Brendan Nelson (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

On indulgence, I too would like to speak about Bill Brown. Bill was the only remaining link to Australia’s pre World War II test era. As the Prime Minister said, Bill died at the age of 95, which was an extraordinary innings. He was regarded as a great character, a great Australian and one of the nation’s great cricketers. He was our oldest living test cricketer and the third oldest in the world. His death will leave, I think, only four surviving members of the 1948 Invincibles squad—Arthur Morris, Sam Loxton, Neil Harvey and Ron Hamence. Bill’s health in recent years steadily declined and he died peacefully—as I suppose we all would like to eventually—at an RSL home in Brisbane’s northern suburbs on Sunday.

Bill Brown was one of those who have really shaped our nation and the way we see ourselves. He was not only a proud Queenslander but also a great cricketer, a great man and a great Australian, and I strongly support the remarks of the Prime Minister.

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