Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to pay tribute to John Stubbs, who passed away last week. John was a Walkley Award-winning journalist, an author and he had a highly respected career as a political staffer, including working for the Whitlam government and also for Labor governments in South Australia and Queensland. John moved to Rosebank on the NSW North Coast with his wife, Romey, many years ago. They later moved to Bangalow, and it was there last Sunday that his family and friends gathered to celebrate what was an extraordinary life.

John Stubbs was, in many ways, larger than life. He was always generous with his time and generous with his advice—which was always very astute. John was born in Cunnamulla in Western Queensland, in 1938, and he worked for a variety of newspapers throughout the nation and throughout the world. As his friend Dennis Atkins noted:

John Stubbs's commitment to equality—economic, social and racial—was an unrelenting constant in his life. He saw poverty and racial exclusion up close in Cunnamulla and he never gave up highlighting the consequences and agitating for change.

John was regarded by his peers as one of the greatest political journalists of his generation. He was an inspirational person because of the life he led and because he actually made a difference. He was also a big story teller with a great sense of humour. His career in journalism started after he won a prize for an essay on the temperance movement—a story he would often tell with joyous laughter, especially after a few red wines.

John will be sadly missed by his friends and his community, and especially his good mates Craig McGregor, Mungo McCallum and Kerry O'Brien, who frequently took him for lunches at the Bangalow Bowling Club. John will also be fondly remembered by all his friends in the Labor Party on the NSW North Coast and, in particular, the Byron Bay branch. Our deepest condolences to his family: his wife, Romey, and their children Will, Susie and Sasha. Rest in peace, John Stubbs.

See this speech in context