Page 1536 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 31 March 2009
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independently advise and make recommendations to the government across a range of issues in relation to people with disabilities.
She was also the community co-chair of the oversight group established in the Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services to establish the priorities for disability policy and services in the territory which would further support people with disability in the ACT to realise their vision and their rights to self-respect, dignity and participation at all levels in the community.
Margaret was a recognised leader in the ACT community and she used the position to raise the profile of the often forgotten but significant proportion of people with a disability in the ACT.
She also served as treasurer of the board of Tuggeranong Community Arts Association, a position she held until just last month. Frank Cassidy, the association’s president, remembers Margaret as “an impressive, dynamic and major contributor to the activities of the Association”. He also said that people were in awe of Margaret, who went about her activities with an extraordinary amount of energy.
Margaret also was well known for forging close relationships with other leaders in the ACT community to build Koomarri into the respected organisation it is today. It is a remarkable organisation, and its leader was a remarkable person—a visionary who made things happen.
The respect and high regard felt by the Canberra community for Margaret and Koomarri were never more evident than in the aftermath of the fire that gutted its new, almost completed premises in 2006. Canberrans rallied to Koomarri both in spirit and in kind. More than $200,000 was received in donations, enabling the facility to be reborn.
The new facility represented more than bricks and mortar for many families. It gave comfort that the services provided by the organisation were sustainable and the organisation in good hands. I know that Margaret and her staff and volunteers were deeply moved by the overwhelming demonstration of community affection and support for Koomarri—affection and support that extended well beyond those directly associated with the organisation.
The standing of the business that Margaret had nurtured and matured was no better revealed than in August 2005, when ActewAGL and Koomarri proudly accepted the Prime Minister’s award for excellence in community business partnerships for large business. And, as the Chief Minister said, fittingly, on Australia Day this year Margaret was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for her tireless devotion and services to people with disabilities in the ACT and surrounding region. Anyone who had the pleasure to know her and to see the results of her hard work knows how appropriate this recognition really was.
Former chair of the disability advisory council Craig Wallace once described Koomarri under Margaret’s leadership as an organisation that “worked quietly, with deep generosity and a big heart”. This is an apt tribute for a woman who, for more than three decades, devoted herself to improving the lives of others.
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