Page 3188 - Week 10 - Thursday, 25 September 2014
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friendship in our party and in our politics more broadly, it came through in Kurt. He was a man of vision and unshakable Labor values, but also a man of knowhow, a strong work ethic and a “get in and do” attitude.
When I reflect back on my memories of Kurt, one of them from this year is at the ACT Labor conference. As members will know, I am in the friendly left group of the party and Kurt was not in the friendly left group; he was in the friendly right group of the party. We were having a vote on something; I cannot remember what it was. We have counters who come, and it was an area where those two friendly groups in the party did not agree. Kurt was a counter for the right and he had his arms full of papers. I think he was sweating. He had batons in his back pocket and he was counting the votes with a few others. I remember that our eyes caught each other and I smiled at him and he smiled back at me. It was that moment when I realised he was someone to watch in the party. It was just the way he was conducting himself, the fact that people were going to him for advice and he knew everything that was happening on the floor. I have only seen that a couple of times now in our party. It was that moment for me when I thought, “I am going to have to keep my eye on this guy.” I knew that his role in the party was just going to get bigger and bigger.
When government members and staff first gathered together the morning after the terrible news of Kurt’s accident came through, we shared our shock and grief at the loss of our friend. This has been added to in the time since as the absence of Kurt as an irreplaceable part of our team has sunk in. He was certainly a force in this place, not just for the Deputy Chief Minister but for the government as a whole. He was a dedicated adviser and an engine room of ideas for constant improvement in the way we govern and communicate.
He was also an incredibly passionate Canberran. Where there was an opportunity to build on the success of the city, grow our profile abroad or put on a new artistic or sporting event, Kurt was in there pushing to make it happen. We will think of him especially when Canberra takes another step into the international limelight next year in the hosting of matches in the Cricket World Cup and the Asian Cup football, knowing that Kurt would have been at every game, full of pride for his city.
Some show the stress of working in these environments, but Kurt took it in his stride, always looking for the next opportunity and, of course, always smiling. This building is so much poorer without that smile.
I remember that Kurt helped me at an event where I opened the Gungahlin pool. Usually, as members would know, he was an adviser to the Deputy Chief Minister; my media people were not available that day, so he stepped in to help and fulfil that role. One part of that role, as members of my staff will know, is to hold whatever handbag, phone, keys, kids toys or whatever I have hanging off me when I do interviews. My office had briefed Kurt on the fact that he would have to take whatever I was holding in my hands and that they would not be able to tell him what that would be, but his role was to take it. I happen to have a very nice Alannah Hill aqua bling iPad cover, which is very feminine. I remember having to say “Kurt”, and he grabbed this, looked at it just for a moment, and then went, “All right.” He put it under his arm and he stood there proudly for that moment. I enjoyed that.
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