Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to pay tribute to the life of Greg Hirst. He was a husband and father, a media personality, a pillar of the motorcycle community and a fierce advocate for the vulnerable. There were many, like me, who called him a friend. Greg was never far from his motorbike. If you saw Greg, there was a bike. He co-founded the Brotherhood Christian Motorcycle Club in 1979. He organised motorcycling events, including the Silverwater Motor Festival and the Bathurst Bike Show, and as chairman of the Motorcycle Council of New South Wales he advocated for motorcycle safety and the civil rights of motorcyclists. For several years I jumped on the back of Greg's bike at Krispy Kreme in Penrith and joined hundreds of bike riders on the annual Bikers Australia Blanket Run, bringing warmth to the homeless of Parramatta. But we are talking about Greg Hirst. He did not just participate in the ride; he organised it, as he organised many other events during Homelessness Week.

Greg was a man of great heart, and as a devout Christian his life's work was to minister to some of the most vulnerable people through the Street Level Ministry. You could get a sense of Greg's generosity through his writing for The Daily Telegraph, the Parramatta Advertiser and the motorcycling pressand through his radio show RIDE on Alive, as well as his television show Temporary Australians,co-hosted by WSFM's Jonesy, that is now in its fifth season on 7mate. Greg showed us how large life could be. He is survived by his wife of 37 years, Colleen, and their children. On Monday the Brotherhood Christian Motorcycle Club and many others will join Greg for one last ride as they escort him to the funeral service in Penrith, coming together for one last ride for Greg. Farewell, Hirsty.