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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2018-10-17 Daily Xml
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Condolence

Kenihan, Mr Q.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (10:57): I move:

That this house expresses its deep regret at the death of Quentin Kenihan and pays tribute to his significant contribution to the South Australian community.

Quentin Kenihan was small in stature but immense in heart. He mixed with the stars. For Russell Crowe he was, 'My little mate, the bravest bloke I ever met.' To Mike Willesee, 'He was such a tough little bugger who always defied the odds.' Of course, Quentin became a star himself. He got a TV show and a radio show. He appeared in a Mad Max film. He wrote a memoir. He said there was nothing he had tried that he had not been able to achieve. He hustled; he was always busy. He just would not give up. What a star.

Born with brittle bone disease, Quentin said he stopped counting the fractures when they got to 560, but he never complained. Nothing stopped him. As a nation, we fell in love with him when he was seven. It was then that he told Ray Martin he had given an 'exclusive' on his life to Mike Willesee. It rated well; how could it not? Quentin gave us 43 years of being as cheeky as he was cheerful. He did not hide; he was out there on our streets, always smiling, eager to talk and never feeling sorry for himself.

Quentin's true genius was in the inspiration he gave not only to those who were physically challenged but to all the people of our state. He once said, 'I wanted to show people that if this guy can do it, maybe they can follow their dreams, too.' What an epitaph. He asked us all to do more for the disabled. He wanted to more himself by getting elected to the Adelaide city council. Alas, it was not meant to be, but Quentin will never be forgotten. The South Australian community will make sure of that by establishing an inclusive playground as his legacy.

Quentin, wherever you are now, your star is continuing to shine. You will forever be an inspiration to all of us. Our condolences go out to Quentin's family and his army of friends. Vale, Quentin Kenihan.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (10:59): The sadness of last week’s news of the passing of Quentin Kenihan was not that his life had ended but also that a new stage was set to begin. Whilst his life was often viewed through the lens of celebrity, those close to him know that he was getting set for a new phase. Quentin wanted to give back what his community had given to him, and public representative service would be the vehicle to do it.

I am indebted to his close friend Abby Edwards for an insight into the Kenihan strategy to turn fame into effective advocacy for vulnerable South Australians. Abby says that the tragic part of his passing is that, while he had been a media personality for 37 years, this was to be the year that he could start a new life as the man he always wanted to be—a change-maker.

He had been making meticulous plans to underpin his bid for a position on the Adelaide city council. His bid would be to act not only as a councillor but also as a disability advocate and as a community advocate. As he said himself early in the campaign when asked why he was running:

Because I have the advocacy experience to take the needs of the constituents to the council and be heard, so that they can then be turned into actions.

One cause that he advocated for was in partnership with a Sydney-based family, John and Justine Perkins, who had lost their baby daughter, Olivia, at just eight months old, to a rare disease. During Olivia’s sickness, the Perkinses had realised that many children, including children with disabilities, miss out on the opportunity to play. Together they launched Touched by Olivia to advocate for play spaces for all, where everyone would belong. Quentin became an ambassador for Touched by Olivia, and that was one of his council campaign issues.

But there were many more, and they were not confined to his concerns but embraced the entire community. He spoke about traffic issues, pedestrian and motorists' safety, homelessness, violence in nightclub areas and much more. As Abby says, Quentin was about to come into his own; it was the right time for him to use all that he had learned in his crowded 43 years to become a change-maker. And he had learned plenty.

He had worked as a social commentator, a disability advocate and a champion for the vulnerable. He was an actor, writer, inspirer and influencer who saw boundaries as a challenge, not a barrier. In his childhood, he defied medical boundaries others placed on him when it became clear that brittle bone disease would make life almost impossible to bear. He had his own television show, a successful book and fulfilled his dream of acting, as the Premier mentioned, by being cast in Mad Max: Fury Road. His autobiography, Not All Superheroes Wear Capes, is an insight into the other hurdles that confronted him, including what he admits were his own failures.

We had been following the self-described Q-man’s life since Mike Willesee’s 1982 documentary introduced Quentin to the entire country. Australia loved his wit and unique take on life. He became an active filmmaker, writer, comedian, radio host, disability advocate, media personality, actor and film critic. He wanted to show that living in a wheelchair does not mean staying still.

His untimely passing came as a shock to his close friends because he had often been in hospital, often been close to the edge, often sicker than he was at this time. He had spent a year preparing to launch his campaign for council and was widely expected to be successful. It is incumbent then that we remember the lessons from a life lived in a most extraordinary way. 'No matter where you are and what your challenges,' he said, 'follow your dreams and reach the highest level of success'.

