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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-11-11 Daily Xml
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Downton, Mr G.

The Hon. B.I. BOYER (Wright—Minister for Education, Training and Skills, Minister for Police) (15:27): I am pleased to rise today to share a few short comments about a constituent of mine, Mr Greg Downton, who recently lost his very long-term battle with motor neurone disease (MND). Greg lived with his wife, Jean, in Gulfview Heights, being long-term residents there.

I first met Jean in her capacity as a long-term staff member at Tyndale Christian College at Salisbury East. She worked with the then principal, Mike Potter, for many, many years. I had occasion to bump into her when I visited the school, and she was always exceedingly pleasant. When I became the candidate for the seat of Wright, while doorknocking in Gulfview Heights I knocked on their door and bumped into them. I then had the opportunity to meet not just Jean again but also her husband, Greg, who was a long-term groundskeeper and much loved member of the Tyndale community, as was Jean.

By this stage, Greg had been diagnosed with MND. They were really welcoming. I guess that is the right word in terms of not just inviting me into their home but talking to me about what Greg was experiencing and going through as a fairly recently diagnosed person living with MND. I remember one of the first things that Jean, Greg's wife, said to me about MND. I made the mistake—that I am sure many other people who have not had a lived experience or someone in their own family dealing with MND make—of assuming that all the money raised through the wonderful cause 'the big three' actually goes to benefit people like Greg or people living with MND. The answer that Jean and Greg gave me quite strongly was that as important as that is, of course, because it is looking into research for a cure, potentially, of MND, there was no money really being raised to support people living with it.

Off the top of my head I think maybe 30-something South Australians at any given time are living with MND, and most people in this place now would know about how torturous the symptoms of MND can be as they progressively get worse. Parts of your body essentially just shut down; you are less and less independent and less and less able to do things for yourself, and you rely upon the care and support of other people more and more.

That was a learning curve for me, to understand that as wonderful as Big Freeze is—and it really is—there is work we also need to do, and I am pleased about what this government has done and what Minister Picton has done in relation to better supporting MNDSA. There are people living with it who need a lot of support.

Greg's journey with MND has been across, I think, the best part of 10 years now. There are some who are diagnosed and whose symptoms come on and worsen quite quickly, but Greg's have been progressive. I have known him through that whole time and have seen his life change, but he has remained the same person all the way from when I first met him, when you would not really know that he even had MND, to his last days. I was really touched that Jean gave me the opportunity to visit him at Modbury Hospital so I could say a few final words to him, but I saw that progression.

Just to give an idea of how wonderful the Downtons are, what they took upon themselves to do in the north-eastern suburbs, because they could see a real gap, was to actually start what is essentially a care and support group of their own. It started as a small cafe and was eventually at The Grove pub in Surrey Downs because the numbers had grown so much. People were coming to seek their support, and they were supporting people from a really wide area, some of whom had never heard of MND and had just been diagnosed or had a loved one just diagnosed. They took them under their wing.

I just want acknowledge that Greg lost his battle on the 1st of this month, and I will be attending his funeral soon. He was as good a community person as you could meet, as is his wife, Jean. I know I speak on behalf of all those people in the seat I represent who have known the Downtons, either through their professional work or as neighbours, when I say he will be so hugely missed. We send all our love and thoughts to Jean and the kids. Vale Greg Downton.

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