Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Action, Environment and Heritage) Share this | Hansard source

In addressing this motion for Greg McNicol, I speak both as a local member representing his parents and as a friend. As a friend, we go back to 1978, 33 years ago, when we were each 12 years of age. It is three-quarters of my life that we knew each other. Against that background, let me begin by expressing my condolences and the condolences of the House to Greg McNicol's family: to his father, Graham, who I know has been so deeply affected by this loss, and to his mother, Maureen, who is going through difficult and challenging times of her own but who has been the absolute rock of the family for decades and decades. Although she was a good foot shorter than Greg McNicol, or maybe a little bit more, he was always terrified of his mother. She was a woman of stout heart and she remains a woman of stout heart despite great challenges. Her family relies upon her as the absolute rock of their existence.

Let me express my condolences to Greg's brother Steven and his sister Karen, but most significantly, to Greg's wife, Katie Scartezini, who remains a Brazilian citizen. Greg and Katie lived together in the United States. Katie is an extraordinary woman. She is a figure in her own right nationally in both countries as a speaker and author. She has an extraordinarily positive attitude to life and she found her life partner some eight years ago in Greg McNicol. Each of them had had their own journey and for Greg this was the coming together of his life. There had been some dark and difficult days along the way but he found his partner and he was in the best place of his life. I last saw him on the balcony of my own home on the Mornington Peninsula, where 17 months ago he came to visit. We spent an evening one summer between Christmas and New Year with friends Peter Beamish, Ian McConville, my wife Paula, Gregory McNicol and his wife Katie. He talked about the journey he had made and the fortune he had had in finding his partner, and he talked about his plans to renovate, to build small local communities in America one block at a time.

He recognised that the global financial crisis caused enormous hardship but he also saw in it the opportunity to be engaged in a commercial venture, at the same time operating towards the higher angels. In particular, Greg set out at that stage that he thought in some of the more depressed cities in the United States there was a possibility, particularly in African-American communities, to give people a sense of hope, possibility and opportunity by taking some of these rundown buildings and working with the residents on progressively upgrading and reforming them to make them a family community. He set out to do that and he was doing that in a number of places, most notably in Detroit in Beniteau Street. It was sadly in that street that he met his end while attempting to do the best by the residents, to create a small, local community that would provide a way forward and an opportunity, a sense of living at its best to people who might otherwise have struggled. It is a great tragedy, a senseless strategy. My one comfort, and I know the family's one comfort, is that in Katie he had made his life partner and they had shared time together. The great tragedy is that their hopes for a family were never realised.

The second element of this motion is to express the gratitude of the House:

... to the City and Police Department of Detroit for the speed with which they have apprehended the alleged killer, and urge that the investigation is continued until such time as police are certain that no other parties were complicit.

I particularly want to speak on behalf of family who have asked me to convey to Mayor Dave Bing and to all members of the City of Detroit Police Department their thanks. They are thankful for all that has been done so far but they have concerns that the investigation should be fully conducted in the event that there was more than one person involved in the killing. That is a matter for the police, but as a House we express our hope that the police will not rest until they have exhausted all inquiries.

In particular as part of the thanks on half of the family I want to thank the Foreign Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, and his chief of staff, Philip Green. Both acted personally to assist Katie and her brother Giovanni obtain the requisite visas to move from Brazil, where sadly Katie was at the time of Greg's death, up to Detroit to gather his remains and bring Greg's remains back to Australia. They were assisted by the Australian ambassador, Kim Beazley, and by the United States embassy in Australia. I especially thank Deb Blakie from the consular division of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Her assistance has been herculean, compassionate, caring and fundamental in helping the family bring all the details together.

On behalf of the House, I also make the point that there is no animosity towards the city of Detroit. There is great respect for the people of America, particularly those engaged in the great renaissance through which Detroit is now passing. It is a city which has seen its hard times. But last year it had its lowest murder rate in some decades. Sadly, it still has a murder rate of over 300—and my friend, the son of Graham and Maureen and the husband of Katie, is one of this year's victims. There is a great challenge in each of our cities but we wish Detroit godspeed in their work. This brings me to the last part of the motion, which states:

(2) respectfully call on the Mayor and City of Detroit to create a public park in the vacant land adjacent to where Mr McNicol was both working and lost his life, with an appropriate recognition of Mr McNicol's vision for a better local community.

Greg's vision was not just the building at Beniteau Street; it was to create a living community by way of a small local park on the adjacent vacant block. It is a simple vision and I ask the mayor to do all he can. Mayor Bing, we know of you in Australia and we know of your city in Australia. We have great respect for you and for your city. We ask that you consider acquiring or converting this land in some way to create a small family park with picnic tables, seats and benches, to allow locals to sit beneath Greg's favourite tree and to live a proper family life with some calm and serenity to which we are all entitled.

I want to finish with a special note of thanks to Ed Husic, the member for Chifley. He suggested this motion. He is from the government side of the House. It was a very thoughtful commendation and the family pass on their thanks. He has established an enviable early reputation for honourable conduct in this House. Finally, I commend this motion to the House, but I say goodbye to my friend. It has been a difficult time. We will miss you, my friend.

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