Michael Ferguson (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tonight I bring to the attention of the House a quiet achiever from my electorate, who recently passed away after a very challenging yet rewarding life. I wish to pay tribute to Russell Norman Bushby, who was born in Launceston in 1922. He studied at East Launceston Primary School and Scotch College in Launceston before joining the education department and initially being posted to Lady Barron primary school on Flinders Island. He was later transferred to East Launceston Primary School, his old school, where, as a junior teacher, he taught a class of 65 grade 3 children.

In December 1941 he was drafted into the Army Signal Corps. He continued to teach and also went to teachers college in Hobart. Later that year he joined the Air Force. He was posted to Darwin and later to Bathurst Island. Towards the end of the war, Russell was offered the chance to retrain. He decided to study medicine as he had a vision to travel overseas to do missionary work and believed medical training would be beneficial to that work.

While completing his medical degree in Melbourne, Russell met and married Betty. They later returned to Launceston, where he worked at the Launceston General Hospital. In 1956, Russell, Betty and their two young children headed to India and spent the next five years working in the Landour community hospital in Mussoorie, north of Delhi. Russell’s work had a marked impact on this community, through both his practical medical aid and through his gospel teachings. He trekked to many interesting and varied locations, and assisted Tibetan refugees who, at that time, were fleeing the Chinese invasion.

In 1960, Russell contracted hepatitis and so the family returned to Australia. Upon his recovery, he commenced private practice in Launceston. Many members of the Launceston community remember him as a classic, old-style family GP. He had an amazing ability to connect and reach people with compassion and with respect.

In 1989 Russell was asked to go to Fiji and help at the Ba Methodist Hospital. He and Betty spent several months there, again making a major difference to that local community, doing many tasks in which, although he was not necessarily specialised, he performed extremely well. On returning to Australia, Russell sold his practice and moved into the next phase of his life as a lay preacher in the Uniting Church. He was responsible for the parishes of West Tamar, George Town, Sheffield and Deloraine—a considerable number of parishes with a considerable number of parishioners. During that time he developed many lasting friendships through this ministry. Russell was proud to state in the latter years of his life that in his ministry he had delivered more than 2,000 sermons as a lay preacher in approximately 100 different assemblies around the north of the state.

During his life, Russell experienced a range of illnesses owing, of course, to his extensive travel and the nature of the work that he had undertaken. These included whooping cough, dengue fever when he was in Darwin and hepatitis in India. He ended up having a quadruple bypass operation in 1981. At the time of his death, he was one of the longest surviving people, at 25 years, of heart bypass surgery—a true testament to his strength and character and also to the skills of the surgeons in the developmental stages of heart bypass surgeries.

Russell died the day after his 84th birthday, on 9 October this year. It has been said of him by many that throughout his life he dedicated himself wholly to the service of others so that they might enjoy a better and more fulfilling life. He touched many thousands of people through his ministry and also through his medical practice. Dr Russell Bushby is survived by his children—his daughter, Beth Sypkes, and his sons, Phillip and Mark Bushby. Tonight, in raising the life and times of Dr Russell Bushby, I would like to extend my sympathies to each one of his children and to their families. They can be extremely proud of the contribution that Russell made to the Tasmanian community, as well as to the overseas communities in which he served. I am extremely pleased tonight to have been able to record the achievement of this quiet and compassionate Tasmanian. I thank the House.