ABC to establish public memorial

It has been a year since the tragic death of ABC cameraman John Bean, journalist Paul Lockyer and pilot Gary Ticehurst.

Managing director Mark Scott has announced the ABC Board will establish a permanent public memorial to remember staff who lost their lives in pursuit of their work.

“The ABC Board has decided it is time we recognised our colleagues who lost their lives in service of the story, the ABC and the Australian people,” he said.

“They are no longer with us, but are a part of the ABC.”

“The families and close friends of these intrepid story-tellers, John, Paul and Gary, remember them each and every day.

“But anniversaries can be particularly tough reminders of just how enduring and large their loss is. So our thoughts, this weekend in particular, will be with those families and friends.

“Some assignments were in hostile environments, in difficult and isolated conditions places where everyone understood the risks that went with the territory and the job.

“Others were doing work that was routine, that they had been safely done so many times before.”

Memorials are expected to be established in ABC foyers in Ultimo and interstate.

Source: The Australian