Chris Minns pays tribute to trailblazer David Polson with Wicked reading

NSW Premier Chris Minns has taken from the Broadway musical in paying tribute to the late HIV/AIDS advocate David Polson, at his State Memorial on Wednesday.

NSW Premier Chris Minns has taken from the Broadway musical in paying tribute to the late HIV/AIDS advocate David Polson.

Speaking at the State Memorial of the queer trailblazer, Mr Minns read excerpts from the Wicked song, For Good, sung as a duet between Elphaba and Glinda in the stage musical.

“I’ve heard it said that people come into our lives for a reason, bringing something we must learn,” he read.

“And we are led to those who help us most to grow if we let them.

“And we help them in return. Well I don’t know if I believe that’s true, but we know we are who we are today because of you.”

The Premier was among dignitaries paying tribute to Polson, who died in February at the age of 70 some 41 years after his diagnosis.

David Polson in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney in November 2024. Picture: Justin Lloyd

He was one of 400 gay men in Sydney who were mass-tested and diagnosed positive in 1984 – considered a death sentence at the time.

He went on to become one of the few people who could tell the full story of Australia’s fight against HIV.

Brigadier Robert Lording represented Australian Governor General Sam Mostyn while Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek represented Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

NSW Premier Chris Minns speaks at the State Memorial for the late David Polson AM. Picture: Christian Gilles / NewsWire

Clarissa Spata sings at the State Memorial. Picture: Christian Gilles / NewsWire

NSW Governor Margaret Beazley was among dignitaries, as was former NSW premier Barrie Unsworth, and Qtopia Sydney co-patrons Ita Buttrose and Sir Michael Kirby.

“Like a comet pulled from orbit, as it passes a sun,” Mr Minns read.

“Like a stream that meets a boulder, halfway through the wood; Who can say if we’ve been changed for the better; But because we know you, we have been changed for good.

“It well may be that we will never meet again in this lifetime; So let me say before we part; “You’ll be with us like a handprint on our hearts; And now whatever way our stories end; I know you have rewritten ours by being a friend.”

Polson’s friend Greg Fisher speaks at the City Recital Hall in Sydney. Picture: Christian Gilles / NewsWire

NSW Premier Chris Minns among the attendees at the State Memorial. Picture: Christian Gilles / NewsWire

Polson dedicated his life to the fight and took part in nearly 30 drug trials over the past four decades.

The trials helped researchers find ways of preventing, detecting and treating HIV and AIDS.

They left Polson with a litany of health issues, including a rare brain disease for which there was no cure, hearing problems, peripheral neuropathy, lipodystrophy, ataxia and kidney disease.

Louise Duff conducted master of ceremony duties at the service with David Harkins poem, He is Gone, read by Polson’s actor cousin, Cecily.

NSW Governor Margaret Beazley at the State Memorial. Picture: Christian Gilles / NewsWire

Chris Minns, Minister for the Environment and Water of Australia Tanya Plibersek and Minister for Energy Penny Sharpe. Picture: Christian Gilles / NewsWire

Peter Campbell, Tom Woods, and Greg Fisher also paid tribute to a man of “indefatigable spirit”.

Today, HIV remains a fact of life for around 30,000 Australians, although new cases have declined 33 per cent over the past decade according to advocacy group Health Equity Matters.

The decline is due largely to new treatments with new cases down to 722 HIV infections in 2023.

Originally published as Chris Minns pays tribute to trailblazer David Polson with Wicked reading