Michael Johnson (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the Australian parliament tonight I wish to honour a great Australian who died on 12 January 2007, an Australian who lived in Chapel Hill, a suburb in my electorate of Ryan in Queensland. He was an Australian who served his nation in uniform as a member of the Royal Australian Air Force and served his nation and its people in the national parliament for 28 years. I speak, of course, of Sir James Killen KCMG, AC. Sir James was 81 when he died but his life was all about service to others, to this great country and to living life to the fullest. He was a class act, an inspiration to so many people. He was a compelling orator that few in this chamber and in public life can equal.

All Australians should take note of Sir James’s career as a shining example of a man who was truly dedicated to his country and to the betterment of its people. At 18, he joined the Royal Australian Air Force, attaining the rank of Flight Sergeant Air Gunner. A lawyer by trade, Sir James won the seat of Moreton at the young age of 29 in 1955 and went on to be returned at 11 successive elections. He served under eight prime ministers in total and was twice a minister: first, as Minister for the Navy under Prime Minister Gorton from 1969 to 1971 and then as Minister for Defence under Prime Minister Fraser from 1975 to 1982.

He had a great impact not only on our nation but also on the formation of the modern Liberal Party. Sir James served as the foundation president of the Young Liberal Movement and then later as vice-president from 1953 to 1956 of the Queensland division.

Sir James was a man of charisma and intelligence to the extent that he gained the respect and affection of leaders and leading political figures from both sides of politics. He was a man who was able to give genuine friendship and have that friendship returned. Evidence of this is from no greater figure than the Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.

Sir James was a gentleman and a scholar. I remember quite often Sir James would drop me a note or call me as the new local member for Ryan thanking me for something I had done in the community or encouraging me as the local Liberal member. He would respond very personally via a handwritten note. He was someone who quite often would speak well of others he had encountered.

I regret very much that I did not have the opportunity to know him very well at all compared to many others in this chamber and, of course, those in the community, but I did know him in my capacity as the federal member for Ryan in the five years that I have been the member. It was a great honour to have met him on several occasions and to have been able to speak with him and learn as much as I could in the brief encounters that we had.

I gather very clearly that he was a man of remarkable integrity and sincerity. He was a man even in his later stages of life of great charm, courtesy and wit. I think that Australian politics is unlikely to witness the likes of him again, and this is something to the detriment of our national political life. I hope that many Australians who may only know of Sir James Killen in the press will take a little time to perhaps read more of this great Australian. He was a man who, as I say, should be a shining example to all of those in this chamber as we go about serving our constituencies and to the government of the day as it goes about serving the people of Australia.