Richard Marles
Corio · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“We've attended all the meetings of the state parties since 2022. There are three concerns that we have in relation to it, but we continue to observe it. We obviously support the underlying desire to have a world free of nuclear weapons.”
“At the Montebello Islands, off the coast of Western Australia; Emu plain, in South Australia; and, of course, Maralinga, we were a place of nuclear testing ourselves, and we know the impact that that has had in relation to our own First Nations peoples.”
“If you'll indulge me, Mr Speaker, I add my acknowledgement to my good friend Dato' Khaled bin Nordin, the Malaysian defence minister. It's great to see him in the House today. I thank the honourable member for her question.”
“You are right in saying that both of those events characterise a deep sense of feeling within the Pacific around the role and place of nuclear weapons, such that the Treaty of Rarotonga has characterised the Pacific by being a treaty which seeks to have the Pacific as a nuclear weapons free part of the world.”
“We are building very large industrial sites, like the Osborne Naval Shipyard and Henderson, where thousands of people are employed. But so much of Australia's defence industry now is small and medium businesses which have incredible capability that are supporting our Defence Force.”
“I thank the member for his question and acknowledge the incredible and proud way that he represents the beautiful suburbs of Tangney in this parliament. I got a bit of a taste of that last week when I went with the honourable member to visit a company in his electorate—Australian Safety Engineers, in Canning Vale.”
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“The partnership will see increased cooperation between Australia and Europe across security and defence in cybersecurity, in space, in combating terrorism financing and in sharing information. Really importantly, it will see greater cooperation in the defence industry. So many of the platforms that are operated by the Australian Defence Force were designed or built by European companies. Navantia, a Spanish company, designed our air warfare destroyers, our supply ships and our landing helicopter dock ships—the largest ships in the Royal Australian Navy. Thales, a French company, has been building Bushmasters for the Australian Army in Bendigo for many years, and those Bushmasters are now providing critical service in Ukraine.”
“I thank the member for his question and acknowledge his distinguished service in the Australian Army. With Kaja Kallas, the Vice President and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Commission, the Foreign minister and I signed the Australia-EU Security and Defence Partnership. The moment that Russia and China signed a no-limits agreement on the eve of Russia's immoral and illegal invasion of Ukraine was the moment that a war in Eastern Europe became deeply relevant to Australia's national interest, because there are not many rules based orders; there is one. The lessons, good and bad, that will be learnt in Ukraine stand to be applied in the Indo-Pacific. So today there is, in fact, a deep connection between the Indo-Pacific and Europe, which is why this partnership is so important.”
“I really want to congratulate the Premier and his entire team on their remarkable win. This stands in contrast to One Nation, who have really only ever been about stunts and the vibe; they have never been about the actual delivery of jobs and defence capability. It also stands in contrast to the coalition because, when they were last in government, they—”
“At its peak, the shipyard will be home to those sustaining the Collins class submarines, building our Hunter class frigates and building our future submarines, which in total represents more than 7,000 workers—the biggest industrial site in our country. We will see steel being cut on our future submarines by the end of the decade and, already, work is underway in constructing the submarine yard. This is a project which is being delivered, and we are really fortunate to have the Malinauskas state Labor government as our partner. They see that Osborne is central to the South Australian economy. Indeed, South Australia rightly and proudly declares itself the defence state. So it's no surprise to me that, on Saturday, the South Australian people roundly endorsed the economic agenda of the Malinauskas government with its thumping re-election.”
“I acknowledge the member and her work in contributing to South Australia being at the heart of Australia's defence industry. AUKUS represents the biggest leap in Australia's military capability in more than a century, but it is also the largest industrial project in our country's history—20,000 jobs. Engaging the industrial base of the eastern seaboard, it already represents the biggest diversification in the Western Australian economy in decades, and it will see our future submarines built in South Australia at the Osborne Naval Shipyard. In coming decades, $30 billion will be invested here. Just over a month ago, the Prime Minister and Premier Malinauskas announced a $3.9 billion downpayment on this.”
“Indeed, the strategic intent in all the assistance that we are giving is to provide for the defence of the countries of the gulf, countries which are home to thousands of Australians and countries with whom we enjoy a deep, close and enduring friendship.”
