In Parliament, I paid tribute to Elaine Gee and acknowledged the profound impact of a recent tragedy on two families and communities across northern Tasmania. I spoke about Elaine’s life as a wife, mother, nurse, colleague and friend, and recognised her more than two decades of care through the Launceston General Hospital. I also acknowledged the support surrounding Sarah and her children, and the extraordinary generosity shown by local people, including through the Birralee Memorial Hall raffle supporting the Gee family.
This speech includes discussion about:
- Remembering Elaine Gee and her service to the community
- Support for Rodney, their two young sons and the Gee family
- Care and practical assistance for Sarah and her children
- Elaine’s funeral and the community tribute to her life
- The Birralee Memorial Hall raffle and local fundraising efforts
- The generosity of northern Tasmanians in supporting two families
- The importance of love, care and respect in times of tragedy
Speech Transcript
Mr FERGUSON (Bass) – Thank you, honourable Speaker. I want to rise this evening to very sensitively acknowledge a tragedy that has absolutely affected my community in northern Tasmania, right across the north and indeed the state, and most especially two families whose lives were forever changed by the events of 24 July 2026. I know many will agree we will never forget that day. I can remember very well some of the emergency service vehicles and the time that it took for me to hear all of them going past. Our community was greatly shocked and deeply affected by it. This is an example of those times where words will not do anywhere near as good a job as they should to express those circumstances and the impact that they’ve had on our community, and this is one of those.
Sarah was significantly injured in the events of that day, very seriously. Her children were also involved in those circumstances that no child should ever experience. Around them are a wonderful family and friends that are right now providing the love and security and support that they need. A wider, very generous community has also been asking what it can do to help.
Also tonight I want to remember the late Elaine Gee and acknowledge the enormous loss experienced by her family and the wider community. Elaine was a wife, a mother, a nurse, a colleague and a friend. For more than two decades, she cared for others through her work at the LGH, and she leaves behind her husband Rodney and their two young sons, as well as an extended family and many friends and colleagues who really loved her. I attended Elaine’s funeral at the Tailrace Centre, together with hundreds of mourners who came to honour her life and to support her family. It was something beautiful. Handmade sunflowers and yellow ribbons were provided to those attending. There were moving tributes to Elaine and the life that she lived so honourably, so passionately and what struck me just as strongly was the amount of love in the room for Elaine especially, but also for Rodney, the boys and their extended, very strong family. I was also moved by the care that people were showing to each other in the room, in our small and tight community.
In the days since that awful tragedy, many people, including myself, across northern Tasmania have asked a very simple question, what can I do? I want to acknowledge tonight that I saw one answer to that at the Birralee Memorial Hall two Sundays ago. I attended the local market – I was invited, as was Ms Finlay – where a raffle had been organised to support the Gee family. It started as a very local effort, but the response was truly extraordinary. A small box for the raffle tickets, you know, the little chips that you keep, that quickly became too small, then another container and another, and eventually they needed a drum from a farm, a chem drum, to hold all the tickets that had been sold. Thousands of tickets were sold, dozens of prizes were donated, and I’m pleased to tell the House that over $6000 was raised for that precious family.
The stories were frequently spoken, including by some of the wonderful people who were in charge of selling the tickets. Many people just gave more than the price of their tickets. Some people would hand over a $20 or a $50 or even a $10 and say ‘No, just one ticket, thanks, that’ll do me.’ And others, just donated without taking a ticket at all.
Tonight, in this House, I want to acknowledge Kelly Baker, who was one of the driving forces behind the raffle and also to the people of the Birralee Hall Committee, including – there were many people, but can I just mention Dennis and Tess, but there were many others. I saw how they got behind the initiative with so many other people and can I mention people from right across the state were getting involved as far away as I recall as Waratah, a long, long way from Exeter, and further afield. They not only donated prizes, but they sold the tickets, bought the tickets and helped to make it a success.
There has also been a generous response to the fundraising efforts supporting Sarah and her daughters, providing practical assistance in the months ahead, and I just want to also commend the honourable member for Bass, Mrs Greene, for really making that happen and helping that to be a success. Of course, fundraising can’t change what happened and that’s not what it’s meant to do, but it is meant to show a level of love, concern, care and respect for people who are going through unimaginable and difficult times. I want to say as a member for Bass, how proud I am of the wonderful people, the way in which they’ve responded, wrapped their arms around those two families and provided generosity that I really believe will make a great difference in the difficult times ahead.