I would like to congratulate the Premier and the government on its endorsement of Quentin’s call for an accessible play space. That is a win for Quentin, and it is also a win for those vulnerable South Australians he championed and inspired. To his friends and carers; to his parents, Myles and Kerry, and his extended family; and to his daily companion, his chihuahua Patchy, our condolences and our thanks for his contribution to our community.

On a personal level, Mr Kenihan spent the last few years of his schooling at the same school I went to, Mercedes College. He had a profound impact on the school and its community, as he did everywhere. May he rest in peace.

Mr PATTERSON (Morphett) (11:04): Saturday 6 October saw the unexpected passing of Quentin Kenihan, an individual who epitomised the label 'little Aussie battler' by living life with humour and a never-say-die attitude. Quentin was born in 1975 with eight broken bones. Shortly after, doctors diagnosed him with osteogenesis imperfecta or brittle bone disease. Doctors initially predicted he would not survive three months, and over his lifetime he suffered almost 600 broken bones because of the condition.

Quentin was thrust onto the national stage at aged 7 when, in 1983, he was first interviewed on television by legendary journalist Mike Willesee. He became a household name in Australia and formed a strong friendship with Willesee over a series of stories. I can remember as a child growing up watching him on A Current Affair and following his brave story to learn to walk, but mostly his positive outlook on life despite the obstacles that his body confronted him with.

Quentin would go on to defy the doctors' prognosis of a short life and become an author, filmmaker, movie star, as well as a disability advocate. He had a television series on Channel 10 and acted in the 2015 film Mad Max: Fury Road as Corpus Colossus. To quote Quentin on his role as an actor:

I'm not known as 'that brave little boy' anymore…I'm not just seen as a person in a wheelchair but as an actor, which is what I've always wanted.

Quentin also performed at the Adelaide Fringe Festival where his humour was on display for all to appreciate and he released an autobiography entitled Not All Superheroes Wear Capes.

Quentin was also an advocate for inclusive playgrounds and was an ambassador for the inclusive playground at Park Holme. The location is on the Hendrie Street Reserve, alongside the Marion Outdoor Pool, which was previously a barren grassed area with low utilisation. In November 2017, Quentin, as the ambassador, was in attendance for the soil turning ceremony to mark the start of building this first inclusive playground in South Australia for children with disabilities.

Speaking with Quentin at the soil-turning ceremony, he was passionate about the need for this playground, and it was a joyous day in August this year when the playground was officially opened by the Governor. The playground caters for people with a wide range of disabilities, including mobility, vision and hearing impairments, and autism. It includes ramp access for wheelchairs to all areas including a merry-go-round. It was developed in partnership with the Touched by Olivia Foundation and has been custom designed to allow children with special needs to play alongside others.

The playground is also alongside Duncan Avenue. Located on Duncan Avenue a few minutes' walk away is the South Australian School for Vision Impaired and also the Kilparrin School for children with sensory impairment and additional disabilities. Quentin was again present when the inclusive playground was officially opened in August and all those present got to experience firsthand the joy on the faces of the students from the nearby Kilparrin School who were also present on the day. The principal of Kilparrin School, Cathy Roche-Wells, said, 'There's not a lot for children in wheelchairs, so it's a wonderful opportunity for our kids to explore and discover the world around them.'

The playground itself has quickly become a regional playground, with families and children coming from a wide catchment area. Quentin said it was heartwarming to see children of all abilities playing alongside each other. He said, 'When I was growing up there was nothing like this for me and my brothers and sister, so I didn't get the chance to play with them.' He was also excited by the inclusion of a bike track in the playground, saying 'I wanted my own little off-road racetrack, so I put forward the idea and they surprised me this morning. The track has been put in and it's amazing.'

Taking this advocacy to the next level and to give back to the city where he had lived for 20 years, Quentin was running for the Adelaide city council at the upcoming local government elections in November on a platform of improved services for the disabled and community advocacy. One of his platforms for his council campaign was for an inclusive playground in Adelaide similar to the one at Park Holme. So it is wonderful that the state government, in conjunction with the Adelaide city council, have committed to find a new location for a new inclusive playground that can be built in the city for children living with a disability and also to commemorate his legacy.

