Brett Whiteley (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This week was a very sad week in my electorate of Braddon. I want to focus my comments this afternoon on the township of Queenstown and the west coast community of Tasmania. Tragically, earlier this week, on 9 December, two miners at the Mount Lyell copper mine in Queenstown—Craig Gleeson, 45, and Alistair Lucas, 25—died as a result of the injuries they sustained in a fall while doing their job. These men were maintenance workers who had been standing on a platform 600 metres below ground level, on level 18 in the main shaft, before they fell. Both men have young families, and my heart goes out to their loved ones at this unbelievably painful time. The west coast is a tight-knit community that will always stand side by side at times like this. As one friend, Craig Richardson, said in the media yesterday, 'We have to bond together and make sure these families are looked after.' I have no doubt that this will be the case. Both men were an intrinsic part of their community—a respected friend, work colleague and team mate. Mining sites and many industry workplaces can sometimes be extremely unforgiving, and despite every human effort being made to ensure safe workplaces and work practices, accidents still happen. Now is not the time to presume what may have happened. But no words by me—or anyone, for that matter—are adequate at this time to offer comfort to the families. I simply offer them the thoughts and prayers of a supportive electorate.