Legislative Council Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3) 51 3 Parliament of South Australia Legislative Council published Matters of Interest Fathi Shahin FATHI SHAHIN The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE Legislative Council The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (16:22): I rise today to put on the record my extreme appreciation and also sadness at the loss of Fathi Shahin (commonly known as Fred), a special man to South Australia, a great family man and someone with whom I was privileged to have several meetings and attend functions. From him, I learnt a great deal about the ability to grow business by observing the ethical way in which he operated, as well as his honesty and integrity. Fred Shahin was an exceptional man in every circumstance. Considering that he only came to South Australia in 1984, he built a huge business empire in just a short time together with his family and his lovely wife, Salwa, to the point where he created 1,000 jobs in this state. More than that, he showed that you can be successful with integrity, with loyalty to your family and the people that you employ and work with and that you can also do a lot for the community. In fact, in 2001, Fred received an Order of Australia for service to the community. I know, having visited Lebanon, his pride and his love for Palestine and Lebanon but also his passion and his deep love for South Australia and Australia. What he was also able to achieve in those years was to illustrate to many—and I saw it first hand—that over and above his workload, his ethics, his integrity, his loyalty and his honesty was his absolute devotion to his wife, his family and his community. Salwa was a Rock of Gibraltar for Fred through these times when he was always very busy. They had four magnificent children who are obviously all grown up now—Charlie, Sam, Yasser and Amal—and 11 grandchildren. Not only as a son-in-law but a great friend, Joe Hani, a man with whom I have spent a lot of time and highly respect, also had an enormous love and respect for Fred. I believe that, when you consider that someone makes a decision only 25 years or so ago to move from the Middle East to South Australia to set up a new life for their family and can contribute so much, it really does show how much this state and this nation have to offer. I note with interest that a lot of my parliamentary colleagues have also made comments in the media about just how genuine he was, how much this man offered South Australia and the admiration that they all had for him. I think one of his great strengths was that he had seen a lot of circumstances in the Middle East where there had not been fairness, where people were not given the opportunities to fulfil to their maximum their talents and abilities, and this particular gentleman was certainly able to capitalise on all of that. He was also a generous man. I do not know all the families that he would have helped out, but I know that today a large number of families in this state are much better for the fact that Fred put such an effort into this state. In my opinion, he unfortunately passed away far too early at only 70 years of age. When you met the man, he was inspiring, genuine, always had a nice smile, and never stopped working, but in amongst that work he always had time to talk to you, to meet you and to give you advice. His wisdom, his ability, his mental capacity and the business ethics that he had are something that I believe will carry on with his family because there is incredible ability there, too. Two of them are doctors and one of them is an agriculturalist. Yasser just has an incredible ability to continue to build on their On the Run business and their other associated businesses. It is very sad that we no longer have Fred here, but he has made such a great mark for the state and for his family that he has set an example that all of us can try to follow. We would all be better off if we were able to put in the efforts and commitments to community and family as Fred has done over such a great period of time. Again, I offer my deepest respect and sympathy to Salwa, the children, the grandchildren and their husbands and wives, and I know that South Australia will continue to grow as a result of his great efforts. Time expired.