Madeleine King (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to celebrate and recognise the life of an Australian icon, Dame Olivia Newton-John, AC, DBE. Born in England in September 1948, Olivia Newton-John moved to Melbourne when she was five and made Australia her home. Later in life, she moved to the United States of America and was sadly lost to the world earlier this year in August.

In addition to being one of this nation's greatest musical exports, Oliva was also a well-known animal rights and environmental campaigner and a breast cancer awareness advocate. Olivia was Australia's sweetheart. Olivia was an Australian icon who captivated the globe. Her first big break was appearing on a local pop talent TV program in 1963. Slowly growing renowned, she would tour the UK and perform throughout Europe.

Olivia achieved breakthrough fame in her role as Sandy in the 1978 hit film Grease. With John Travolta starring in the role of Danny, Grease was a smash-hit musical that is now loved by many generations. The soundtrack to this film spent 12 weeks at No. 1, and I doubt there is a high school in this country that hasn't staged Grease the musical. I certainly remember it from my high school days at Safety Bay Senior High School. I didn't perform, because I don't perform, but I do remember attending. I know that it's a hit among the high school musical circuit.

Olivia was the second woman to have two hits in the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time, with the tunes 'Summer Nights' and 'Hopelessly Devoted to You'. The Newton-John-Travolta duet 'You're the One that I Want' was one of the top singles of all time, selling more than 15 million copies. Throughout her career, Olivia Newton-John won four Grammy Awards, along with a multitude of other awards for her musical and acting career. She had global sales of more than 100 million records.

A life of such remarkable achievement, Olivia Newton-John also suffered tremendous tragedy. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1992, and she dedicated herself to raising awareness and promoting treatments while offering endless love and support to others struck by the same illness. In 2008, Olivia led a group of cancer survivors on a trek of the Great Wall of China, raising more than $2 million for charity. Through her tireless campaigns, she would eventually raise almost $200 million in funds to fight cancer. She opened the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne in 2012. Today, this centre provides cancer patients with the emotional support they need and provides a focus on wellbeing throughout treatment.

Olivia Newton-John Battled cancer three times and, ultimately, succumbed to the disease this year, but, through all of these battles, she continued to advocate for others. It is important that we recognise the achievements of Dame Olivia Newton-John in this chamber not as just fun and an important one of Australia's entertainment acts but also one of this nation's great campaigners. In fact, she has been recognised around the world. In 2019, she was made a Companion of the Order of Australia, and, in the same year, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. In 2021, the Japanese government awarded her an Order of the Rising Sun, a very rare accolade in Japan for a foreigner.

Her musical and acting legacy will, of course, last forever, in school musicals, in Grease, and the frequent re-running of that musical, seemingly every six months, maybe more often on television, the movie in which she starred, a movie that can be quite challenging in terms of how it depicts relationships between teenage women and men in the late 1950s in the United States. But the soundtrack remains supreme.

ONJ was, of course, more than Sandy in Grease. She was a talented artist, an amazing campaigner for animal welfare and an advocate for cancer victims around the world, particularly in Australia. The loss of Olivia Newton-John is not just a loss for us as Australian fans but a tremendous loss for her family and friends. It's a loss to the whole world. Vale Dame Olivia Newton-John, AC, DBE.

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