Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is with great sadness and great pride that I stand here today to pay tribute to Bob Brown, as he was so fondly known to all of us in our local area. I want to acknowledge my friend and colleague the member for Newcastle and say that the Browns, in their way, have touched so many of us across the Hunter. Brown is a name synonymous with the Hunter. Rather than repeat many of the facts that have been given about Bob, I'd like to share a couple of my own personal stories and interactions about him and how he influenced not only me but my community and my family

Bob was born in Pelaw Main, in the now seat of Paterson, and he married and raised a family in Kurri Kurri. I remember the house where he and Joy lived with Kelly and Brad. We'd always drive past Bob and Joy's house. Bob was a teacher at Kurri high, where I went to school and where my sisters went to school. My eldest sister, Adele Johns, said that Bob was the most influential teacher in her life. And that's really saying something. Adele finished school in year 11. She didn't actually matriculate, as you did in those days. She's a little bit older than me, 18 years my senior. She went on to work and had a career. But, later in life, she went back and did an enabling program at the University of Newcastle and her HSC and qualified as a speech pathologist. But it was Bob who sparked that fire for learning, and she credits him with that.

Bob used to come to our school as the federal member. I can still remember him standing in front of us all in the assembly hall on Benefactors Day, regaling us with stories of our history, what he was doing in parliament and how we mattered as kids from Kurri high. He lit that fire in me for politics. I will never, never be able to thank him enough. I was enamoured by Bob. I truly loved him. I thought he was spectacular. Then, after I was successfully elected as the member for Paterson, he continued to correspond with me. I'd see him at functions. Indeed, we were at the inauguration and blessing of the memorial gates at Pelaw Main Primary School, where he went to school. He told me so many stories about growing up in Pelaw Main.

He was immensely proud of our area. He also had a great love and affection for working people, particularly those who worked in our coal industry. He was, of course, a giant of a man in terms of his intellect. Even just a few months ago, when his body—I'm sure he won't mind me saying it—was starting to fail him, his mobility was in question, but his mind was incredible. He stood at the opening of the new Sir Edgeworth David Memorial Museum at Abermain, the old school of the arts, and named every colliery and pit head that had existed. In granular detail, he gave the geology of the area. This was a man whose mind did not fail him. He was quite remarkable. I said to him that day, 'Bob, you never cease to amaze me.' And he said, 'Well, Meryl, life and learning is the thing that's amazing.' His great gift was the love of learning and passing it on to the rest of us.

Bob left a long legacy in terms of his service to his community. That's absolutely undisputed. He planted the seeds and we're all now reaping the benefits of that harvest. He created in many people, not just me, a love of community and a love of service to that community, and a hunger for learning and a hunger to make our area, whatever area, better. He did that right up until his very last days. I spent time with him and Joy when he visited her nearly every day in Salamander when her health was failing. They reflected on a life of adventure across regional New South Wales as young teachers and having children, and Bob writing economics textbooks. Joy, in her own right, was a leader as well and a person of great intellect. I feel that the Brown legacy will live on not only in Kelly and Brad, who have their own wonderful achievements and their own wonderful families. It just goes to show that you can leave a lasting, deep and meaningful legacy in public life, but often in ways that you will never know or know of. May he rest in peace. Good on you, Bob.

See this speech in context