Quentin has been an inspiration to thousands of people and was well known for his positive personality and his ability to overcome adversity against all odds. He will be missed by many. My thoughts are with his family and his many friends.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham) (11:10): I rise to support this motion and add my remarks to those that have already been made honouring the life and service of Quentin Kenihan.

In October 2016, I was honoured to launch Quentin's book, Not All Superheroes Wear Capes. It was a funny book, a sad book and, in places, shocking. Quentin discussed the topic of his being an inspiration to others, a status which had induced in him mixed feelings over the years ever since that first interview with Mike Willesee and his arrival to what we would now call the status of a reality TV star. In typically straightforward language, Quentin addresses all the pain and advantages, as he realised them, of being such a public figure. He states that, despite having started with nothing, he has achieved everything that he sought to achieve in life. He chased his dreams and he shared with others what he learned on that extraordinary journey.

The condition that he suffered from profoundly shaped him as a person not only physically but also in the way it caused him to respond to those challenges. Anyone born with many broken bones, who once as a child was dead for six minutes and had had countless visits to hospitals and rehab centres over the years, could be nothing but affected by this extraordinary condition. I think if there is a word that leaps out when considering the life of Quentin, it is one of courage when facing all those extraordinary disabilities. But in his own words, which he uses many times during the course of his book, he just would suck it up and keep going.

He had moments of triumph and exhilaration, but he also went through dark times. It is impossible to experience that degree of disability and pain without feeling depressed. Sadly, we know that people with disabilities have a very substantial, above average experience of depression than the broader community. What is extraordinary is to have these massive challenges but then to stare them down and keep going.

This toughness, this resilience but all the time this self-awareness and a willingness to share his challenges, understanding that that could provide some basis for others experiencing disabilities of either that sort or a different kind, was something that I think we should honour and respect. He acquired a maturity and perspective that come to all of us with age. He demonstrated a willingness to forgive people he felt had treated him badly but also to apologise to those he had given a hard time.

Quentin was very successful in a professional sense. He has written, produced and directed all kinds of television programs and movies. He had a regular slot reviewing movies on the ABC. He of course starred in the one-man Fringe show, and mention has already been made of his Mad Max appearance. He was also a great citizen of Adelaide and South Australia. He lived here virtually all his life. Although he had a lot to do with people and projects in the Eastern States, he chose Adelaide as his home and knew the square mile of Adelaide intimately. He knew the local film and arts sectors intimately and has been identified with it strongly.

During my period as minister for disabilities between March 2004 and July 2008, we often talked about what should and could be done in this important field. His overriding interest, though, was of course not to talk about disability policy in the abstract but to do practical things to improve people's lives. He was the living embodiment of the idea of focusing on what you are able to do rather than on what your disability prevents you from doing.

For any of us who, from time to time, think that life has turned against us and thrown some burdens upon us, one only needs to look to Quentin's example to realise that challenges can be overcome. On behalf of, obviously, this parliament, his many friends across the state and the nation and indeed the world, we honour and respect the life and work of Quentin Kenihan.

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (11:15): I rise to likewise support the motion put forward by the Premier this morning recognising the life and contribution of Quentin Kenihan to our great state. Much has been said in the media and other mediums about the life of Quentin over the past week, with many recognising Quentin's contribution to our community and his wideranging achievements. I also want to tip my hat and recognise Quentin's role in disability advocacy and his desire to serve our community to a greater extent.

Quentin is one of many who have collectively changed the narrative on disability in our state and country, certainly over my lifetime. While I only met Quentin on a handful of occasions, mostly due to our passions obviously being different—creative industries versus sport—I have always admired his resilience and his passion.

As a member of this house, I wish to recognise Quentin's legacy. He will ultimately be remembered for his outlook on life, his positive demeanour and, importantly, his achievements and his ability. He will be remembered and honoured with an accessible playground in his name, but his greatest achievement will be the many hearts and minds he touched and the perceptions he altered. He was a change-maker and may he rest in peace.

Ms COOK (Hurtle Vale) (11:17): I rise to support the Premier's very decent motion regarding Quentin Kenihan. Quentin, as we have noted, was born with osteogenesis imperfecta. I have broken a bone a couple of times; I cannot imagine breaking 600 bones. It is quite incredible to think that someone could go through life with such pain and such challenge and be able to be so inspiring in spite of it.

I met Quentin Kenihan several times through my life: firstly, at the Women's and Children's Hospital when I was training as a registered nurse. I was quite gobsmacked at this little boy's ability to be so funny and so cheeky, to be so independent and ballsy in the face of such adversity. It changed my thinking at that point regarding the use of the word 'ability' rather than 'disability', because, for those people who face those challenges and just get on with life, the word 'disability' does not do them justice at all.