“The E-7 has one of the most exquisite airborne command and long-range reconnaissance capabilities in the world, and we are one of the leading E-7 operators in the world. As such, our capability has been in high demand. Over the last couple of years it has deployed twice to Europe in support of Ukraine, first in Germany and last year in Poland. The job that it will be doing in the gulf is very similar. This will be for an initial deployment of four weeks, involving 85 personnel. The aircraft will leave Australia today and we are hopeful that it will be operational by the end of the week. In addition to this, and again at the request of the UAE, we are providing a number of advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles. I want to stress that these are defensive weapons by their nature.”
“Over the course of the weekend, I was able to speak to a number of my counterparts in the region, including Prince Khalid bin Salman, the defence minister of Saudi Arabia, Dr Jafar Hassan, the Prime Minister and defence minister of Jordan, and, of course, Mohamed Al Mazrouei, the defence minister of the UAE. I was very pleased to be able to make this offer to Minister Al Mazrouei. He, in turn, was deeply grateful on behalf of the UAE. Today, the UAE is really one of our closest friends. It is home to 24,000 Australians, one of the largest expat communities that we have anywhere in the world. For many, many years now it has hosted an operational headquarters of the ADF at the Al Minhad Air Base near Dubai, and for this we are deeply thankful. As soon as there was a call for assistance, we were very keen to do all that we could.”
“I thank the member for his question. At the request of the United Arab Emirates, today the government has announced that we will be deploying an E-7A Wedgetail aircraft to the gulf to help in the defence of the UAE and the other countries of the gulf against attacks from Iran. From the very beginning of this conflict, the UAE and 10 other countries in the region have been under sustained attack by Iran, without ever having been protagonists against Iran themselves. Indeed, from the very outset, Iran has sought to widen this conflict and attack its neighbours simply because it can, and Australia condemns this in the strongest possible terms.”
“Without speculating too much, what I would observe is that, as air travel starts to reopen, we expect that the most expeditious flights which will come online quickest will be commercial options. Now, this is a fast-moving situation. As information comes to hand we are publishing it as quickly as we can in our travel advisories, and it is forming the assessments around the actions that we take because our primary concern right now is for the safety and welfare of Australians in the Middle East.”
“What that means is that those people who register will be given direct communication about our advisories, the latest information and any actions that Australia is planning. Beyond that, we encourage people to follow the advisories we publish on Smartraveller. For those in the region who have particular concerns and, indeed, for those Australians who have particular concerns for family in the region, our 24-hour consular hotline is available, and that number, for people outside of Australia is +61262613305. With respect to air travel, the most obvious point to make is that airspace across the Middle East is currently blacked out, and so there is no air travel at all.”
“We have about 115,000 Australians across the Middle East, which represents a significant consular challenge. Again, as the Prime Minister has said, right now we have a 'do not travel' advisory in place for Iran, Israel and Lebanon but also the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait. We have had a 'do not travel' advisory in place for Iran since 2020 and not only there but for other parts of the Middle East—for example, in southern Lebanon, where there has been a 'do not travel' advisory in place since 2019. As the Prime Minister has said, our ability to provide effective consular assistance to those Australians in Iran since August of last year has been very limited, but we are encouraging Australians there and in Israel as best as possible to register on the crisis portal, and that has been extended to Australians in the UAE and Qatar.”
“I thank the member for her question. Let me start by saying that Australia stands with the people of Iran in their brave struggle against an oppressive autocracy, which in the last few weeks has seen them kill thousands of their own citizens. As the Prime Minister has said, we support the United States led action, which has as a core aim denying Iran the ability of ever having a deployable nuclear weapon—which would be a catastrophe for the world. Australia has a number of equities in the Middle East. There are more than 100 Australian serving personnel in a number of countries across the region, most of whom are in the United Arab Emirates, where we have had for many years operational headquarters at Al Minhad outside of Dubai. I can report to the House that all of those serving men and women are accounted for and, right now, are safe.”
“Helpfully, the member for Flinders chimes in with 'never been more recruits coming into the Navy than there is now'. In response to that, let me say: fantastic, great move—well done, Angus! I actually spoke to my social media team—”
“That really invites me to make a critique of the shadow minister's positions on defence. The issue here is that, when it comes to the shadow minister and defence, what we have is a completely blank page because he has said absolutely nothing. I mean, as the shadow Treasurer in the last parliament, he did say that defence spending should be confined to the fiscal envelope that the Liberals took to the 2022 election, which would mean that he is against the $70 billion worth of investment that our government has made in defence. On the other hand, and to be fair, in the last couple of weeks he has visited, with the member for Flinders, HMAS Cerberus , after which he posted a video in which he said 'massive investments in recent years making a real difference', then: Zoe tell us about it.”
