Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's a real privilege to rise in this chamber this evening to pay tribute to the late John Olsen AO, OBE. John was an iconic Australian artist, a storyteller, a poet, a larrikin who could wear a beret like no other and a very proud Novocastrian. Indeed, John Olsen is a name that will forever be synonymous with Newcastle art. He was, as the title of his last exhibition in Newcastle made clear, our city's son.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 17 : 12 to 17 : 34

In continuation: John Olsen was born in Newcastle in 1928, just a stone's throw away from the Newcastle Art Gallery. John maintained a deep, affectionate and enduring connection to our city throughout his 95 years, frequently visiting Newcastle and loving it as his home town. Although he travelled extensively across the globe, gaining national and international acclaim, he never forgot where he came from.

I had the pleasure of seeing John at his last major exhibition, at the Newcastle Art Gallery in 2016, where he personally curated and, in fact, created specifically for that exhibition a number of works that reflected his profound affection for Newcastle and the Hunter region's waterways: our beaches and the harbour, lake, river and wetlands. The exhibition achieved the highest attendance in the gallery's history. Such was John's popularity in Newcastle. There were close to 30,000 visitors for that exhibition in Newcastle, and during the exhibition John celebrated his 89th birthday at the gallery, surrounded by me and another 500 of his closest friends from our community, singing 'Happy Birthday' in unison and enjoying his glorious painting King Sun& the Hunter, which he painted in 2016. There was, indeed a King Sun & the Hunter themed birthday cake crafted specifically for that special occasion. John's generosity to and support of the Newcastle Art Gallery were significant, with several works of art donated to the gallery.

A division having been called in the House of Representat ives—

Sitting suspended from 17:36 to 18:00

Federation Chamber adjourned at 18:00

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