I met him several more times during our lives. I bumped into him on occasions. He would wink and be cheeky, as usual. At one time I had the great privilege of looking after one of his very close family members in intensive care where I was working, and I saw a really vulnerable side of Quentin that I had not seen before. I am really grateful for the times that we chatted and shared moments together during that very challenging period in Quentin's life.

Later, I bumped into him a couple of times. He shared some words of wisdom with me, some of which I will not share but will keep to myself and smile and chuckle at. In August, when I was with the member for Morphett and the minister for disabilities in the other place at the opening of the playground down at Park Holme, he called me over and said, 'I think I'm going to be a councillor.'

I said, 'Really? What sort of counsellor? A grief counsellor or social work? What are you planning to do?' because I was thinking, 'How do you have time between everything else?' He said, 'No, no, a councillor with the City of Adelaide,' and I said, 'Oh, for goodness sake. Well, I think you'll be perfect.' He said, 'Well, I just want to check in with you about that because I know that you have had a public profile for a really challenging thing and then gone into parliament,' and his words were, 'People with their own stupid, bloody-minded, pathetic biases question your motives for doing what you do, and I wonder whether the same will happen to me.'

I said, 'Quentin, you're far too brash to let any of that bother you, far too ballsy.' I said to him at that point, 'Remember your name in the movie, and the irony that the words "corpus colossus" loosely translated mean "huge body". The irony of that, and the way that you can laugh at yourself, is going to stand you in such good stead. You'll be an absolute asset, and I think you'll see playgrounds pop up all over metropolitan Adelaide, Quentin, because you won't just stick with the city square; I am sure you will spread that infectious goal and that infectious drive.'

With that, I said to him, 'I promise you I will make sure that we get more of those playgrounds,' because that was already in a plan. We very much have a shared view in this parliament that it is time to make sure that everywhere is accessible, everywhere is able to be used equally by all members of our community, and we should do that in Quentin's name. So vale, Quentin Kenihan, and thanks for the laughs and all the cheeky conversations.

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (11:21): I rise to speak to pay tribute to an outstanding South Australian, whose passion for empowering people with disabilities to live their best possible life and fully participate in every aspect of community life warmed all our hearts and whose determination to make sure their voices were heard loudly and clearly drove us, and many wise and inclusive initiatives, forward. He was a conversation starter, a change-maker and a visionary whose drive absolutely could never be ignored.

He was relentlessly focused on making sure, through discussion, through humour and through the way that he lived his life, that anybody with disability would always shine and be accepted for the person they were—and shine and fight for that goal Quentin did. I had the pleasure last November, as then minister for disabilities, to turn the sod with him on our inclusive playground in Park Holme that many others have spoken about. From my conversations with him that day, it was clear that he would never ever accept that disability should ever prohibit any child from playing or from following the pursuits they love.

The inclusive playground at Park Holme, the first of its type in South Australia, is called Livvi's Place, and the playground rightly includes many specialised pieces of equipment and facilities. Everybody who attended was delighted to have champion and ambassador, Quentin Kenihan, at the sod-turning ceremony. It was clear from Quentin's words and actions that day that, for him, that playground was absolutely just the beginning and that he wanted all children with disability to be able to play and access the equipment that enabled them to do so. It was very clear that he would not stop speaking up until that goal was reached.

I say thank you to Quentin for that playground and for the voice he brought to ensuring the City of Adelaide inclusive playground would become a reality. Thank you to him for the incredible gifts of positivity, determination to overcome hardship, humour and wisdom he brought to our state. He made our state stronger, better, fairer and kinder. Quentin is a hero to many, a star in so many people's eyes and a star that will continue to shine brightly. I know he will continue to inspire others to speak out for what is important, to find their leadership, to find their way to shine and, as he did, to find their way to make a difference.

Thank you, Quentin, for your voice and for empowering the voices of so many. His work, his life and his energy have been transformative. His courage has lifted so many others up, and his work will continue to inspire others forward to achieve progress and to make sure everyone is included. My condolences go to his loved ones. Vale, Quentin Kenihan, and thank you.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (11:25): I thank all members in the house for their contributions. I think they show the depth of feeling that we have and the way that the people of South Australia feel about the life and contribution of Quentin Kenihan. I commend the motion to the house.

Motion carried.

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