“I thank the member for her question and acknowledge her service since coming to office in 2022. The government has undertaken the Defence Strategic Review, which is the most comprehensive reassessment of our strategic posture in 35 years, and we are now building a Defence Force to meet that moment. We've taken the idea of AUKUS and given substance to it, providing for the biggest industrial project in our country's history. We inherited a shrinking Defence Force. We have now turned that around, and it is growing again, and we are undertaking the biggest reform to the Defence estate ever. All of this is being underpinned by the biggest peacetime increase in defence spending in our nation's history. Now, in our system of government, it is important to understand alternatives, as the honourable member has asked.”
“In that respect, the President of Israel is here today and during this week as an honoured and welcomed guest—and he is so, utterly consistent with the position that this government holds in supporting a two-state solution.”
“In the face of the very complex situation which has evidently played out in the Middle East, every step that we have taken as a government has been underpinned by that very clear position. In saying that, it is also important for me to acknowledge on this day that we have in this country the head of state of one of those states, the State of Israel. His visit to our country is an important visit at the invitation of both the Prime Minister and the Governor-General. It's an important visit on its own terms in respect of the bilateral relationship between Australia and Israel. But, in the context of the tragedy of the Bondi massacre, his presence in Australia today is very significant for our nation and particularly for our nation's Jewish community.”
“I thank the member for her question, and, in doing so, I note the timing of the question. The government has in place sanctions in respect of Israel, which have been announced and well publicised. But underpinning that fundamentally has been a position which has been held by this government, which is consistent with governments of the past from both political parties, of supporting a two-state solution—a two-state solution which on the one hand provides for the legitimate aspiration of the Palestinian people to have statehood, but which on the other hand also provides for the people of Israel to live with security. That continues to be the position that our government has held.”
“When it comes to the Liberal Party, that is always the issue, because they are always about their own self-interest; they are never about the national interest. We see that defence is about the security of our nation, but those opposite see defence in terms of what security it can provide to the coalition. They're very big on defence rhetoric. Shamefully and infamously, they tried to use the Australian Defence Force to raise money for the Liberal Party. But, on this side of the House, we know the importance of defence policy. When it comes to defence policy, for those opposite, it is just not core business, and it is certainly not core business for that shadow minister.”
“And, based on what they have said since we made the announcement last week, it is clear that, if they were the government today, they would still be asleep today. But what is most astounding is that, given this major Defence announcement over the last few days, we have heard barely anything from the shadow minister for defence—not a press conference, no analysis, not even a bark—because, when it comes to reforming Defence waste, when it comes to providing for Defence efficiency, when it comes to building defence capability, all of this is a long way from the shadow minister's thoughts. I think, lately, maybe—just maybe—the shadow minister has been a little distracted by matters which are a bit closer to hand, matters such as that seat right there.”
“Can I thank the member for his question, coming as he does from the great Defence state of South Australia. Last Wednesday the Albanese government announced the biggest reform to Australia's Defence estate in our nation's history. Faced with the prospect of spending $2 billion over the next 25 years on defence sites that we barely use now, the Defence estate will be completely focused on giving Defence what it needs to do its job in defending Australia. It has been far too long since Australian governments dealt with the Defence estate, and in this respect the Defence estate review pointed to a lack of political and organisational will in the past to meet these challenges. Most definitely, during the nine years of the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government, those opposite did absolutely nothing about it.”
“Under the leadership of the Prime Minister, very much supported by the Foreign minister and the leadership of President Prabowo, Australia and Indonesia are now moving forward together in the world as the very closest of neighbours, as the very dearest of friends and with a shared commitment of purpose and destiny.”
“This evening I will be speaking with my counterpart, Minister of Defense Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, to explore ways in which we can further these initiatives and look at other means by which we can deepen the bonds between our two defence forces. When you take a step back and just look at the map, what is completely clear is that Indonesia and Australia should be the very best of friends—and now we absolutely are. Given the challenges we face today, Indonesia is located in the most strategic area of interest for Australia, and we provide Indonesia with strategic depth. This fundamental, mutually beneficial exchange is better understood between our two countries today than it has ever been, and it is underpinned by a level of trust which is as good today as it has ever been.”
