I honour the memory of Carla Stacey, OAM. Carla was the embodiment of community spirit and compassion, someone who believed people working together can make life better for us all. Everyone who was lucky enough to meet Carla came to know this and to absolutely love her for it. Her warmth, understanding, selflessness and kindness touched everyone she met. She was a driving force for positive change and inclusion across Sydney's inner west and New South Wales. And more than that, Carla was the most fabulous daughter, sister, wife, mother, friend and colleague.

Carla was the proud product of a loving home in Adelaide created by her parents, Erilyn and Tom, hardworking, selfless people. Carla adopted her parents' ethic in everything she did, accompanied by a healthy dose of pragmatism. Carla was always asking how she could make things better for others, never herself. She never wanted any credit, constantly working to solve problems, constantly thoughtful. Her community always came first and she took this approach to everything: solving a wickedly difficult policy problem, getting cash to fix the school canteen or a dangerous local intersection, just helping you with your broken heel while also looking after your kids for you, or creating a welcoming environment for everyone in the office. She would not stop until she got it done—always with cakes baked with love and a healthy dose of fun.

We are so lucky that Carla's legacy is now permanently woven into the fabric of Sydney's inner west community. In all her roles, paid and voluntary, she made things better. As the inaugural coordinator of Inner West Council's Office for Sport, she built partnerships between council and local sporting clubs, transforming the way that sport contributed to our community's health and wellbeing. She was instrumental in increasing participation of young women and girls, and her deep‑reaching community connections meant she supported hardworking volunteers so that everyone had an opportunity to have a go. One of her many local achievements was the expansion of cricket nets across the inner west. I think of her every time I am at the nets at Marrickville Oval or at Tempe with my cricket‑obsessed son, and also of the countless boys and girls who can now reach their full potential because of Carla's commitment. Through all these efforts, Carla helped shape a culture of respect and opportunity that will continue to benefit our community for generations to come.

Carla's commitment to public education was equally profound. At Wilkins Public School and Marrickville High School, she made an indelible contribution, building real community support for public education, making it a first choice for local families and fostering a spirit of inclusion and pride. Carla's work in this building as a senior ministerial adviser in the New South Wales Labor Government helped transform public transport in our State. She played a pivotal role in the rebuild of Sydney's bus services, delivering some of the first ever bus services to new suburbs in Sydney's west. She would not give up until routes were extended to run later or on weekends for the first time ever, delivering essential public transport to people who needed it most. Carla was instrumental in crafting the award‑winning Southwest Link transport plan. Together, we made the pink buses free.

As a regular cyclist herself, often jumping on a Lime bike, Carla championed the rollout of walking and cycling infrastructure across our city and our State, making active transport safer and available for more people. It did not matter to her where you were from or where you sat in this Chamber; if you were about making it better for your community then she was there by your side, helping you get it done. Carla was a champion for working women and a tireless fighter for gender equality. Again, in this building she was an organiser of the Ernies—an annual event that in retrospect could have been created by Carla because it involved equal parts dressing up, fun and proudly pillorying the patriarchy. Carla was rightly recognised for her contributions to our community as Marrickville Citizen of the Year in 2015 and with the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2023, an award that she was forever embarrassed by but so undeniably deserved.

The hundreds of people from all corners of our community who gathered together at Marrickville Town Hall to celebrate Carla's life powerfully demonstrated that contribution and all that she represented—love, connection, compassion and boundless energy. There were people from schools, government, politics, sports, community groups—everyone was there. But those of us who knew Carla know that her greatest legacy is her love of family. She and her loving husband, Antony, have raised three truly excellent young men, Oscar, Reuben and Connor, all with big hearts and big futures ahead of them. I acknowledge their profound loss, along with the loss felt by all members of the Stacey and Sachs family both in Sydney and Adelaide. The hole that Carla has left in our hearts is giant, but so is her phenomenal legacy, which continues to inspire us each day.