John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House records its deep regret at the death on 2 February 2006 of the Honourable Sir Reginald William Colin Swartz KBE, ED, a former federal minister, Leader of the House of Representatives and Member for Darling Downs, Queensland, and places on record its appreciation of his long and meritorious public service, and tenders its profound sympathy to his family in their bereavement.

The late Reg Swartz was a member of that group collectively described as ‘Forty-Niners’. They were a group of members who came into the federal parliament with the election of the Menzies government in 1949. They were overwhelmingly, but not completely, members of the coalition side of the House because of two factors. The first factor was the expansion of the parliament from 74 members to 124, decided upon by the Chifley government, which accompanied the expansion of the Senate and the change in the voting system in the election of senators. The second factor, of course, was the scale of the Menzies victory in 1949. I understand that there are now only two remaining Forty-Niners: on the Labor side, Clyde Cameron, the former member for Hindmarsh and, on the coalition side, Allen Fairhall, the former defence minister and former member for Paterson.

Reg Swartz’s membership of the House of Representatives was neatly coextensive with the period of coalition government between 1949 and 1972 but, having said that, he was a man liked and respected on both sides of the parliament. It was due in part to the extraordinary camaraderie that existed across the political divide between the men who had fought in World War II and particularly those, like Reg Swartz, who had fallen into captivity when the allies surrendered in Singapore. Reg Swartz along with many others had to endure years of imprisonment at the hands of the Japanese. He spent time in Changi and also a period working on the Burma-Thailand railway. When the war ended in 1945 he returned to Australia.

Reg Swartz was born on 14 April 1911 and was educated at Toowoomba Grammar School. At the age of 17 he joined the CMF and later enlisted in the 2nd AIF, serving with the 2nd/26th Infantry Battalion and the 8th Division in the Malayan campaign. Before entering parliament he had worked as an oil company executive and, as I said earlier, he was elected to federal parliament to represent the Queensland seat of Darling Downs, a seat he held continuously until 1972.

He held a number of portfolios and for the last two years of the McMahon government he was Leader of the House. He was a person who had a great capacity to calm the House at question time. When I first became a junior minister in the Fraser government, there was an expression, ‘the Reg Swartz award’, and it was meant to describe a very lengthy answer. So if you won the award, it did not necessarily mean that you were enjoying the approval of the then Prime Minister.

Perhaps the most moving and poignant association I had with Reg Swartz was in 1998 when, as Prime Minister, I had the privilege of travelling to Thailand to Kanchanaburi to open the Hellfire Pass Memorial. As well as being accompanied by a significant number of former prisoners of war, a group put together by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, I invited three former members of this parliament who had been prisoners of war of the Japanese: Sir Reginald Swartz; Sir John Carrick, the former government leader in the Senate; and Mr Tom Uren, the former Labor minister and a person well known on both sides of this parliament and well liked by many current and former members of the parliament. To be associated with those three men—and in terms of age and rank Reg Swartz was the senior of the three—was to be reminded of the remarkable spirit that kept them going during those dreadful times of captivity.

Curly Swartz, as he was known—a traditional Australian acknowledgement of his baldness—was the Leader of the House, a role he performed very well. He held a number of portfolios and he continued in his life outside of parliament in the CMF. He became a lieutenant colonel as Assistant Quartermaster General, Northern Command; and he was made an honorary colonel of the Australian Army Aviation Corps in 1969. He was created a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in June 1972 and appointed a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for distinguished services in the south-west Pacific.

In retirement Reg Swartz pursued his many and varied interests. He lived a very full life. He married a second time, after the death of his first wife. He died last week at the remarkable age of 94. The government has offered, and the family has accepted, a state funeral, which will be held in Caloundra on Thursday this week.

On behalf of the government and on behalf of the members of the Liberal Party throughout Australia—we are a party that Reg Swartz was proud to remain a member of and serve with such commitment and distinction—I record my gratitude for his service. He belonged to a remarkable generation of Australians who endured terrible suffering, came back with great hope and great optimism about the future of this country and then set about dedicating the rest of what was to be, in his case, a very long and fruitful life, to the service of his country both publicly and privately.

