18 February 2021
Ms TRISH DOYLE (Blue Mountains)—Sometimes in this life you meet people who make you sit up and pay attention. People whose stories move you, who inspire you and teach you a little more about life. I'd like to pay tribute to two of those people – Elly and Becky Chatfield. Elly, nothing can erase nor excuse the heartbreak of your loss as a child of the stolen generation. Mother, grandmother, artist - you are a beautiful human being. I feel privileged to have the opportunity to glimpse your journey through your art. And to your daughter, Becky, Field Officer with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, dancer, Firefighter, single mother extraordinaire – the world would do well to have more people like you in it. As the Shadow Minister for I've been fortunate enough to encounter women from all walks of life. Women who are unapologetic about who they are or what they've been through, who celebrate what it means to be a woman, who aren't afraid to be vulnerable and in doing so, show us all how to be survivors no matter what life throws our way. Elly and Becky, thank you for your grace, resilience, your dignity and your wisdom.