Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the House record its deep regret at the death on New Year's Day of the Honourable Sir Ransley (Victor) Garland KBE, former member for Curtin, minister in the McMahon and Fraser governments and High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, and place on record its appreciation for his service to Australia and offer its heartfelt sympathy to his family in their bereavement.

Vic Garland was first elected to this parliament over half a century ago. He was a child of the Great Depression and the Second World War, an only child raised by parents of modest means, and it created in him the fuel for life: to work hard, not waste a minute, be useful and then, when your work is done, to be grateful—strong Liberal values.

At the University of Western Australia, Vic majored in economics and went on to qualify as a chartered accountant. He quickly got involved in the Liberal Party and local community groups. By his early thirties, Vic was vice-president of the party in Western Australia, heavily involved in Apex and was deputy mayor of Claremont.

In 1969, after Sir Paul Hasluck's appointment as Governor-General, Vic Garland was elected member for Curtin at a by-election. He was re-elected six times. Vic Garland called himself a realist. 'I look at the world as it is and work from there.' And he saw politics as an act of leadership—'Leadership towards national purpose,' he said—and described it.

In his first speech to the parliament in August 1969, Vic Garland spoke of a changing world and the importance of growing a strong economy to fund Australia's place in the world. The more things change, the more things stay the same.

Victor Garland believed in the centrality of defence and involvement in our region. As he put it, 'defence in its true meaning is not just guns but also butter.'

Friends say Vic was a man who was a simultaneously thoughtful and considered yet had a sense of urgency. Remarkably, he was sworn in as a minister two years after entering parliament—Minister for Supply and Minister assisting the Treasurer in the McMahon government.

At a time of consequence, he was opposition whip during the 1975 supply crisis, and in the Fraser government he held a range of portfolios—Supply, Post and Telecommunications, Veterans' Affairs, Special Trade Representations, and Business and Consumer Affairs.

In the economic portfolios, he advanced the shift to national legislation for companies and securities, and led Australia's trade negotiations during a time when tariffs at home and abroad determined the fate of industries and jobs.

In 1981, at the age of 47, Vic Garland was appointed Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Vic's wife Lyn joked at the time that, unlike during his long stints in Canberra, at least in London they'd crossed paths at the breakfast table!

Vic had always felt he understood the British. He visited London, often as a minister for special trade negotiations, and, unlike with the continental Europeans or the Americans, he had a fallback when negotiations got difficult: there was always the rugby or the cricket to talk about.

But soft diplomacy is much more than rugby or cricket, and, in London, Australia also had a shining light in Vic's wife Lyn, who was a seasoned concert pianist, so much so that Lyn gave a recital at Australia House for some 400 people, including half of the UK cabinet. Soft diplomacy doesn't get much better than that.

Before the last election, the now member for Curtin, with former leader, Bill Hassell, went to visit Vic and his wife, Lyn, in their aged-care residence. It was for morning tea, a moment to honour the past. At that morning tea, Vic expressed one thing: his gratitude to Australia for the opportunities to serve—to serve.

Today I offer my heartfelt sympathy to his wife, Lyn, Lady Garland, and their surviving children, David and Sally, as well as their grandchildren, Anthony, Oscar, Lucy, Ben, Barnaby and Gus. May this dedicated servant of Australia and our great party rest in peace.

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