Page 1412 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 9 May 2017
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deep concern and sadness to those who are closest to Jayson Hinder—his family and his close friends. My hope is that the words of us all today can be of some comfort to them.
MR PETTERSSON (Yerrabi) (10.41): It is with great sadness that I rise today to speak to this condolence motion. As all those who live here know, Canberra is indeed a small place. It seems like everyone knows everyone. That is why, when tragedy strikes, it affects us all. I, like the rest of Canberra, was shocked to learn of Jayson’s accident last Monday. Jayson had the great honour and privilege to be a member of this chamber and to be a member of the ACT Labor caucus.
It is a small club, those who have sat in this chamber. The members of this chamber have universally experienced the stress and expectations of representing their community. It is not easy work. Across partisan lines, you come to respect the burden each member carries, which is why it is so saddening to see the passing of a former member, one who understands the trials and tribulations of this place, someone who understands the burden. Jayson’s passing is all too early. My heart breaks and my condolences go to his wife, Lisa, and their three children in this time of tragedy.
MS ORR (Yerrabi) (10.42): I rise today to pay my respects to my comrade Jayson Hinder. I first met Jayson a few years ago when I moved to Franklin and joined the Gungahlin sub-branch of the ACT Labor Party. Jayson was the president of the sub-branch. Before the first meeting I attended started, he said hello to me and introduced himself. Then with a slight cheekiness in his tone he let me know that all new members to Gungahlin sub-branch got to stand and introduce themselves towards the end of the meeting. “So,” he said, “be ready.”
At that point in time I was not as seasoned at walking into a room full of strangers and talking about myself as I am now. So I spent that first meeting sitting stone still with a million thoughts racing around my head, trying to figure out what I was going to say. When I got up to talk, I think everyone could tell I felt nervous at being put on the spot, but Jayson called out a few questions from the chair and suddenly it felt like everyone was just having a good old chat.
Over the years, as I got to know Jayson, I came to realise that he said many things with a slight cheekiness in his tone. It was part of his humour, a humour that brought many a laugh over beers after sub-branch meetings. It is something I am sure all of us at Gungahlin sub-branch will miss.
Throughout the 2016 election campaign we would often rock up to the Kaleen Plaza at the same time to do a stall. In Hare-Clark, you are in competition with everybody on the ballot paper, even those in your own party. Yet Jayson would always say hi and have a good old chat. If he went to grab a coffee he would always grab one for me too. It was those small actions of kindness that gave you an idea of what Jayson was like.
But it was learning about his background that, for me, revealed the person that Jayson truly was. When I first heard he had lost his father at a young age and was raised by his mother under very difficult circumstances; that he had become a mechanic after finishing school but, while running a business and raising a young family, went to uni
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