So on behalf of the government I extend to his wife, Lady Muriel Swartz, and his children Barbara, Graham and Rodney, and to other family members and friends, our very deep sympathy on their loss and in their bereavement.

Kim Beazley (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I support the motion moved by the Prime Minister and add to the remarks that he made. Sir Reginald Swartz was one of the last two surviving ministers of the Menzies government—Sir Allen Fairhall, who retired from parliament in 1969 on the grounds of ill health, still lives. Reginald Swartz was the member for Darling Downs for 23 years. He was first elected in 1949 and served as a minister in the Menzies, Holt, McEwan and Gorton governments. He was Leader of the House of Representatives from 1971 until 1972 and he held a range of portfolios, including Repatriation, Health, Social Services, Civil Aviation and National Development.

Obviously, I do not have personal memories of Reginald Swartz in quite the same way that the Prime Minister has—he was of the Prime Minister’s party. But I can remember him, as a young person, when I visited this parliament—or the other parliament, I should say—every August and watched the performances at question time. There was an audible groan whenever Reg Swartz rose to his feet because there would be an answer given, but it would not be a read answer; it would be an answer that had an incredible amount of factoids added to it that made the various points that he wanted to make. He would absolutely be guaranteed to comatose any question time he involved himself in.

I remember with some pleasure, when I got to my feet early on as a minister in this place and was able to make the statement that I wanted to dedicate my answer to the memory of Reginald Swartz, being gratified by the groans that broke out in the then opposition on the Liberal side, who knew exactly what I meant when that question was going to be answered. But he was widely regarded on both sides of the House as being a man of decency and integrity. I know my father thought the world of him. One of the attributes of politics in those days, particularly when you held the sorts of portfolios that Reg Swartz held, was that you had many issues that members of parliament were, in a constituency sense, interested in. He was one of those ministers who, when you had a bit of an issue with repatriation or social services, it was not a bad idea to give him notice of your question. If he had a favourable answer, whatever side of the House you were on, he would give it to you—at length, in detail and totally to the satisfaction of your constituent, provided you had taken the trouble to arrange things beforehand.

Sir Reginald Swartz won election after election by sizeable majorities. That was probably a result of his practice of insisting that he visit every single town and village in his electorate every year between elections, despite the fact that he had a very substantial majority. He was well served by his press secretary, the late Mort Nash, who used to boast that he was firmly of the view that his job was to keep his boss out of the Sydney Morning Herald and in the Toowoomba Chronicle. By and large, the press secretary succeeded in his objectives. All of us in this place, whenever an occasion arises to do so, ought to express gratitude to the generation from which Reg Swartz came. It was undoubtedly the most significant, stoic, effective generation in Australian history—the people who lasted the Depression, the people who won the war.

Reg Swartz was a member of that generation. He did it as hard as any member of that generation did. After being enlisted in the 2/22nd Infantry Battalion, 8th Division, and participating in the Malayan campaign—which, despite the fact that it has been overshadowed by the surrender at Singapore, had many features that demonstrated effective delaying actions—he was captured, became a prisoner in Changi and had the most horrible of all wars as a result of that. Nevertheless, it needs to be noted that that generation came back with a sense of personal solidarity, a sense of the ability of the government to achieve things and a sense of national responsibility, which made them such effective participants in the political life of this nation. On behalf of the Labor Party, I extend my sympathy to his second wife, Lady Muriel Swartz, and his children, Barbara, Graham and Rodney.

Alexander Downer (Mayo, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to join with the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in this condolence motion for Reg Swartz. The reason I do so is that he was a friend and a colleague of my father’s and a friend also of my mother’s. He was  therefore somebody who was close to our family so, as a family, we very much grieve his passing.

