Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Later this month I will attend the state funeral for Ted Egan AO, a man who embodied the spirit, generosity and storytelling at the heart of the Northern Territory. Through music, writing and his public service, particularly as the Administrator of the Northern Territory, he helped Australians to understand the people and the cultures and the history of the Territory in a way that few others could. Ted gifted me his book Kulilkatimawhich means seeking understanding. It begins with the lyrics of his song 'This Land Australia'. There's a passage that I've always loved:

Try to understand

This land Australia

Take her as she is

Her moods, her mysteries

Mother of us all

Beneath the Southern Cross

In her frame of peaceful seas.

Ted is urging us to listen, to learn and to respect this remarkable country. Whether he was singing in a beer garden, sharing a yarn or representing the Territory on the national stage, Ted Egan did it with authenticity, great humour and enormous heart. He lived big. My thoughts are with Nerys and the whole Egan family as they grieve the loss of their partner, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and mate.