“That, in combination with the defence cooperation agreement which I signed with my then counterpart, Minister Prabowo, in 2024—an agreement which makes it much easier for our respective defence forces to operate from each other's territory and bases—means the architecture between our two nations today is at a high watermark. These statements of principle and this architecture are being backed up with action. We are supporting training facilities in Indonesia, including at Morotai Island, and we're encouraging the Indonesian military to do more training in Australia. We're providing opportunities for senior military leaders in Indonesia to be embedded in the Australian Defence Force at a much more senior level.”
“I thank the member for his question. On Friday, the Prime Minister and President Prabowo Subianto signed the Jakarta treaty. The Jakarta treaty obliges our two countries to consult with each other when faced with adverse challenges to our common security. This is the first time we are making this commitment to each other as two nations since the security treaty of 1995, which was signed by President Suharto and Prime Minister Keating. Additionally, the treaty signed on Friday commits our countries to leader-level consultations.”
“More to the point, we need a Defence estate which is finely tuned to the requirements of the Australian Defence Force so that it can be the foundation that our force needs to do its job to defend Australia.”
“The shadow minister has said that these properties play 'a vital role in Australia's defence capability'. But which ones? Exactly which ones? The former shadow minister, the member for Canning, has said that our reforms are both shortsighted and foolish. What is absolutely clear is that, if those opposite were the government today, they'd still be squibbing it. Our government has the political will. The Defence estate review has also made clear that, if we do not act, governments will spend $2 billion over the next 25 years on these properties without making any contribution to our capability, and that is completely unacceptable. We win on the battlefield by virtue of capability, and that means we must stop wasting money on properties that we don't need.”
“But this reform is difficult because, in relation to every Defence site, you'll find people with an attachment to it, and the difficulty was very much observed by Jan Mason and Jim Miller in their Defence estate audit, when they said: Defence is holding more property than it needs and is carrying the burden of past indecision… They said: Attempts to consolidate and rationalise property holdings in the past have been stymied by a lack of political and organisational will to overcome challenges. Those words are particularly appropriate to those opposite, because in the 9½ years, when whatever we call that was the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government, they did absolutely nothing. And what is also clear in their response to yesterday's announcement is that they have not changed.”
“I thank the member for her question and acknowledge her life of service in this place and also as a police officer. Over the last six years, as a result of vandalism and theft, Defence has spent $1 million on the Penrith Training Depot, a site which has been vacant since 2016. And, at the Maribyrnong Defence site, which has been vacant for decades, in 2022 there was a grassfire which required the expenditure of $10 million in remediation. Defence simply has to stop spending money on properties that it does not need, and this is what is at the heart of the most significant reform to our Defence estate in our nation's history.”
“I thank the member for his very good and considered question. The question is noteworthy in one respect, it being asked at 3.30 in question time as the first non-government question on the Defence estate review—inasmuch as it highlights the dog over here who hasn't barked. I mean, we have the biggest reform to the Defence estate in our country's history, and we have not heard from the shadow minister.”
“These reforms will now focus the Defence Estate to be the foundation that the Defence Force needs in order for it to do its job to defend Australia.”
“Well, today we are garnering that political will to make the difficult decisions. I really want to thank the Assistant Minister for Defence, Peter Khalil, and the former assistant minister for defence, Matt Thistlethwaite, who have led the government's efforts in this area. Today we are announcing that we are agreeing in principle to all 20 recommendations of the Defence Estate and that includes the divestiture in full of 64 properties, the divestiture in part of another three, and every cent of that will be reinvested in defence capability. But most importantly, we will stop wasting money on properties that we don't need. As just one example, in the last four years we've spent $4 million securing Spectacle Island in Sydney Harbour when we haven't had a member of the Defence Force on that site since 2023.”
“Defence is one of the biggest landholders in the country, and it is clear that much of that land is now beyond its useful life for Defence. We commissioned Jan Mason and Jim Miller, both experts in the field, to engage in an audit of the defence estate, and I want to thank them for their work. It was thorough and exhaustive, but in so many ways it was also damning. I will quote their report: Defence is holding more property than it needs and is carrying the burden of past indecision to reorient the estate towards more contemporary and future needs. It said: Attempts to consolidate and rationalise property holdings in the past have been stymied by a lack of political and organisational will to overcome challenges. And: It is clear that maintaining the status quo is not an option.”
