Friday, 28 August 2026

 Tom McINTOSH (Eastern Victoria) (15:14): I am really proud to have the opportunity to speak to this motion. Just after the time of Neale Daniher’s state funeral I heard he had a couple of books, and I had a listen to the second one, The Power of Choice. It really resonated with me. I actually listened to it twice, it was that good. Neale Daniher was nicknamed the Reverend, I think. I do not think he wrote that in the book, but I picked that up. It is just fantastic. It did not deal with his sports career or other aspects of his earlier careers, but it picked up on his philosophies that he took from life and how to apply them in life, from him growing up on the farm and moving to Melbourne, to the challenges that he faced, the opportunities he faced at becoming captain at Essendon, but the injuries that set him back and ended his career, going out and retraining in IT, coming back as Melbourne coach and being in the coaches association at the Eagles, I believe it was.

He spoke in the book about the attitude that people bring, and when he was diagnosed with MND, Neale decided that his attitude would be one of: what are the possibilities? He talks about being courageous, and he speaks about how he did not want to go out in front of 60,000, 70,000, 80,000 or 90,000 people at the Queen’s Birthday football games between Collingwood and Melbourne – and I went to many of those as a Collingwood supporter – but he chose to be courageous and lean into it. He talks a lot about accepting responsibility. If you make mistakes, stand up and own them, and if things happen to you that are not your fault – and he talks about MND. MND was not his fault. He went to a specialist and found out one day that is what he had. For him, the philosophies he spoke to were about accepting your lot, working within it and practising gratitude.

I think a beautiful part of the book is when he talked about the fact that when he was no longer able to walk, what was the opportunity? The opportunity for him was to play with his grandkids on the couch. When he lost the ability to talk, he had more opportunity to listen to people. There are just so many little anecdotes like that throughout the book. I encourage anyone who has the opportunity to read it. It is maybe 5 hours of listening but a very, very good book.

He talked about action over words, and we saw that with FightMND. He led from the front. He brought a couple of very capable people with him on that journey and raised awareness of MND. We have seen at the top about the awards he won. He did incredible things to raise awareness and a whole lot of money for research. He talked about making the world a better place and leaving a legacy. I think everyone in this chamber, and indeed people right across Victoria and Australia, will acknowledge what a legacy Neale Daniher has left. He was an incredible person, and again, I just recommend reading his book The Power of Choice because it has got so many fantastic takeaways.

 Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (15:18): I rise to speak to the motion that the government has brought on today. The motion was first brought into the house soon after the death of Neale Daniher in May of this year, and in early June, the house moved:

That this house expresses its deep sorrow at the passing of Neale Daniher AO, footballer, coach, Victorian of the Year, Australian of the Year, and co-founder of FightMND, who faced motor neurone disease with extraordinary courage and grace, transforming personal hardship into hope for millions, and whose legacy will endure in Victoria and across the nation.

I would like to lend my support to this motion, even though it is some three months afterwards. I feel a little awkward in speaking to it so long after the extraordinary outpouring of grief after Neale Daniher had died and his state funeral, which I attended, which was so beautifully done. Those who spoke at that really highlighted so many different elements of this truly remarkable Australian and wonderful Victorian.

I first met Neale not long after he was diagnosed, I suppose, because he was diagnosed in 2013. It was through a friend of mine Don McLardy, who was a great, longstanding friend of Neale’s. They had a great, long friendship and worked very closely on the charitable cause and the MND foundation that endured after Neale’s shocking diagnosis. When I met Neale we were sitting in Don’s backyard in the garden, and he was so easy to speak with. He was just a wonderful human being, and that shone through. He was a very warm person. It was just a lovely meeting, and I felt really grateful to have had that time with him at that point.

A lot has been said about Neale Daniher and the extraordinary legacy that he has left, and I will just touch on a few things. He was born in West Wyalong in 1961, so he grew up on a farm with his brothers, who all played AFL–VFL football. Neale, as I said earlier, died on 25 May, aged 65, and had been diagnosed with MND for 13 years. That was an extraordinary length of time to be living with MND because the life expectancy is much, much shorter. But he was incredibly determined. I mean, he showed that resilience and courage right through his football career.

