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

Mr Speaker, could I have the indulgence of the House to say a few words about the tragic death last Friday of Peter Brock in Western Australia. Yesterday, on indulgence, the Leader of the Opposition and I had something to say about the terrible events of five years ago which claimed the lives of almost 3,000 people and began a war against terrorism which will go on for a long time. Today we take a moment to honour the remarkable sporting contribution of Peter Brock.

In a nation which reveres its talented sports men and women, the sport of motor racing has seen few to match—in the eyes of many—and none to surpass the contribution of Peter Brock. He died doing what he loved best. He will be remembered very warmly by those who follow that sport and millions of other Australians for his great skill and flair.

Born in 1945 in Melbourne, Peter Brock had motor racing in his blood from a very early age. He started with a homemade signature car, his two-door Austin A30 with a Holden engine. He dominated the sport for three decades. As has been widely reported in recent days, he won the Bathurst 1000 nine times, earning him the title of ‘King of the Mountain’. He won many other great events, including the Sandown endurance classic nine times, the Around Australia trial and three Australian touring car championships.

He retired from full-time V8 supercar racing in 1997 and established the Peter Brock Foundation. That has provided support to a wide range of community programs, particularly youth charities and road safety initiatives. He was awarded the Order of Australia in 1980. He was awarded an Australian Sports Medal in 2000 and a Centenary Medal in 2001 for outstanding service to the community through fundraising.

I am sure that many members on both sides of this House would have come into contact with Peter Brock over his long career because of the natural intersection at various events of people in politics and those in sport. He was a lively, entertaining, enthusiastic person. He gave an enormous amount back to the sport of motor racing. He gave an enormous amount to the many causes with which he was associated. But he will long be remembered by devotees of motor racing for the remarkable ease and grace with which he dominated that sport for such a long period of time.

On behalf of the government and, I know, all members of the House, I extend my sympathy to Peter’s family, his other loved ones, his friends and the Australian motor racing community, all of whom have lost an icon, all of whom have lost a great practitioner of that art.

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

Could I have your indulgence to speak on the same matter, Mr Speaker.

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition may proceed.

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

What an extraordinary week it was last week for so many Australians—to have it bookended in the way in which it was by the tragic death of two genuine Australian icons, the sort of men who humble us all in this place, who through their own efforts, their own skills, their commitments, their convictions and the lives they lead bring themselves to the attention of their fellow Australians as role models in ways in which we in this place can only vaguely aspire to. It was Steve Irwin at the beginning of the week and Peter Brock at the end.

I know there are many colleagues on my side of the House who would like to say a word or two about Peter Brock—in particular, colleagues from Victoria who held him in enormous esteem. Maybe at some point in time they will have that opportunity to do so.

His was a life led fully, passionately, publicly and massively pleasingly for a very substantial number of Australians. The Prime Minister has alluded to the fact that he made his racing debut in 1967, in an old Austin A30 which, folklore has it, he cut down with an axe in the farm’s chook shed. He was quickly signed to Holden, whose cars were sold by his father in country Victoria.

Between 1972 and 1987, he won the Bathurst 1000 nine times, making himself the undisputed ‘King of the Mountain’. In 1979 he took that honour by a record six laps. He won three Australian Touring Car championships and took out the Sandown endurance classic nine times. He seemed invincible and unsinkable. The circumstances of his death were totally unexpected.

From my point of view, I cannot claim to be in any shape or form a revhead. I do attend the odd Clipsal event, and I have been seen at one or two other events, but many Australians are more passionately engaged in racing than I am. But even somebody like me, who probably relates to it more like an ordinary member of the community, Peter Brock’s work on road safety was simply outstanding. He set an example to young Australians. For instance, the way he would be filmed taking people through the processes by which one could drive cautiously and effectively performed an invaluable service in an area which, too often in this country, produces some of the starkest human tragedies—the death toll associated with road accidents. He poured himself into that. The Peter Brock Foundation that he set up did much more, of course, than simply focus on those issues; it reflected his own predilection towards seeing disadvantaged youths, battling young Australians, get a bit of a chance in life.

Like all Australians, I have come over time to admire Peter Brock. On behalf of all my colleagues in the Australian Labor Party, I want to extend our profound sympathies to his family, his friends and his colleagues, especially his colleagues at Holden, at this time of their terribly sad loss. I am delighted that the Victorian government are going to see their way clear to ensure that he is properly memorialised in a state funeral.