Debates Day 3 - Thursday 21 October 2010
Parliamentary Record 15
Debates for 11th Assembly 2008 - 2012; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 11th Assembly 2008 - 2012
2010-10-21
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Debates
Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
Darwin
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DEBATES - Thursday 21 October 2010 keen on, good, solid farming practices. She is probably one of the few people I know who really did take the environment and conservation seriously, along with her love of horses. With her passing we have lost a remarkable woman, not only for the rural area but for the Northern Territory. Pam was an achiever. Some would say not a quiet achiever; she was quite outspoken in her views about life and about what she believed, and she was very forceful. I think that is what people liked and admired about her. In the last 20 or so years, she was most well-known for her excellence in the equestrian world, particularly dressage. In her time she has been a rider, coach, mentor, and a terrific champion of encouraging juniors, young people, in the sport of equestrianism, whether it be dressage, horse jumping, or just plain old pony club work - which is not plain at all but is where the young boys and girls start. Pam, in her time in the Northern Territory, took out many Northern Territory championships in the various levels of dressage work. She has been a coach, and one of the saddest things about her passing, apart from the loss to her family, loved ones and friends, is Pam was an accredited EA level one coach. She was the only person in the Northern Territory who held this level. This was a national accreditation, and we are much poorer for losing a person like Pam because it takes two or three years to gain that accreditation. You cannot do it here; you can start your training here, but you have to travel down south to get accreditation, to be judged, to be assessed. Through her accreditation, she coached many individuals on to great and good things. She coached many teams on to good things, both at a Territory and also a national level. She travelled with the teams and supported the teams. Before she got well and truly into the coaching world she judged equestrian and dressage events. In the horse world, you cannot be a judge and a coach as there could be a conflict of interest because you could be judging students you had coached. Coaching was her passion because she wanted to ensure people participated in and enjoyed the recreation of horse riding in whatever shape and form. Her strongest attribute was her strong advocacy for the sport. She really pushed young people into the sport and recreation of horse riding, horse enjoyment and horse husbandry; and she was a stickler for detail. I spoke to a few people at her commemorative wake, because there was no funeral - that was what Pam was like. Pam had leukaemia, she had treatment for it, she was absolutely positive about it. She was even planning a trip to America next year for an international horse championship. She was planning to buy another horse next year. She had no intention of dying, of going anywhere; she had plans. But that was not to be. She was doing really well with treatment but, something did not work out, and she went downhill quickly. She did not want a funeral. She had a small ceremony with her family, and the deal was all her friends could gather at her property and celebrate her life, which we did. There was a big and strong group and it was really lovely. Talking to some of the people she coached in the young pony club they said she was a tyrant. There was no other word for it; she was a tyrant. Member for Nelson, you were her local member; you know she was a tyrant. I was told by one lady, who grew up with Pam and was in the pony club, that if you were five minutes late you would not get the lesson. That was it, you were out. You were not allowed to stop for drinks; you were there for your lesson, and that was it. You were taught well, and you were taught strongly and properly, and she admired Pam for that. All the juniors coached by Pam admired her for that. Pam also did all the committee work in the horse world. She did not just do all the coaching, she did not just enjoy the riding and she was a very good rider - she did the committee work. She put her heart and soul into the equestrian world. It did not matter what club it was - the Berrimah Club, the Dressage Club, Noonamah Horse and Pony Club - she knew them all, and they all knew her. It is not well known that Pam bred and showed Dachshund dogs in her later years, and did it very well. She did very well in the show ring with her dogs, and she enjoyed that as well. Sadly, up until the last part of her life, she had two elderly Dachshunds she could not put out to care, so they went with her. Pam was a conservationist and environmentalist long before it was trendy. When the member for Nelson was involved with the Litchfield Council they had Landcare awards, and the member for Nelson encouraged Pam to enter. She took out an award because her block was impeccable; any weed on her block was eradicated. She brought the skills and knowledge from her time in Victoria to her property in Howard Springs. Horses are the worst animals for degradation of the environment you could possibly have, after goats. Pam was emphatic that if you only had five acres in the rural area you should only have two horses, no more. 6548