The SPEAKER: Before we proceed, I welcome to the gallery guests of the member for Campbelltown: the family of the late John Dodd, Elizabeth, Ryan, and Ben; Lindy Deitz, Amanda King, Kelly Williamson and Rochelle Nicholls from Campbelltown City Council; and Matthew Winley, Abraham Baidengan, Moira Reynolds, Jean Hammond, Phil Potbury, Sandie O'Neill, and Ian Shepherd from the NSW SES.
Mr GREG WARREN (Campbelltown) (13:03): It is with great sadness that I advise the House of the passing of a local hero and true Campbelltonian, Mr John Dodd, after his fight with cancer. I acknowledge his family who are here today. On behalf of the House, I offer my sincerest condolences to Beth, Ryan and Ben, to John's extended family, and to his other extended family through the SES and our great city. He loved our city, and our city loved him. John lived in Ruse. He was a proud husband to his wife, Beth, and a proud father to his two sons. He was born in Sydney in 1949 to his parents, Jack and Jean Dodd. John was a long-term local who devoted decades of his life to helping others, most notably through his almost 50 years of service with the NSW State Emergency Service in roles including unit controller, deputy unit controller, planning officer, media officer and liaison officer during incidents involving multiple agencies.
I met John when I joined the Campbelltown SES as a volunteer some years ago. But there is no way I could ever compare my volunteer time to anything close to John's time or, to be frank, the time of any of the wonderful volunteers at Campbelltown SES, who do so much and work so hard. I acknowledge all those members of the SES in the gallery today and thank them for being in the Chamber. John also spent 35 years working at Campbelltown City Council in various roles, including personnel officer, before being promoted to manager of human resources, where he spent most of his career, and then finally to manager of emergency management. After his retirement John continued to contribute to a range of significant emergency management projects, providing expert advice and guidance.
John joined the SES after his home in Macquarie Fields was affected by floods. He decided that he wanted to be able to help out his neighbours and his local community by giving back. His service stretched far beyond our local area. John volunteered during some of the State's most well-known disasters, including the 1977 Granville train disaster, the 1989 Newcastle earthquake, the 1997 Thredbo landslide and the 1999 Sydney hailstorm, as well as the bushfires. There was probably not a natural disaster that occurred in New South Wales over half a century where John was not there to help those communities. Before this speech my good friend Minister Dib and I were talking about John. He said, "I will see you down there, Rabbits, because I want to have a bit to say about that too." I thank the Minister for coming into the Chamber to honour and celebrate John's life.
John's efforts did not go unnoticed, although he was very humble. He received an SES life membership in 2019 and a Community Service Award in 2013. John continued to volunteer his time both with the SES and the Red Cross, lending his experience primarily in the field of communications. A community man to his core, when John was asked why people should join the SES, he said:
Not only will you feel great satisfaction by working in your community but self-satisfaction as you develop skills you never imagined you would be able to do.
I remembered those inspiring words when I was doing my induction and training as a volunteer of the SES. He inspired everyone. That was personally good for me as I joined because I wanted to contribute, but I also wanted to be around normal people as opposed to the politicians that loiter around this joint. That is the truth.
Mr Jihad Dib: Present company excluded.
Mr GREG WARREN: Present company excluded. In conclusion, I thank John for his years of service and dedication to Campbelltown and, indeed, our great State of New South Wales. On behalf of this Parliament and the City of Campbelltown, I pass my sincere condolences to his family and all those privileged enough to know him. John loved Campbelltown and we loved him. May he rest in peace.
Mr JIHAD DIB (Bankstown—Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government, Minister for Emergency Services, and Minister for Youth Justice) (13:08): I add to the contribution made by the excellent member for Campbelltown, and Parliamentary Secretary. He is right to say that when he mentioned this to me, I could not but be in the Chamber because it is so important. Sometimes we do not get to meet people but we get inspired by them. The work of all my friends in the gallery from the SES inspires me all the time. I continue to share that sentiment with the many of them I have met, but it is especially true of John Dodd. He received a medal post-retirement for his efforts and continued to contribute to the SES. One of the most powerful things I heard the member for Campbelltown just say was that, inspired by John, he joined the SES because he wanted to give back. Volunteering is all about doing something for other people. It is about something bigger than yourself. I think that speaks volume about every single person who dons a uniform—particularly, in this case, an orange uniform—to stand with and help their community. I cannot imagine the grief that John's family and his extended SES family are going through. I thank them for honouring John. I thank those who are here today. I thank the member for Campbelltown for honouring John, and I thank this Parliament for recognising the incredible efforts of a man who gave so much of himself to help others. Vale, John Dodd.
The SPEAKER: I add my condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of John Dodd.
