Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with great sadness that I rise tonight to pay tribute to Dr Chris Towie, one of the many Victorians who perished in the ‘Black Saturday’ fires. Dr Chris Towie worked for some years as a general practitioner in Broadmeadows, which is in my electorate. I first met Chris a few years ago when I read a story in my local paper about his concern at the escalation of people taking the drug ice. Chris was very concerned about what he thought was a lack of adequate services for drug addicts. On this occasion, as on many other occasions, he was voicing his frustration with a system he believed was failing people. Chris also voiced his concerns at the other broader health issues affecting Broadmeadows residents, including access to mental health services, more affordable health care and the need to review the allocation of provider numbers to ensure there were enough local doctors to service the area. That was very much who Dr Chris Towie was—a man passionate about his profession with a strong sense of social justice; an activist; and a known animal lover.

I remember going down to the Widford Street clinic to meet with Chris because, as the local member, I was eager to follow up on his concerns. It is a very busy clinic in Olsen Place, almost in the heart of Broadmeadows—the rough end of the Melbourne stick, as he called it. As I sat in the waiting room on that day it became obvious to me that Chris was a very busy doctor. Eventually he burst into the waiting room—he cut a very unconventional figure for a doctor. They say first impressions count and in this case it was absolutely true. This was no ordinary doctor—if one can say that about doctors, because many of them are quite extraordinary people.

Chris and I had a very long chat about a number of the issues that bothered him. I took from that meeting a sense that the life of a GP is stressful enough, but a GP who was also an active campaigner for social justice and a social critic would be under enormous pressure in what is naturally a difficult profession. Chris chose to work in areas of disadvantage because he felt that that was where he could make the best contribution and add the most value—and those communities need that type of champion. He could easily have chosen to practice in the leafier, more affluent parts of town, but he was one of those doctors who are on a mission to make a difference.

I am sure that throughout his career Chris, sometimes the lone and at times controversial advocate of community issues, ruffled many feathers in his quest to raise awareness. But that is who he was and, if ruffling feathers made people sit up and pay attention or spurred them into action, that is exactly what he wanted to achieve. If anything sums up his blunt way of telling it as it is, it is the well-publicised case some 3 years ago of Mrs Aziza Agha, a Syrian woman with known heart problems who was directed by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs to undertake a medical assessment to determine if she was well enough to be deported. The department ignored Dr Towie’s advice that she was not well enough to take the 30-minute trip into the city to attend the appointment. Sadly, Mrs Agha died of a heart attack two days later. When completing the death certificate, Dr Towie wrote that the cause of death was ‘harassment’ by immigration officials. That is who Chris was.

For much of his life Chris battled hearing problems, which he overcame in recent years with the help of advanced technology in the form of graphic equalisers that he wore in his ears. I am certain that his deafness helped to shape his passion for standing up for the disadvantaged, for asking the questions that others may think but not have the courage to ask and for reminding officials that they are there to serve their communities. Unfortunately, the Victorian fires have now silenced this significant human being. My community mourns the passing of this extraordinary man. He will be a loss to his family, his friends, his profession and the community who came to know and respect him.