Penny Sharpe - Parliamentary Tribute to Trevor Davies

The Hon. PENNY SHARPE [3.52 p.m.]: Today I mark the sad passing of Trevor Davies. Today a community—a community in the truest sense—gathered at Pitt Street Uniting Church to bid farewell to Trevor Edward Davies. At the young age of just 55, Trevor died on 14 June 2011 of a heart attack. His devastated family spoke of a beloved brother and an uncle they cherished; a man quick with a joke and with a long and infectious laugh. They told how as a teenager he had tried to revive his father after he suffered a fatal asthmatic attack. They told of his undying love for his mother. They told of a man who always had something interesting to say, just as he was always able to listen to the stories of others. They told how Trevor wagged school to listen to the Federal election and how he started his first newspaper at high school. Trevor was a man whose faith was unshakable and whose care of others was unlimited.

His friends talked of Trevor as the man who knows everyone. He was a man who involved himself in the community of Darlington, Chippendale and Redfern in a way that knitted people together. Trevor was someone who enriched everyone by the simple act of reaching out to others and bringing them together to work for the common good of their own community. His friends talked of someone who truly loved his neighbours as he loved himself.

Trevor Davies was the founder and co-editor of the South Sydney Herald. The South Sydney Herald started its life as the newsletter of the local Labor Party with a distribution of 5,000 one-page photocopies. Trevor, in partnership with the South Sydney Parish of the Uniting Church, grew this little newsletter into a full colour, 16-page independent newspaper produced every month and delivered to 22,000 households. It is made by the community for the community. Every month more than 450 hours of volunteer work go into producing it. Trevor's death has been described as leaving a Trevor-sized hole at the paper. I am, however, confident that the community built around the South Sydney Herald will be able to continue with this unique and vital community publication.

Trevor Davies was an elder of the South Sydney Uniting Church, the founder of REDWatch, a management committee member of a number of local community organisations, including South Sydney Community Transport and the Settlement. He even managed to become the Protestant vice president of the Erskineville St Vincent de Paul Society. For Trevor Davies faith and politics were two sides of the same coin. Trevor had been the secretary of the Darlington branch of the Labor Party for longer than anyone can remember. Trevor worked for Labor at every local, State and Federal election for the last 30 years. He was committed to Labor in the finest of traditions. While his commitment was rock solid, it did not mean that his support was unconditional. Trevor encouraged debate. He was prepared to be inclusive of others, even if they were not members or supporters of the Labor Party.

Trevor was fearless in his pursuit of what he considered to be the right thing for his community, be it a compassionate approach to refugees, the need for a local community centre, or indeed fixing a street chair so that people in his community could rest on their way to the shops. One of the great contributions Trevor made was his passionate campaign to gain Government support for the redevelopment of The Block at Redfern. The Pemulwuy Project he fought for alongside the Aboriginal Housing Company is now a reality. Trevor unashamedly backed the underdogs and spoke out at injustice when he saw it. I would like to share one of my favourite quotes from Trevor. He said this when he was a candidate for the City of Sydney in 2008:

The great thing about working class people is that you can't piss on them from up high.

His Labor family will miss him terribly. One of his oldest and dearest friends, Dorothy McRae-McMahon, wrote this poem for Trevor and I would like to share it:

Vale Trevor Davies.