John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House record its deep regret at the death on 28 August, 2006 of the Honourable Donald Leslie Chipp, AO, former Federal Minister in the House of Representatives, the founder and former Leader of the Australian Democrats and Senator for Victoria and place on record its appreciation of his long and meritorious public service and tender its profound sympathy to his family in their bereavement.

The Australian community has already had an opportunity, at a wonderful state funeral at St Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne on Saturday, to pay a deserved tribute to the late Don Chipp. Don Chipp was the eldest of four boys, born into a working class family from Northcote, Victoria on 21 August 1925. He was educated at Northcote High School and at the age of 18 joined the RAAF, where he served for two years during World War II. Always a fierce competitor after the war, he became an accomplished sprinter, footballer—and he turned out three times for Fitzroy in the VFL—and cricketer. In that last mentioned capacity he claims to have been the last person ever to bat with Don Bradman in a cricket match. He played for Robert Menzies’ Prime Minister’s XI and is recorded as having been the non-striker when Don Bradman, aged 54, was dismissed for the last time, for four, in a game against the touring English side at Manuka Oval in February, 1963. He studied commerce at the University of Melbourne and went on to work as a management consultant. Before entering federal politics he served as a councillor for Kew City Council for six years, and he was chief executive officer of the Olympic Games Civic Committee and was chairman of Victoria’s first doorknock cancer appeal.

As many will know, he entered federal parliament in a by-election as the Liberal member for the seat of Higginbotham. After a redistribution, he later became the member for Hotham, a seat he represented in the parliament until his resignation to contest a Senate position in the 1977 election. He was appointed Minister for the Navy in the Holt government—the beginning of many years service as a Liberal Party minister, serving in the Holt, Gorton and McMahon governments as well as briefly in the caretaker Fraser government late in 1975. He was Minister for Customs and Excise under John Gorton in 1969, a position he held until the defeat of the McMahon government in 1972. He was Deputy Leader of the House of Representatives from 1971 to 1972 and Leader of the House for a short time in 1972.

In opposition, during the years of the Whitlam government, he was a member of the shadow ministry and was responsible for social security and welfare matters. As mentioned, he served briefly as a member of the caretaker Fraser government until the election on 13 December, 1975, and it is fair to say that his non-appointment to the Fraser government after the election of 13 December, 1975 was a very significant moment in his political life. In March of 1977 Don Chipp resigned from the Liberal Party to form and lead the Australian Democrats. He was elected as a senator for Victoria and he served from 1978 until his retirement from federal parliament in 1986, after 25 years of service. In 1992, Don Chipp was made an officer of the Order of Australia for his service to the Australian Parliament.

It is likely that Don Chipp will best be remembered for his role in founding and leading the Australian Democrats. It was very difficult to typecast Don Chipp. His position on a number of issues was counterintuitive. It is fair to say, however, that he had a very strong commitment to a number of things, including an enduring commitment to the Australian environment. He did believe—and he acted this out in the last years of his public life and during his career in this parliament—very strongly that there was an important place in Australian public life for a third force. The validity of that proposition will continue to be the subject of debate. It is fair to say that in my lifetime two parties claiming that mantle have had a significant impact on Australian politics, in their different ways—namely, the Australian Democrats and the Democratic Labor Party, and probably the Democratic Labor Party greater than the other.

In my view, Don Chipp’s most enduring quality was his relentless passion and his commitment to issues. What I admired most about Don Chipp was that he really did believe in something. He did not go into public life simply to be there, to be a participant—he was a true believer. As my former colleague and friend Andrew Peacock remarked after the state funeral on Saturday in Melbourne, he had not met anybody in public life who was more passionate and more committed to the issues in which he believed than Don Chipp, and I think that encapsulates the character of Don Chipp.

I did not agree with many of the positions Don Chipp took, and I did agree with quite a lot that he took. He was a passionate opponent of compulsory unionism. He was a very strong defender of the Australian Constitution. On the other hand, he took some positions on foreign affairs and defence that I certainly did not share. But, whatever one thought of his views, you knew what they were. He put them with passion and he put them with conviction. He was a very decent, committed, passionate Australian and we will miss him. He made a great contribution to public life in this country. On behalf of the government, I offer my sincere sympathy to his wife, Idun, and to his children, Debbie, John, Greg, Melissa, Juliet and Laura.

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