He had many football career highlights. He played 82 games for Essendon, was named the league’s recruit of the year in his debut season, won Essendon’s best and fairest in 1981 and was made club captain in 1982 – the youngest ever to be appointed to that role. He coached Melbourne for 223 games, from 1998 to 2007, and I know that is where Don McLardy, a great Melbourne supporter, would have started that longstanding friendship with Neale. During that time there were 12 finals in the decade, and I am sure those Melbourne supporters in the house would understand that. And as many Melbourne Demons fans would attest, he took the Demons from last place on the ladder in 1997 to a preliminary final in the first season in 1998 and that grand final appearance in 2000.

As Mr McIntosh has said, he earned the nickname the Reverend for his passion and inspirational speaking style and for his tireless promotion of the club. Those former players, who all had such a great connection with him, described him as a great philosopher and father figure. I wanted to speak to that because I did see some words he spoke in 2019, and again, the books he has written have been alluded to, and that is after his fight with MND. But it really was the tenacity and courage of Neale Daniher that was truly the hallmark of his achievements, not only in football but also in all of those other inspirational speeches that he provided to young men and young footballers coming through.

I just want to make a few comments around this speech that he delivered in 2019 for FightMND on having the courage to accept responsibility. He made this speech in Melbourne, and there is just so much in it that is wonderful. He was telling the story as a new grandfather to grandson Cooper. He was relaying the story about how he could not protect Cooper forever, and he made some very profound comments:

Life’s good – but life doesn’t promise to be fair.

I’d like to tell Cooper, ‘Look mate, there’ll be good times, but there will be hard times.

That is exactly his point: life is hard, it is tough – and it is. It can have ups and downs and bumps all along the roads, and it can be terribly unfair for many. He goes on to say:

No matter what happens, it’s up to you to do something about it. Have the courage to accept responsibility. Don’t shy away from it, don’t baulk, don’t procrastinate, don’t handball it to someone else. And by doing that, what will emerge inside you is the better side of your character.

These are the extraordinary, profound words that he was relaying to this group of people to explain what he was saying to his grandson and why it is important to have that courage and to understand that life is a rough road. It can be terribly unfair. It can be terribly tough. He goes on to say:

That will allow you to move through it. And it might even allow you to transcend …

And finally, taking responsibility means looking for the opportunity. When life gets difficult, you think it’s a train wreck, there’s no opportunity – there’s always opportunity.

He said:

I was diagnosed with a disease that will kill me. No treatment, no cure, no hope, some say. Where’s the opportunity?

He went on to say:

There’s always opportunity, and my opportunity was to fight MND, and that’s allowed me to prevail. It’s allowed me to find my purpose, to transcend what’s happening to me.

He wanted to show Cooper what the right way was. I just think that was a very significant address that he made. It was one of many. There are lots of videos of him speaking to people and his incredible inspirational words that he had. I think that tenacity and extraordinary determination was there for all to see, and we saw that over many, many years – the Big Freeze that was started, the extraordinary fundraising efforts that were done. I understand over $150 million has been raised through FightMND. This is just an extraordinary amount, and that just shows the generosity from the public who were donating to that cause, because they could see the human side of Neale and just what a tremendous, extraordinary individual he was. They wanted to contribute to the cause, and they have. I think it just shows a lot about people like that who have great inspiration that can bring others along with them, and Neale Daniher certainly did that through his football career as a player and coach and as somebody who was giving inspiration to all those that were coming after him, but no more so than in looking for a cure to fight MND.

There is one last thing I want to say. The McLardy McShane charitable golf days that happen every year that my friend Don McLardy organises are great fun. They are golf days, and so many people come out and play in that game. It is really good fun. I have enjoyed the time I have had and the pleasure to be able to do that and to see the money that is raised. I have seen Jan and other members of the family there, and they have just been right by Neale’s side throughout all those 13 years. They were all quite extraordinary speaking at his funeral. I just would like to extend again my condolences to the family, friends and all that knew Neale very, very well and so many around this country and further afield that admired him for all he has done under very, very difficult circumstances.

Motion agreed to.