Darren Cheeseman (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise on a sad note to acknowledge the passing of a great Australian, Aubrey McGill. In my book, great Australians are often not the people who grace the halls of this place or other high offices. There are many extraordinary ordinary Australians; Aub was one of those. Aub embodied the great Australian characteristics: he was kind, quiet, gentle, friendly, but with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. Everyone liked Aub. I would like to put on record in parliament a bit about Aub’s life, and I am indebted to Aub’s youngest child, Laurel, for providing my office with some details of his early life.

Aub was a great Geelong West man through and through. Born in 1920 in West Geelong, Aub was raised in West Geelong, married in West Geelong and lived in West Geelong. His family referred to him as ‘Captain Stayput’. How Australian is that phrase? Aub was typical of his generation. The evidence of class and social injustice was all around him in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. At Aub’s funeral service, a story was told how, at the age of eight, a social conscience was awakened in him. When Aub visited his grandmother, a man was cutting her hedge for one shilling an hour, but Aub’s father, a barber, was cutting hair for a shilling a cut and doing four an hour. At the age of eight Aub was already considering what was fair.

After a grave illness Aub was unable to serve in the war and went to work at Ford, where he also became involved in the union. He married Joan Sharp—Aub’s English rose—in 1944 during the war. Aub had a great passion, a lifelong passion for social justice. The Russian Revolution and the Spanish Civil War have been noted as important events in shaping how he thought about things.

Aub was also a life member of the Australian Labor Party and was a Belmont branch member until he passed away. Not so long ago, I had the great privilege of sitting with Aub at my office party for the end-of-year wind-up. We had a beer together. Aub was quite sick with a serious illness. Because of this illness, I think it was the first beer he had had for many months. I think he really enjoyed it, and I certainly enjoyed his company. Whilst I was having a beer with Aub, there was something that struck me—something that I have remembered. Aub seemed to be content. More importantly, it struck me that Aub always seemed to be content. It was one of his great qualities.

This parliament is a place of ambition. We know that there are traps in that. We know ambition can become a poison. Aub was free of that poison. Whilst always striving for the rights of others, he seemed free of ambition for himself. He was happy with life, I think. I also think, in the end, we might find that contentment is more important than ambition, and that is something of importance as Aub’s legacy. It is with great regret that I note his passing.

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