Rob Pyne becomes the first quadriplegic elected to any parliament in Australia - Polidicks

[IMG]http://www.abc.net.au/news/image/6357004-3x2-940x627.jpg[/IMG] [QUOTE]A far north Queensland man has become the first quadriplegic Member of Parliament anywhere in Australia. Rob Pyne was sworn into state parliament this week after winning the seat of Cairns with a swing of 17 per cent after preferences. It is one of the biggest swings achieved in the state. Before the tilt at state politics, Mr Pyne had built a public profile as a local councillor but his detractors tried to shame him in the campaign for his disability. I learnt to develop a thick skin, and if you're going to break down when people start to criticise you, you're not going to last long in public life. Rob Pyne, Member for Cairns Three days before the election, an anonymous video emerged online, with the message: "Rob Pyne, he's a good bloke but… he can't do a complete job". Mr Pyne brushed it off. [B]"I learnt to develop a thick skin, and if you're going to break down when people start to criticise you, you're not going to last long in public life," he said.[/B] [B]"Before getting into politics people would always say how wonderful you are, what an inspiration you are, so I was very keen to work in a field where you didn't get any easy passes."[/B] Mr Pyne was 23 in 1991 when he dived off a boat into Cairns' Trinity Inlet, breaking his C5 and C6 vertebrae. It left him paralysed from the chest down, with about 50 per cent use of his arms. Mr Pyne said disability issues will be one of his passions and hoped to inspire younger generations. "I acknowledge I'm performing the role of a role model somewhat," he said. "If there are young kids in Queensland in special education units or in mainstream schooling that can be inspired to reach for their dreams because of what I'm doing I'm more than happy for that. "There's issues still around access to transport, access to premises and access to education. "So let's clear the hurdles so we can have more and more people with disabilities achieving in future years."[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-29/first-quadraplegic-elected-to-queensland-parlaiment/6356944[/url]

[quote]Before the tilt at state politics, Mr Pyne had built a public profile as a local councillor but his detractors tried to shame him in the campaign for his disability[/quote] Talk about low.

[QUOTE=download;47423046]Talk about low.[/QUOTE] Politics in general is full of huge fucking assholes of all kinds.

All that matters is the brain on your shoulders. You go Rob Pyne!

Sucks that there will inevitably be people taking a jab his last name being 'Pyne'

[QUOTE=download;47423046]Talk about low.[/QUOTE] What the fuck is wrong with people? I don't know a lot about Australian politics, but regardless of his platform, fuck whoever said that.

[QUOTE=ScottyWired;47434196]Sucks that there will inevitably be people taking a jab his last name being 'Pyne'[/QUOTE] even though he's not even remotely related to the federal education minister... Hopefully this will see more opportunities for disabled people in a country that pays them for their work much less than the minimum wage