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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2017-10-18 Daily Xml
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Espeland, Air Vice Marshal Brent

Ms VLAHOS (Taylor) (15:19): I rise to speak today about a sad farewell that I participated in last Tuesday 10 October at 2pm at St Peter's Anglican Cathedral in the city. It was the thanksgiving service for the life of Air Vice Marshal Brent Espeland AM. Brent was educated at Woodville High. Air Vice Marshal Espeland entered the Royal Australian Air Force Academy at Point Cook in 1966 and graduated in 1969. Brent enjoyed a career in the RAAF spanning 36 years, including service flying a C-130 Hercules in Vietnam and the leader of the Roulettes aerobatic team. He was a magnificent flier and was selected to attend the Canadian Forces Staff College in 1981 and 1982.

His career encompassed command appointments at unit and formation levels, and he was also the Air Force Commanding Training Commandant and Deputy Chief of Air Force. His final military appointment was secondment to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet with responsibility for the coordination of security intelligence at a national level for the Sydney Olympics in 2000. His second career involved 10 years as a senior sports administrator at the Australian Sports Commission, focusing on the governance of national sporting organisations, sports science, medicine and the fight against drugs in sports in our country. In his retirement, he worked tirelessly to support many worthwhile causes.

He was the National President of the Australian Flying Corps and the Royal Australian Air Force Association, both National and South Australian President of the Royal United Services Institute (which played an important role in the sub debate recently), the Director of the Sir Richard Williams Foundation, and a member of the Department of Veterans' Affairs Ex-Service Organisation Round Table. He was the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Repat Foundation (now The Road Home) and a member of the Air Force Heritage Advisory Committee. He was especially pleased to serve as a member of the National Council for Australian Air Force Cadets.

Most recently, he has been serving our state and, despite his recent months of illness, he was doing Skype phone calls and governance in all these committees, even though he was overcoming significant personal health problems. He was the Chair of the Veterans' Advisory Council of South Australia, recently taking over from Sir Eric Neal.

It was very, very clear that his professional integrity was so much respected at the service the other day. He was a very influential man in many sectors of his life. He strongly believed that we owed a profound debt to veterans and service personnel and their families who have suffered related health issues, and that we should be proud to be part of the Repat Foundation's (The Road Home) work with us as we created the Jamie Larcombe Centre. He was pleased to participate in research to improve the outcomes of those affected by those conditions.

He also believed that, as a nation, we should make sure we have the best led, best trained and best equipped military in the world, but that the troops who wear the uniform for a time and receive the honoured title of 'veteran' need to be serviced for many decades to come for the rest of their lives. Brent was firm in his commitment that we should devote as much energy and passion as possible to making sure that they were the best cared for, the best treated and the best respected throughout their lives.

He was a man who believed that there were always better days ahead. He was an optimist and a man who spoke to my heart. He was gracious. He always had a smile, a reassuring tone and a quiet sense of humour, and he steadfastly led this state, regardless of his own personal burdens in recent months. His approach to life put him in good stead during this recent period, and we are sad in this state to have lost him. We honour his memory here today. Lest we forget, Air Vice Marshal Brent Espeland.

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