“I thank the member for his question. Today, the Albanese government has announced the biggest review of Australia's defence estate in our country's history. As we face the most significant strategic circumstances since the end of World War II, the Defence Strategic Review made clear that we need to be investing more in our bases across our north and our west, and we are doing that. This is one example: we now have exquisite berthing capability at HMAS Coonawarra , in Darwin, which, last year, saw an aircraft carrier come alongside for the first time. We're engaged in an $8 billion redevelopment of HMAS Stirling in Rockingham in preparation for the Submarine Rotational Force—West. But, as we focus on these investments, it's become clear that we need to look at the entirety of our defence estate.”
“Our embassy in Iran suspended its operations back in August of last year, so there is little, if any, consular assistance which can be provided right now to Australians who are within Iran, which makes it very important for people to monitor Smartraveller and keep abreast of its updates—which we will endeavour to put up as soon as possible—as well as availing themselves of the 24-hour emergency consular phone line on +61262613305. For far too long, Iran has been a malevolent influence in the Middle East and around the world. We look with awe at those Iranians who, right now, are risking their lives to protest against the Iranian government, and today our nation salutes the people of Iran as they bear the torch of freedom.”
“We were at the forefront of seeing Iran removed from a UN committee which was focused on discrimination against women, and, because of Iranian interference in our own country, we have expelled the Iranian ambassador. We will continue to work with the international community to put pressure on the Iranian regime in respect of its treatment of its own people and the way in which it engages with the world. That said, there is a significant Iranian community in Australia, and there are Australians who are in Iran. Since 2020, it has been the advice of the Australian government not to travel to Iran. For those Australians who are in Iran right now, our advice is that, if it is safe to do so, leave and leave quickly. This is a volatile situation, and it can change very quickly.”
“I thank the member for his question and acknowledge his advocacy on behalf of the Iranian community in Australia. The Australian government and the Australian people stand in solidarity with the brave people of Iran who are demonstrating for their basic human rights against an oppressive regime. There is absolutely no legitimacy in the Iranian government killing thousands of its own citizens in order for the regime to maintain power. Indeed, this is an outrage, and we condemn it in the strongest possible terms. The Iranian people, particularly Iranian women, have been having their voice heard for many years now, and our government has taken strong action against Iran. We have more than 200 sanctions in place against individuals and entities, including those within the regime and members of the Iranian revolutionary guard corps.”
“We would have liked to have done more in that regard this week, but we are grateful for whatever we can do this week amongst all of us, because it takes all of us, which is a point that is well made by the American Jewish Committee in its call to action against antisemitism. It says: When considered only through a partisan lens, antisemitism is not being countered, but instrumentalized. Antisemitism must not be a partisan issue used as a wedge within the Jewish community. Especially in advance of elections, we encourage Members of Congress to be mindful of politicization and reach across party lines to address antisemitism. These are wise words. We are only going to rid the scourge of antisemitism in this country if we all rise above our parties and do it together.”
“That's not a reflection on the kids; that is, of course, a reflection on the world that is outside. That is a reflection on Australia today. Antisemitism has been around for a while, and in truth that kind of security on Jewish community facilities has been there for many years, but antisemitism has become much worse since 7 October 2023. The way in which life for Jewish Australians has been compromised is profound. It is not okay that Jewish students at universities feel uncomfortable wearing the kippah. It is not okay that Jewish artists have effectively been cancelled. We understand that there is much more to do, but our government has acted against antisemitism. We have made criminal more forms of hate speech, we have appointed an envoy to combat antisemitism, and we've now committed to implementing her report in full.”
“I thank the member for his question. Back in May of 2024, I visited Mount Scopus Memorial College, a Jewish school in Melbourne, with the member for Macnamara, who is indeed an honoured old boy. We attended there because the day before there had been a horrible antisemitic slogan spray-painted on the school's wall. It was a clarifying experience for me. It's obviously terrible that kids have to look at that hate directed at who they are. But, actually, life at the school was an eye-opener. Security there is not unlike security here, but whereas we are adults who have made the choice to be an adult life, these are kids who have no choice. The idea that children are receiving their education—that they are learning to experience the world behind large walls protecting them from the world—is just so sad.”
“In the land of the fair go, how is that fair? If there is to be any meaning coming out of this tragic event, it must be in the resolution of this question. The legacy of Bondi has to be that we return to the Jewish community the Australia that they once knew and, in the process, as we aspire to eliminate all forms of prejudice from our country, we seek to provide to each and every citizen the full promise of Australia.”
