Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on behalf of my electorate of Lindsay in Western Sydney to express condolences to the royal family and also our mates in the United Kingdom on the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. In 1954, our Queen and Prince Philip visited the Blue Mountains. Unfortunately I was not the member of parliament at that time, so I couldn't convince them to stop in Penrith, but the train did slow as it passed through Penrith station and the memories of the Queen waving to the citizens of Penrith have lasted a lifetime. When I spoke to volunteers at the Penrith hospital auxiliary at their 90th anniversary just last week, it was quite extraordinary how many people had in fact been there on that occasion and waved to the Queen. For those who met the Queen in person, their stories that lasted a lifetime were quite profound in the impact that she had on their lives.

Earlier this week, into the morning here in Australia, we watched on and said our final goodbyes to our beloved Queen, an extraordinary 70 years of devoted and unparalleled service to Australia, the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, a commitment that was fulfilled, as promised, with all her heart. It is this level of service and dedication to service that I would like to speak about today.

One of my constituents from Glenmore Park, Jennifer Delaney, said:

I would like to pass on a story regarding my late father, WO1 Lionel Stanley Jackson BEM "Bluey Jackson" as he was known in his long military life, who until he passed 2 years ago this week … Dad was a long time Penrith resident and a passionate admirer of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

My dad served in the Australian Army for 26 years and lived in the Penrith area from 1971 until his passing in 2020 … The young Queen was coming on a Royal visit to Australia in 1963, and my parents had just returned … from dad serving in Borneo and Malay Peninsula. Dad joined the Army in 1952 just before the king died and at that point had already served in the Korea War.

They were posted to Brisbane at the time of this visit and dad was just so proud to be selected, along with his Army mate Keith Payne OAM VC … to welcome her onto the tarmac.

Dad only ever had a black and white pic from that day and in it you can see he is just so proud and stands so tall as he holds the Queen's umbrella out for her and Keith holds the door open for her to get into the car.

…   …   …

He would always say that Her Majesty was absolutely stunning and the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and that she had the most stunning blue dress on, but we had only seen the black and white image. Apparently when he got home he told Mum (Gwen) he was sorry he said that and that she was really more beautiful than the Queen though … A few days ago I was so shocked to see the actual footage come across the tv here at home in Glenmore Park and I saw my own dad walking next to her. He has such a straight back look of pride and her in her beautiful blue dress. It stopped me in my tracks … Dad was a very very proud Australian and he always said … that he joined the Army as he wanted to serve. From a very young lad he wanted to serve King and country and then he was so thrilled when his motto became Queen and Country.

His proudest moment was when he was listed in the Queen's Birthday Honours in June 1970 as a recipient of the British Empire Medal … An award from his Queen … well nothing would ever beat that for him. And then we were posted as a family to PNG … and he was awarded the Queens Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977. He was once again involved in a royal visit. His happiest times.

Everything in dad's life was about service and he served with both honour and conviction, it is in this way I know our beloved Queen was always his inspiration. He obviously has passed this lesson of service to us his family as 3 of his 5 children and 6 of his grandchildren, have served our country in the defence forces all having been deployed and some seeing active duty multiple times. We love our country, our Queen and our Commonwealth. And now feel the exact same for our King.

I agree with Jennifer. I can think of no better way of showing our enormous gratitude to our Queen than by supporting His Majesty King Charles III. We are so fortunate in our system to have a sovereign that is above politics, a sovereign who considers the public interest and never the political interest when undertaking their duty. I am rather fond of Paddington Bear. He expressed the same feelings as I have about the Queen when he said, 'Thank you, ma'am, for everything.' (Time expired)

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