Page 3864 - Week 12 - Thursday, 24 October 2013
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It is time for another Belconnen building to make the list. I call for art in the architecture of the next stage of the Belconnen Arts Centre. As 20th century American architect Louis Sullivan said, “Form ever follows function.”
Mr Don Allan—death
MR DOSZPOT (Molonglo) (4.51): On 10 October, I attended the funeral of a friend of over 20 years, Don Allan OAM. Since the funeral I have been contacted by a number of people from the disability community who Don had helped over the years through ACTAADS and who were unable to make it to the funeral service. Accordingly, I would also like to express their sincere condolences to his family—to wife Valerie, who Don affectionately referred to in countless articles in the Chronicle as Boadicea, and his daughter Elizabeth and her husband.
The funeral was a dignified celebration of Don’s life. The eulogies were delivered by his daughter Elizabeth and long-time friends Jeff House and Kim Hanna. They all spoke affectionately about Don’s background, about his many diverse careers, from a brief stint in the Navy to his attempts at studying for the priesthood to being a policeman.
I got to know Don Allan through our membership of the Project 2000 committee. We also shared a common bond through our sporting affiliations. His commitment to his beloved Scottish soccer team, Motherwell, was lifelong, and he had to endure a lot of ribbing about Motherwell’s lack of silverware.
My friendship with Don began well before my entry into politics, and I am going to miss many aspects of Don—his phone calls in particular, which all began with a cheerful, Scottish accented “Hello, laddie”. Sadly, there are not too many friends left who can call me “laddie” these days. Then he would go on to talk about the topic that was dear to his heart at the time, which over the years seemed to be mainly connected with people who were in need of help, and particularly those with disability.
When I became shadow minister for disability, it was Don who suggested to me that I should use the position to give some additional support in this area. That suggestion turned into the disability quiz night fundraisers over the past five years. And it was Don through ACTAADS who always made the first contribution.
Don Allan had friends from all quarters and political persuasion, exemplified by the attendance at his funeral service of his fellow committee members of ACTAADS, from the ACT Assembly Chief Minister Katy Gallagher and Mary Porter MLA, as well as Nicole Lawder MLA and I. There were his friends from the legal fraternity, from business and the media, as well as those who could make it from the disability community.
A few days after the funeral service, the media paid tribute to Don. Ian Meikle, through CityNews, a long-time friend of Don’s, wrote:
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