“In a world in which antisemitism exists, Australia had been a safe harbour. It's against that backdrop of relative historic normality that the Jewish community today is so shocked, traumatised, that their kids going to Jewish schools have to do so behind high walls and with a 24/7 protective guard and that, when kids are leaving school, they have to get out of their uniform on campus so they cannot be readily identifiable on the streets—where the logos are taken off the buses for the same reason, and the same way of operating applies to Jewish aged-care facilities, to Jewish community centres and to synagogues. It has become difficult, if not impossible, for the community to celebrate with joy their culture and religion, without fear. So, rightly, the Jewish community asks today: in Australia, how is that okay?”
“But the Bondi massacre was a clear and calculated attack on Jewish Australians. It was an horrific act of antisemitism which, on the one hand, took the life of 87-year-old Alexander Kleytman, a survivor of the Holocaust, and on the other, the life of Matilda Britvan, who at the joyful age of 10 was, literally, distilled potential. So much has been said about antisemitism in the last month and in the last two years. It may be tempting for some to think, given antisemitism has existed for millennia, 'What on earth can we possibly do?' Yet in the very many conversations I have had with members of the Jewish community, what they have all consistently said to me is that for many, and for most of their lives, antisemitism is far from having defined their experience as Jewish Australians—in fact, it is quite the contrary.”
“What these four people and others did was to change the equation in that moment and for all time, because while the gunmen might have expected to have it all their own way, for it to be a free-for-all, they found themselves instead on contested ground. We will never know the names of those who were saved as a result, nor how many, but when you consider that there were a thousand people attending the Chabad community event on that busy summer Sunday evening at Bondi, those who might reasonably say, 'But for their actions, death may also have become me,' must surely be numbered in the hundreds. In the middle of this tragedy, their actions stand forth like a shining beacon. Bondi is the moment that terrorism came to our shores, to an iconic landmark of our nation.”
“Yet, in that moment, they staked all that they had, all that they had been, to defend those around them. As did Reuven Morrison, who threw a brick at one of the gunmen until Morrison, too, lost his life. Ahmed al-Ahmed threw himself at one of the terrorists. In the days after Bondi I was speaking with Rabbi Marcus Solomon, who could see the actions of Ahmed al-Ahmed only in the context of the literal workings of God. Facing two people with a shockingly distorted world view, here was this man, Ahmed al-Ahmed—a word which means 'peace' in Islam, a faith that holds as a tenet that the taking of an innocent life is a terrible sin—who risked his own life to protect those around him irrespective of their religion.”
“A day or two after 14 December the remarkable story emerged of a couple in their 60s, Boris and Sofia Gurman. Grainy, dashcam footage captured them trying to confront the gunmen right at the start as they were getting out of their car. Incredibly, it looks like, without any training—Boris, a retired mechanic, and Sofia having worked at Australia Post—they will prevail, appearing to disarm one of the gunmen. But then another gun is found, and, heartbreakingly, both Boris and Sofia are shot and killed, becoming the first victims of the Bondi massacre. What I find utterly astonishing about their actions is how intentional they were. This was not a reflex. They didn't have to put their lives on the line. In fact, the more obvious path to have walked would in all likelihood have seen them alive on this day.”
“He is a man who is much loved, who will never be forgotten and who will be deeply, deeply missed. Vale, Graham Richardson”
“It was such an incredible thing that he was doing for his family. When Graham passed away last Saturday fortnight, he did so after D'Arcy had turned 18 and he did so within 48 hours of D'Arcy completing his last final-year exam. He did indeed live to see D'Arcy complete his schooling and for his boy to become a man. Amidst the grief that I know that D'Arcy and Amanda are feeling right now, amidst the grief that we all feel right now, there is a solace in that, because it is such an incredible gift that Graham has given to D'Arcy and to Amanda. For all of us who had the privilege of seeing that, it is an extraordinary inspiration. Graham Richardson very much will live on in his family. Graham will live on in what so many of us take from his counsel and in the way in which we go about our work in this place.”
“But I remember talking to Graham about it, and he made it clear to me that, by the time he was 23, he'd lost both of his parents, and that had impacted him greatly. As his son D'Arcy was growing up, he was absolutely determined not to leave D'Arcy without a father in his childhood. He was determined to see D'Arcy achieve adulthood in his lifetime. And so he made that decision, and it was all of those things. It was painful, there was a long recovery and life afterwards was very different. But he did return to the media. He gave his insightful commentary. He continued to be a mentor to me and to so many others, but most importantly he was there as D'Arcy's father and Amanda's husband. You know, in those years I looked at what Graham was doing and thought it was utterly heroic.”