Mr TURNBULL (Wentworth—Prime Minister) (14:10): I rise to acknowledge the death on 31 July of Les Murray AM, the face of soccer broadcasting in Australia for a generation of fans. Les's contribution to soccer and sport more broadly was remarkable. On the outskirts of Budapest in the early 1950s, in a small village field, a young Laszlo Urge fell in love with the game of football. He was mesmerised by the geometry, the creativity and the purest essence of the game. In a country then ruled by a harsh, bleak, cruel and Stalinist regime, Laszlo saw his beloved game as a source of enormous joy and hope for his oppressed fellow countrymen. The Urge family escaped Hungary and arrived in Australia as refugees in 1957. Laszlo would have many a heated argument with his school mates at Berkeley High School in Wollongong as he tried to persuade them that soccer was superior to rugby league—a challenging debate, I would have thought, in those days. This would have been an easier argument to have today perhaps. It was a tough debate in the 1950s and sixties. Later, he joked that he was rather angry that his father hadn't warned him before leaving Europe that there was a country in the world where soccer was not the No.1 diversion. He, therefore, considered himself a missionary of the game. After having his name mispronounced many a time, Laszlo Urge became Les Murray when he fronted Channel 10's national soccer league coverage in 1977. It was a chance meeting in the corridors of SBS between the production consultant, Peter Skelton, and the part-time Hungarian subtitler, Les Murray, which gave him the perfect vehicle for his cause as the voice of the fledgling station's football commentary. It was said over his 30-year career Les, with his persuasive arguments and just a hint of his Hungarian heritage still evident in his dulcet tones, put an arm around us and drew us closer and gently lured Australians into the exotic world game. He often lamented that his late friend, fellow commentator and soulmate, Johnny Warren, was not alive to see the enormous popularity the game now enjoys—Australia's largest club-based participation sport, with more than one million Australians participating at club level, the A-League going from strength to strength, the Socceroos having qualified for the last three World Cups and the Matildas having reached the quarterfinals in the last three World Cups and last week taking out the Tournament of Nations. The fact that Australians are speaking less about soccer and more about football is a testament to Mr Football's persuasiveness and achievements. In 2006 they were formally recognised when Les was appointed a member of the Order of Australia. We can safely say that Les Murray turned Australian hearts to football. To Maria, his daughters, Tania and Natalie, and their families and to all who knew and loved him, I offer the deepest sympathies of this parliament and our nation. Farewell, Les Murray. You were a true champion of the beautiful game. Honourable members: Hear, hear!