Walt Secord endorses J-Wire
Member of the Legislative Council and Shadow Minister for Water, Shadow Special Minister of State Walt Secord has endorsed J-Wire in the NSW State Parliament.
On the last sitting day before the Easter break Secord is reported in Hansard as follows:
Walt Secord
The Hon. WALT SECORD [March 27, 2013 – 4.03 pm.]: In the brief time remaining I take this opportunity as the Deputy Chair of the NSW Parliamentary Friends of Israel and duty member of the Legislative Council for Vaucluse to pay tribute to Mr Henry Benjamin and his wonderful news service, J-Wire, the Jewish online news service for Australia and New Zealand.
On Saturday 23 March at 10.53 pm, after more than 5,000 online posts over a five-year-period and approaching his seventy-second birthday, Mr Benjamin announced to everyone’s disappointment that he was officially signing off. Not surprisingly, since then Mr Benjamin has been inundated with requests to keep J-Wire going. I sincerely hope that the community and his supporters find a way to keep J-Wire going, and I understand there has been some movement in this regard. Let us hope these efforts come to fruition.
In conclusion, Henry Benjamin has made a significant contribution to the Jewish community and to Jewish journalism, not only Australia and New Zealand but also worldwide. To paraphrase a Hebrew saying: May Henry Benjamin live until he is 120. I thank the House for its consideration.
Editor’s note: I have never run J-Wire for plaudits. It started as a service for the community and has developed into a much broader model. It is very heart-warming to receive such recognition and appreciation from such an unexpected source.
