Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It was a great privilege to represent the Prime Minister at the funeral for the Hon. Thomas Uren AC. I did so in the Town Hall in Sydney last week.

He was remembered with great fondness, as we have heard from the member for Brand, who has just spoken. I was pleased to see former prime ministers present—Paul Keating, Bob Hawke and John Howard. I was particularly pleased to see, seated with John Howard, Sir John Carrick. Sir John Carrick had served in the military with Tom Uren. He was one who was also in Singapore and later on the Burma railway.

Tom joined the army at 20. He served in Timor, and he was a prisoner of war, suffering that great brutality on the Thai-Burma railway. I think it was very special to be able to see Sir John Carrick there to remember Tom Uren. They were people of different political persuasions but served Australia, in Australia's interests, together.

Tom was born in Balmain in May 1921 and elected to the House of Representatives as the member for Reid in 1958. He served for some 31 years. I had the great privilege of being elected to this parliament in September 1973. I thus served with Tom Uren for some 17 years in the parliament. I saw him as a minister in both the Whitlam and Hawke governments. I saw him as the Deputy Leader of the Labor Party. I saw him as the Minister for Urban and Regional Development, the Minister for Territories and Local Government, the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Community Development and Regional Affairs and also the Minister for Local Government and Administrative Services. But there was far more to the man.

I am reminded of my own maiden speech. Many of you will not recognise me, but I spoke about Parramatta and its heritage. I spoke about the Parramatta River and the need for it to be cleaned up. For me, these issues were important, but they were of even greater importance to Tom Uren. He was the chair of the Parramatta Park Trust from 1997 to 2013. He was named as an Australian National Living Treasure in that same year, 1997. He was a strong supporter of the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust. More importantly, he played a particularly important role in emphasising the importance of the creation of the National Estate, protecting large areas of Sydney—Glebe and Woolloomooloo—for future generations. He presided over decentralisation and the establishment of those unique areas of Albury-Wodonga and Bathurst-Orange. He was about sewering the suburbs of our great cities. He was about public transport. He had a view that our city skylines should not look like Manhattan. Interestingly, he said he was:

… not promising miracles or even instant answers. The problems are too big.

But he promised 'a new direction'.

I did speak recently on the condolence motion in relation to the late Gough Whitlam, Prime Minister of Australia. I lauded Prime Minister Whitlam for his many achievements, but I have to say that I also noted the budgetary circumstances in which they were implemented and the high levels of inflation and unemployment that arose too soon from so much that was sought to be achieved. Equally, with Tom Uren, I greatly admired what he sought to achieve, but it came at a cost. It may have been pursued over time in a more successful way. Nevertheless, I think he will be fondly remembered for his great achievements.

Even more, I think he will be remembered because I will remind people of his comments about Sydney's second airport needs. Speaking in Parramatta in 1985, Tom said, 'I have been a strong environmentalist all my life,' adding particularly that he hated noise pollution. 'But we need industry and we really need jobs,' he said, explaining that he believed residents of the west and south-west would benefit from having an airport in the region. 'Whether it's Wilton or Badgerys Creek,' he said, 'we can only benefit.' I will look forward with pleasure to continuing to cite Tom Uren and his support for a western Sydney airport.

But I do fondly remember him. I served with him for over 17 years. He was a very special person, a very likeable person. He treated me like a son, as he did so many others. To his wife, Christine, his daughter, Ruby, and his adopted children, Michael and Heather, I extend my personal commiserations on his passing.

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