Reg Swartz and my father had a good deal in common. They were born within one year of each other—Reg Swartz being one year younger—and both of them were members of the AIF during World War II in Malaya, in the retreat down the Malay Peninsula to Singapore, and were incarcerated in the Changi prisoner of war camp. As you have heard from the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, Reg Swartz also went to work on the infamous Thai-Burma Railway, something my father managed not to do.

Reg Swartz was a man of enormous courage and determination to have survived those simply indescribable and appalling experiences, and I think it is important that we all acknowledge the great courage he showed through that time. He was also elected to the House of Representatives on the same day as my father in 1949. My father was one of the ‘Forty-niners’, a generation of Liberal politicians—or coalition politicians—

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Alexander Downer (Mayo, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am glad you picked that one up—who regarded themselves as particularly triumphant, having turfed out the Chifley government and begun the long and very successful regime of Liberal governments up until 1972, when Reg Swartz left the parliament. During that period, Reg Swartz was one of those ‘Forty-niners’ who served the parliament with distinction as a minister. He was a minister in the Menzies, Holt and Gorton governments. He would be particularly well remembered for his time as Minister for Civil Aviation, a portfolio he held for three years. But he was also Minister for Repatriation—what we today call ‘Veterans’ Affairs’—Minister for Health in 1964, Minister for Social Security in 1965 and finally Minister for National Development and Leader of the House.

Reg Swartz was an important figure in the history of the Liberal Party. He represented what is now the electorate of Groom—in those days it was Darling Downs—and the city of Toowoomba. I know that he did so with real distinction and was a very popular member. Today is a sad day to reflect on a man who had such a great career. He gave a lot to Australia and did so successfully. He is survived by his second wife, Lady Muriel, and his children Barbara, Graham and Rodney. I extend my condolences to all of them.

Graham Edwards (Cowan, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary (Defence and Veterans' Affairs)) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to be associated with the remarks of the Prime Minister, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Kim Beazley in this condolence motion for Sir Reginald Swartz. As we have heard, Sir Reginald was elected to this place in 1949 and this followed his service to the nation during World War II. He first joined the CMF at the age of 17 in 1928. He later enlisted in the AIF at the rank of captain and served with the 2/26 Infantry Battalion, 8th Division during the Malaysian campaign. Sir Reginald was captured by the Japanese and held in Changi. He was also forced to work on the infamous Burma-Thailand railway until the end of the war. He was repatriated to Australia in 1945. As the Prime Minister has indicated, Sir Reginald continued his association with the CMF until 1969, when he was appointed honorary colonel of the Australian Army Aviation Corp. His direct experience in World War II resulted in him being given the portfolio responsibility of repatriation, in which he served for three years. Sir Reginald also visited the troops in Vietnam in 1970—the year I was there. In his first speech to the parliament in 1950, he said in relation to the Japanese:

… I wish to leave a thought in the minds of honorable members in relation to our future co-operation with Japan. It has been suggested that the time has arrived when Japan should again take its place in international councils. Having lived with the Japanese for some years under rather curious conditions, and knowing their characteristics fairly well, I offer some advice to the Minister for External Affairs (Mr Spender). I suggest to the honorable gentleman that we should use the Japanese internationally, but that we should never trust them.

As Minister for National Development, Sir Reginald visited Japan in 1970, and that must have been a very personal and emotional experience for him. His attitude to Australia’s dealings with Japan immediately after the war took much courage, and he certainly showed great leadership. At that time many former POWs and other Australians took a totally different attitude towards trade and involvement with that country.

I understand that Sir Reginald Swartz was held in high esteem by both sides of the parliament. This would have been a direct reflection of the strong mateship that must have existed in the parliament at that time among those who served the nation during the war and ended up on either side of politics. I also understand that he was held in high esteem by the veterans of Australia and his comrades in arms, whom he served as Minister for Repatriation. On behalf of the ALP, I join with Kim Beazley in extending our sympathy to his wife, Lady Muriel Swartz, and his children Barbara, Graham and Rodney.

Question agreed to, honourable members standing in their places.