Daryl Melham (Banks, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to acknowledge the passing of my friend Terry Raper on 19 January this year. Terry was the second oldest of the nine Raper boys. He is survived by his wife, Jean, and his sons, Andrew, David and Grant, their wives and his five grandchildren. He cherished his large extended family, including his brothers and sisters-in-law. One of his brothers commented that the family had lost a brother, a friend, a lovable bloke and a lovable father. The booklet produced for the requiem mass for Terry has a photo on the front, also used by the local paper. That photo encapsulates Terry: warm, outgoing, gregarious and giving.

Terry was a much loved and respected member of the community. Much more than that, he was a genuine and committed man, who continued until the last months of his life to serve that community. He often visited my electorate office and had a joke to share with us, more often than not a little blue. He did have a wicked sense of humour, which only he could get away with.

Terry worked hard all his life. He worked at the Bankstown Torch and then successfully ran his own safety training company business. His commitment to work was only outmatched by his commitment to his family. He was a tireless voluntary worker and a dyed-in-the-wool member of the Labor Party. The Revesby branch relied on him to organise all the polling booths in the area as well as working one of the booths during the day. Revesby will not be the same without him when the next election is called.

When Terry was diagnosed with melanoma he was not given a long time to survive. Terry exceeded that time by many months. Terry redefined the word ‘fighter’. He was passionately committed to the game of rugby league and, according to his brother, Johnny, loved the St George jumper. On the front of the requiem mass booklet the family had the following words included:

Some people come into our lives and quietly go.

Some leave a footprint on our hearts and we are never the same.

Terry Raper has left a footprint on many hearts in his community, and we will never be the same. He has left a wonderful legacy in his children and his grandchildren. We will all remember and celebrate the life of Terry Raper.

More than 1,000 people attended the church service and over 400 people attended the wake at Revesby Workers Club. Those sorts of numbers were testimony to the life that Terry lived. He was very well regarded in his local community, to which he contributed a lot. I have been to a lot of funerals over the years, but very few funerals have matched that amount of people, both at church service and at wake. A lot more would have come had time allowed. My condolences to his wife and to his family.