard together today. I recognise some of his colleagues in the public gallery. Many of you have said these words so they will probably resonate with you: popular; compassionate; humble; humane; admired; respected; loved justice; a great judge; a fierce advocate for the rule of the law; ready to listen; indestructible courtesy; endless patience; enthusiastic; a very, very good man; a bright and cheerful personality; a wicked sense of humour; could get on with anyone; fair; addicted to public life; a good person; talented; decent; honourable; hard working; skilled and effective; a person of high values; a loving husband and father. These are just some of the attributes that made the man Terry Connolly.
Terry Connolly, your death indeed was tragic, but it is nonetheless important in that through your death we now celebrate your life. May you rest in peace and may your family take some small comfort from knowing that you were highly respected and highly thought of across this community, and that you gave all you could give in your short time on this earth. Thank you, Mr Speaker.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for Police and Emergency Services): Mr Speaker, during his all too short life, Justice Terry Connolly made a significant contribution to the ACT for his role as a legislator, a statesman and a jurist. He will be remembered both because of his great capacity and his intellect. He served with distinction in high office in each of the three arms of government, a rare opportunity—the judiciary, legislature and executive.
Born in Adelaide in 1958 and educated at Woodville high school and the University of Adelaide, Terry Connolly obtained an honours degree in law and a degree in politics and international relations. While at university, he was active in the Australasian Law Students Association, being its national president in 1979, and in Australian Young Labor, also serving as national president in 1979. He represented Australia in international law moot competitions, and after completing his undergraduate degrees, he worked for a year as associate to Justice John Gallop, and I acknowledge Justice Gallop in the gallery today.
He was admitted as a barrister and solicitor in 1982, and he came to Canberra in 1983 to join the Department of Foreign Affairs as a legal adviser. He served as a legal adviser to the commonwealth government in a range of departments, including foreign affairs, Attorney-General’s Department, veterans affairs, and the Joint House Department until 1990.
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