Ted O'Brien (Fairfax, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was a Monday morning, 9 September 2019. He was found dead at the back of the Maroochy Neighbourhood Centre in Maroochydore. He had been sleeping in his sleeping bag. He was attacked and killed, at 53 years of age. He was homeless, and his name was David Collin. Last Friday night I had the enormous honour of visiting what's referred to as a 'sleep bus', which was parked at Thrive on Aerodrome Road in Maroochydore. That bus provides safety and shelter to those who are homeless. In many ways I see that sleep bus as the legacy of David Collin.

I see it as a legacy because Michael Henning and Mark Ellis, of the Maroochy Neighbourhood Centre, were so moved by what had happened on that tragic night that they decided to raise money from the community. They needed $100,000 to procure a sleep bus, which of course founder Simon Rowe created only a handful of years ago and which has changed the landscape for many who are homeless. Well, they raised $100,000. Indeed, they raised $200,000.

A sleep bus provides safety and shelter for up to 20 people a night—a temporary home. This is an example of not just a community coming together but an entrepreneur who is solving a problem of society, and not with government funding. This is not a government idea; this is an individual who has identified a problem and created an innovative solution. We have a community in Queensland, around Maroochydore and now way beyond, putting their hand up and coming to the fore, and I say thank you to each and every one. (Time expired)