Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Neale Francis Daniher was a son of the Riverina. He was a proud son of Ungarie, and he was a much-loved son of the late Jim and Edna Daniher. You don't get a better family than the Daniher family. They are quintessentially country Australia. Edna Daniher is one of the most beautiful people I have ever known. She, in recent years, has buried her husband, Jim, who passed away after a farm accident, a tragic farm accident, in 2019. She buried her beautiful daughter Fiona in 2021. And now she is going to bury her wonderful son Neale. No mother should have to bury any of their children. No mother should.

Anthony Daniher, Chris Daniher, Terry Daniher and Neale Daniher are, of course, well known because of their footballing feats. All four brothers played alongside one another in the mighty Essendon Bombers football team, and that's fantastic, but it was what Neale did as a fighter against motor neurone disease—such a cruel, insidious disease—that shone a light on not only the need for awareness of but also the need for funds to fight MND.

Most Riverina people are well aware of the Danihers—of course, most people in Australia are—but it does become personal. My wife, Catherine, had a coffee catch-up with Neale's sister Estelle just last Friday. I went to school with Dorothy. Most people in the Riverina, if you've been there for long enough, will have bumped into a Daniher. To know them is to love them. The Daniher boys' sisters—we talk about the toughness on the field of the boys; rest assured, I wouldn't like to face those girls in netball! They were very, very good at netball. Some still are. His sisters, Neale's sisters, Colleen, Angela, Julie, Nerolee, Estelle and, as I mentioned, Dorothy—seven sisters—are such wonderful human beings as well.

They have put Ungarie on the map, that family. Indeed, there is a big Sherrin in the main street of Ungarie, synonymous with the big things that Australian towns just love to erect and talk about and visit. What other town would even think to put a Sherrin in their main street? The ground at Ungarie—I've worn the black and white for Ungarie. I'm certainly not right up there with the Danihers, but Chris asked me one day when they were very short of players, horribly short of players—if I press up here hard enough, I can still feel the three broken ribs I copped in one of those games. But the big freeze at the G—we all should get behind it. We should. It's on the June long weekend. It has become synonymous not only with the Danihers but with raising funds for the fight against MND. The fact that Neale has passed away has really set this nation into a pall of grief I've not seen for a long, long time.

I know that the Big Freeze at the G this year will be a special occasion, a sobering occasion and a sombre occasion but also a celebration of life, because Neale fought the good fight for 13 long years. That shows the inspiration of this family. It shows the resilience of this family. It shows how much he was loved by all Australians and his wife, Jan; his children, Bec, Lauren, Luke and Ben; his grandchildren; and his many nieces and nephews. They will continue to fight the good fight against MND so that his name is never forgotten—not that it ever will be. There's no danger of that. But, to Neale Daniher, vale. May you rest in peace, champion. You have been a wonderful son, brother, father and husband and a magnificent Australian. There is no better than Neale Daniher, and I think we probably should even give him an AC posthumously.