Stevens, Charlie

The Hon. J.K. SZAKACS (Cheltenham—Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services) (15:10): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.K. SZAKACS: I rise today to express my deep sorrow, an emotion I am sure that is shared by all members of this place, on the passing of Charlie Stevens. I extend our condolences to his family, his remarkable parents, Grant and Emma, and all those who knew and loved Charlie.

The entire state's heart broke last Saturday when we learned the news that Charlie had been struck by a vehicle at Goolwa Beach while celebrating schoolies with his friends. His death is a tragedy that remains incomprehensible even today.

Over the time of police commissioner Grant Stevens' leadership of South Australia Police, we have all come to know him extremely well. He has been a rock of stability. He was in our homes every evening as we tensely waited for the updates on the COVID pandemic, advising us of what we could do to keep ourselves and our families safe. He gave us a sense of calm amid the extraordinary chaos. He gifted us the luxury of safety. Grant and Emma, who sacrificed so much in recent years, are the last people on earth on whom such cruelty should fall now, but yet, in their trauma, they have continued to give.

I have been approached by so many South Australians with their reactions to this extraordinarily sad event. It is remarkable how many people were touched by Charlie during his all too short life. I have come across many people who knew Charlie from school or from footy or a child who knew him. Others see in Charlie a boy, a son, who was so much like their own, because South Australians know the Stevens family so well and this is close to home.

The open letter that Grant and Emma penned about Charlie—Charlie Boy, Chas, Links, Steve—is one of the most powerful public statements I can recall. I am not ashamed to say that it brought me to tears. I cried with my family that morning and I held them even tighter, and I expect the same quiet scene has been repeated in thousands of kitchens and bedrooms across the state and around the nation.

In Grant and Emma's letter we find a young man who loved his job and had an ambition for the future. He was a force of nature with a 'beautiful, cheeky, disarming smile'. Charlie was 'a lovable ratbag from the moment he could talk'. He would also 'befriend the lonely, and help those who were struggling'. The grief in this letter is immense. With time, I know its grace will remain shining brightly.

It is an incredible burden to be processing private loss as a public figure. There is no escape from the public interest, as well as empathy in this darkest moment. Yet Grant and Emma continued to think of others and how they could help us. They have sought to raise awareness of organ donation so that lives can be saved from the loss of others. They have expressed the full and terrible devastation that occurs when lives are lost on our roads as a message to others. This is true strength and this is selflessness from a family of the deepest compassion.

Charlie had passions and plans for life that will now not be known. Charlie is not just 101, he is more than just a number on a tragic tally. Sadly, he is also now one of 105 lives that have been lost on our roads in 2023. In each case, there are families who weep, there are communities who are broken and there are lights that are dimmed. The finality of all this is just brutal. We feel, and are, helpless to mend these wounds.

I implore all South Australians to honour Charlie's memory by slowing down and taking even greater care on our roads. No family should suffer the loss of a child. It is one small commitment that we can all make to stem this suffering. Vale, Charlie Stevens.