Pat Conaghan (Cowper, National Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to take the opportunity today to recognise two inspirational members of my community for two very different reasons. The first is a young man at the start of an extremely promising Paralympic swimming career, Ethan Blockey from Macksville. At the age of 18, Ethan has racked up medal after medal at state and national competitions over the past few years. For those who know him, this comes as no surprise. Under the supportive watch of coach Daniel Bannerman, Ethan diligently trains six sessions a week and grabs every opportunity to compete and represent the Coffs Coast with both hands. His achievements have not only gained him local notoriety but also recently caught the eye of the Australian Institute of Sport, which selected him to participate in the prestigious Paris swimming nationals future program. Ethan was one of only 15 to be selected. Congratulations, Ethan. We can't wait to see you continue to thrive in the pool for many years to come. Your entire community is behind you. A small shout-out to the Nambucca Valley Rotary Club, who will be holding a fundraiser for Ethan on 23 September at the Bowra Sports Hub. I encourage everyone to go along and support this rising star.

My second recognition today is made in tribute to a much-loved and much-admired member of the Dorrigo and Bellinger Valley community, John Lean. John, a national stalwart, passed away on 9 August as a result of complications following a fall while travelling in Norway. Born in Sydney in 1937, John attended Hawkesbury Agricultural College and found a love for the land early in life and took the reins of the family's generational property at Thora. A passionate historian, John understood the values in recognising and appreciating the driving forces that made our townships what they are today, including the contributions of his own family and through the generations, starting with his great-grandfather.

From Aboriginal tribes to pioneers, convicts and politicians, John diligently chronicled the land settlement in the Bellinger Valley from the 1860s to the 1960s. He not only wrote one book; he wrote five. When asked by a local paper why he started the impressive chronology, he said: 'I started these books when I became aware that a lot of people thought the history of Bellinger started about 1970, when the land use changed from the large farmers to smaller lifestyle blocks and the refugees from the cities arrived. And I thought, hold it, there are another hundred years of people that have built up this valley, cleaned up the land and started it all, and unless somebody puts it together, they're going to be lost.' That was the kind of man he was: generous, reflective and diligent to a fault. Vale, John Lean.