House debates

Monday, 13 February 2023

Statements by Members

Just Like You, Only a Little More Different

1:45 pm

Photo of Rowan RamseyRowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

Madam Deputy Speaker, with your tolerance, I have a small book with me, a child's book. It's called Just like you, only a little more different, and it was written by Brook Seal, a farmer from Kimba, about his son, Ziggy. Ziggy had a cardiac arrest two days after birth and is suffering severe brain injury. Communication and movement are difficult for him. But he now attends Kimba Area School and is in year 2. Brook wrote a book so Ziggy's class could better understand what he was thinking and where he came from, because he can't communicate with them. I have a quote here from the book, just to give you a bit of a feeling of the flavour: 'Just like you, I like to play. I love playing outdoors. I love listening to music. I love going to kindy to be with all my friends. I love playing with the wool from our sheep on our farm.' That's Ziggy. The book has already sold over a thousand copies, and, in a typically generous move from Brook, all profits go to the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Brook says that, while he wrote Ziggy's story for his classmates, there is a message in it for all of us about accepting differences. It might be about someone's religion or sexuality—anything. It doesn't matter who you are if you are different. You can buy it from Booktopia, Amazon or booko for $27, or just go on Facebook and put in 'Just like you, only a little more different'. (Time expired)