Page 1407 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 9 May 2017
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His leadership of this small sub-branch that has now become one of the largest and, can I say, loveliest and most active sub-branches in the ACT was outstanding. Its general welcoming and inclusive outlook and discussion of all manner of local, national and international issues of importance was a reflection of Jayson’s lifelong commitment to equality and fairness, the importance of politics, the law and debate. There was always a beer after, and sometimes a beer before.
He reached all members of our community and all members of our party. He crossed political divides. We will miss him. Again we pay deepest condolences to his family.
MS BERRY (Ginninderra—Deputy Chief Minister, Minister for Education and Early Childhood Development, Minister for Housing and Suburban Development, Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Minister for Women and Minister for Sport and Recreation) (10.23): As we have heard today, everybody shares a memory of a moment, a time or a story that they had of Jayson in this place or within our community.
It is always surreal when you see someone so recently and then, a couple of weeks later, you find that they have passed away. It does not seem real. I ran into Jayson at one of the orthodontists at Jamison, and we had a bit of a chuckle about the cost of dental repair for both him and my children and how we were funding the very fine vehicles of that particular orthodontist. He noted the very fine vehicles—of course he did, being Jayson. He talked quite enthusiastically about this trip that was coming up. It had been quite some time since I had seen Jayson, so it was great to see him there and have a chat, just as if we had seen each other the week before. It was really great to have that chuckle.
What I reflect on from that conversation was that Jayson knew where the money was and he knew how to get the money to support a good, worthy cause, and particularly for sport in the community. We have talked about his relationship with the rugby community here in the ACT, but he also had a very deep passion for ending domestic and family violence in our community, which led him to seek out funding and sponsorship for a campaign here in the ACT, the Fearless Comedy Gala. He was able to raise $40,000 from all of the connections that he had within the community, including the Chief Minister, WIN TV, Bendigo Community Bank, Capital Chemist and various other donors.
The thing about Jayson was that he had connections with all of these different organisations across the community, and he was able to use those connections to make a really big difference on the issues that he was passionate about, particularly making sure that women and children were safe in their homes and in their communities.
Mr Coe has talked about his relationship with the Kippax community, with his firm there. I know that the other leaseholders within that space were truly shocked to hear of his passing. I know that they have posted messages on social media. I am not sure whether the family has received those, but he will be missed by the Kippax community as well.
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