The late Queensland political icon, deputy Premier and long serving MP Tom Burns believed that the community should be a better place for you having served in Parliament than it was before.
Duncan Pegg was cut from the same cloth.
He believed politics was a power for good – a platform to deliver better lives, better policies better services for the community.
And he fought hard for his community – with a passion and integrity that made him respected by all sides of politics.
Such attributes are sadly rare in this time of confected adversarial politics and 24 hour news cycles.
Duncan loved his community, and it returned the love; he was the thread that united them and he fought hard for them.
He fought cancer just as hard for two years but, in the end, it was a battle he could not win. As the Premier said, Duncan fought cancer with “incredible bravery and grace”.
He died seven weeks after he announced he was retiring from politics to focus on his battle with cancer.
He served the people of Stretton from 2015 when he was elected and continued to represent them even after he was diagnosed in 2019.
Politics, for Duncan, was not a profession but a vehicle to make lives better. In an emotional speech to Queensland Parliament earlier this year, he announced he was stepping away as an MP with the “heaviest of hearts”.
“Up until this point I’ve been able to effectively represent my local area while fighting against cancer,” Mr Pegg told state parliament on April 22.
“Based on my most recent medical advice, I will no longer be able to both fight cancer, and also fight for my local area in the manner in which my community deserves. I do not want to leave this place and cease representing the community that I love, but I know the decision to resign is the right one.”
His electorate office which encompasses Underwood and Kuraby in Logan, released a statement, saying they were “heartbroken” to announce the news of his passing. “Our community will remember Duncan as a tireless fighter for our local area,” the statement said.
“Others will remember him as a passionate legal advocate for injured workers and his family will remember him as a beloved son and brother. In his final months, Duncan spoke repeatedly of his great pride in the trust that the Stretton community placed in him over three separate elections. He often said that, in his role as parliamentarian, his greatest support was from our local community — his greatest wish was that you would think the same of him.”
We believe he achieved that.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk expressed her condolences in a statement:
“I join with Lindsey, Graham and the Pegg family in expressing my deep sadness over the loss of my friend, Duncan Pegg. “It was an honour to call him my friend.”
