Dave Sharma (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to pay tribute to Dr Max Hopp, a much loved paediatrician from Griffith whose tragic death has deeply affected the Riverina community and much of the Sydney cycling community. Max dedicated his life to caring for children and supporting their families. At Griffith Base Hospital, he led paediatric services with quiet excellence and compassion, establishing a specialist allergy clinic that spared thousands of families the burden of travelling to cities for treatment.

He was known not only for his medical skill but for his kindness—the doctor who listened as carefully as he diagnosed. Trained in South Africa before making Australia his home, Dr Max Hopp embodied the best of regional medicine. Committed, community minded and generous with his time, he mentored young clinicians and never stopped advocating for fairer access to child health services in the regions.

Beyond medicine, Dr Hopp was, as his brother Peter recalled, thoughtful, precise and quietly competitive—qualities that shone through in his passion for cycling, which is how I got to know Max. Max and his brother Peter rode together across continents—Canada, South Africa, France, Hawaii—and in Griffith and Sydney. Those rides reflected who Max was: dedicated, disciplined, curious, inquisitive and connected to others through friendship and laughter.

Max's loss in such tragic circumstances is felt keenly, yet his legacy endures in the healthier children he cared for, the colleagues he inspired and the community he helped to build and nurture. I know many members of the Sydney cycling community remember Max fondly and deeply mourn his passing, and I know many in the Griffith community and the Riverina more broadly will always remember his service to their community. May Max rest in peace, and may his memory be a blessing.