Ms BYRNES (Cunningham) (10:56): I rise today to acknowledge a significant milestone that has been reached in our Wollongong community. On Saturday, the Wollongong community came together to celebrate and congratulate the Parsons family on 130 years of caring for our community. H.Parsons Funeral Directors have served the Illawarra community, and it has remained a family owned business, since the company's doors opened in 1893. H.Parsons was opened by Henry Parsons, who operated the business for 40 years until his death in 1933, when his 12th son, Alfred Reuben, or 'Pop' Parsons, acquired the company. His son John started at the company in 1950, at the age of 15. Alfred passed away in 1990 knowing that the family legacy was safe in the hands of his son John and his grandsons Mark and Alan.
Although often underacknowledged, funeral directors in our communities undertake their work with the highest level of discretion, compassion and sensitivity. They are integral to the fabric of our society in ways like nurses, doctors, police officers and schoolteachers are. On Saturday, the state member for Wollongong, Paul Scully, and I met the lovely Margaret Parsons, who was quite the entrepreneur back in 1990, when she started serving refreshments after funeral services—the very first in the industry to provide this service. She spoke of how her late husband, John, looked around the Christmas party each year and was so proud to employ so many good people. She said their business was only as good as their employees. I wish Alan, his son Anthony and all the team at H.Parsons Funeral Directors the very best as they continue to care for our community.
As the member for Cunningham, I cannot rise today and not acknowledge that today is the 121st anniversary of the Mount Kembla mine disaster, which remains the country's largest-ever mining accident. The incident occurred on 31 July 1902, when a large section of the unsupported roof in a goaf collapsed with considerable force, pushing air and methane gas into the main tunnel. The rush of air and gas stirred up the coal dust clinging to the roof and walls of the mine. The coal dust made contact with an exposed flame light.
The gas ignited and, combined with the now airborne coal dust, set off the initial explosion that blew down the main tunnel with such force it destroyed everything in its path. The disaster killed 96 men and boys, some as young as 14, leaving behind 33 widows and 120 fatherless children. The disaster left its mark on our Illawarra community and drives our mining community to this very day to operate the safest mines in the world, to the highest environmental standards. The 96 candles ceremony in Windy Gully will be held this evening from 6.30 pm to commemorate the evening of the mine disaster anniversary. I encourage all members of the community to attend and remember.
