Page 1133 - Week 04 - Thursday, 21 May 2020
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
At the individual level, we can help by planting diverse native flowering plants; supporting sustainable agriculture; buying raw, locally produced honey; avoiding pesticides, fungicides and herbicides; and, of course, raising awareness. I encourage everyone to thank our incredible bee friends and to take whatever action you can to help their survival.
Mr Graeme Evans—tribute
MS CHEYNE (Ginninderra) (5.52): It is a privilege tonight to rise to mark and celebrate the life of a proud and passionate Canberran who embodied what it means to serve your community—Graeme Evans. Graeme was born in 1938 and grew up in Elwood. He and his young family first moved to Canberra in 1968 for two years, where they lived on the outskirts of Canberra, also known as the newly established suburb of Aranda.
In the early 1970s he and his family returned to Melbourne and he turned to politics for about the next decade, serving on the Sandringham Council, including a term as mayor. In 1981 Graeme and his family returned to Canberra, where his day job remained in the public service, but in his spare time Graeme became heavily involved in a significant number of community organisations across the ACT, across so many of which he leaves an indelible legacy.
These include the ACT Council of Social Service, YHA NSW & ACT, the Friends of Grasslands, the PC Users Association, the AIATSIS Research Ethics Committee, the Bushfire Council, the Conservation Council ACT Region, the Alcohol and Drug Foundation of the ACT, the Council of Cultural and Community Organisations, and the Nature and Society Forum.
These many organisations alone give a clear impression of the breadth of Graeme’s interests and involvement, as well as how giving he was of his time and his expertise. However, those are just the beginnings of an insight into Graeme’s contributions to this city.
It is an understatement to say that Graeme was enthusiastic about public education. He served on the boards of Canberra High School, Hawker College, and Lake Ginninderra College, as well as the P&C Association, the latter of which he was a devoted member for over 25 years and a life member. He wrote school board constitutions. He had quite a knack for them, and many are still used today. He protested school closures and even got arrested for one—the charges were later dropped—and he lobbied for the re-establishment of Birrigai education camp after the 2003 fires.
But it is Graeme’s contributions to the broader Belconnen community which may be his greatest legacy. Graeme saw something special in the region worth protecting and worth enhancing. He had significant vision for how Belconnen should look and feel, with a particular insistence on ensuring that there were plenty of formal and informal spaces, man-made and natural, for people to come together as a community.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video