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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-09-28 Daily Xml
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Rawlings, Mr A.

Ms HOOD (Adelaide) (15:10): I rise on behalf of a local constituent of mine who is dear to my heart, Shirley McPherson. Shirley is a nurse and an all-round wonderful human being. I got to know Shirley when we were part of a community campaign together, which began a few years ago to prevent a tower being built in front of her apartment block in the CBD. She and her husband, Ross, are kind, hardworking, community-minded people.

It was with great concern and anguish that Shirley contacted me on 11 August to let me know that her dad, Alfie Rawlings, who lived in Lahaina Maui, was missing. Catastrophic wildfires had ripped through the idyllic Hawaiian community of more than 12,000 people. Alfie lived in assisted living units. He was a wheelchair user and could not travel far from the units without assistance. Shirley began a social media campaign in search of information on her dad, spending hours making phone calls to Red Cross but hearing nothing.

As her dad was Scottish American, unfortunately the Australian US consulate could not assist. Through various contacts, we were able to eventually have the British consulate contact Shirley to establish communications regarding her dad, followed by the FBI, but just on Saturday, at 7am, the FBI called Shirley to officially confirm that her beautiful dad, Alfie, had died in the Lahaina fire. My deepest condolences to Shirley, Ross and her extended family as they grieve the loss of her beautiful dad.

Shirley wants to thank her friend Deb Mader; Colette Payne, who is an ER nurse at Maui Memorial Hospital; her dad's rock, Jen; special agent Mindy Krantz of the FBI, who always took Shirley's calls day and night; as well as Alyson Langdon from the British consulate and also Australian consulate staff.

As Australians, we know only too well the devastation and heartbreak caused by bushfires, and our hearts go out to the families of loved ones lost in the catastrophic Lahaina wildfires that have claimed the lives of almost 100 people, with many others still unaccounted for. I would like to end by saying a few words written by Shirley about her beloved dad, Alfie:

Growing up in Scotland, my Dad was a black cab taxi driver and drove double decker buses. He moved to Boston 38 years ago and then La-hi-na Maui 31 years ago. He drove tourists about in a double decker bus in Maui until he had a heart attack and a triple bypass. He loved to chat and worked as a concierge for two restaurants. He also worked at a shop selling wood carvings in Front Street. He worked until he was 82 years old.

Because of his thick Scottish accent, people were drawn to him. Everybody knew my Dad. He was well loved by lots of people in La-Hi-Na. He visited Australia twice and loved it. He lived and he died in Paradise. He always said this: 'I live in Paradise and I will die in Paradise.' Rest In Love. Vale Alfie Rawlings.

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