Sam Birrell (Nicholls, National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Regional Health) Share this | Hansard source

Last month Brother Doug Walsh was laid to rest in my electorate, in the Kilmore cemetery, a stone's throw from Assumption College, one of the many institutions he graced in his life of service. Peter Doug Walsh was born in Werribee, Victoria, in 1937 to Agnes and David Patrick Walsh. He is survived by his twin sister, Maureen. He was educated in the Mallee in regional Victoria and joined the novitiate in 1955 on his way to becoming a Marist brother. He taught across Australia, including in Northam and Subiaco in WA and Traralgon and Kilmore in Victoria. He also founded initiatives to alleviate suffering in the poorer parts of Manila in the Philippines. In later years he worked with St Vincent de Paul in Collingwood and Heidelberg. He was the boarding master at Assumption College in the late 1980s and early 1990s, coinciding with my time there, and he once told me that, though Assumption College boarders were, in his words, a serious handful, he wanted to work with people who were more at risk, hence his move to St Vinnies in Melbourne. Many Assumption boarders would concur that Dougie was the epitome of that hard but fair educator, a throwback to the attitude that discipline is critically important for young people. They occasionally need a serious kick in the backside to understand boundaries. Many a wayward young man from the country at Assumption learnt some tough lessons in life from Dougie, and his example and spirit is perhaps needed in the way we guide young people now. Thanks, Brother Doug, for your life of service as an educator and to those in need. May you rest in peace.

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