Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the House records its deep regret at the death on 12 October 2007, of the Honourable Kim Edward Beazley (Snr) AO, a former Federal Minister and Member for Fremantle, and places on record its appreciation of his long and meritorious public service, and tenders its profound sympathy to his family in their bereavement.

Kim Edward Beazley was a great public servant, a great man and a great representative of the people of Western Australia. He championed education in his time as Minister for Education in the Whitlam government, leaving a lasting legacy: opening up access to tertiary studies for working families and their children and substantially increasing investment in education.

Mr Beazley was born on 30 September 1917 in Northam, Western Australia. He won a place at the Perth Modern School, topping the state in history and English. He went on to study politics at the University of Western Australia. After graduating, he became a teacher and subsequently tutored in history and politics at the university before entering politics.

In 1945, at the age of 27, Mr Beazley won the seat of Fremantle at a by-election following the death of Prime Minister John Curtin. He entered the House of Representatives as its youngest member. He retired before the election in 1977 as its longest serving member. It was an extraordinary career. It spanned three eras: the Chifley Labor government, the long difficult years in opposition and divisions within the Labor Party and the party’s return to power in 1972. He was one of only four members of the Chifley caucus still to be a member of parliament 23 years later, when Gough Whitlam led the party back to power.

By the time of his departure from politics after 32 years service, Mr Beazley was affectionately acknowledged as the ‘Father of the House’. Kim Beazley Sr served with distinction and with dedication. He is remembered as the minister who abolished university fees, putting a tertiary education within the reach of all young Australians—including this then young Australian. He was also responsible for introducing needs based funding for all schools, both private and public, ending the bitter sectarian debate about state aid.

But his contribution went far beyond his time as minister and the education portfolio. He was instrumental in placing Aboriginal rights on the public agenda. He made a great contribution to improving welfare policies in relation to Aboriginal people. During his parliamentary career, Mr Beazley served with dedication and distinction on a number of parliamentary committees. His commitment to education and Aboriginal affairs can be seen in the other committees he served on—the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and the Joint Select Committee on Aboriginal Rights in the Northern Territory. He also served on a number of House of Representatives select committees including the committee on Specific Learning Difficulties; on Voting Rights of Aborigines; and on the Grievances of Yirrkala Aborigines and Arnhem Land Reserve committee, to name but a few.

Between 1964 and 1972, he was the parliamentary representative on the Council of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. He was also Vice-Chairman of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs. His contribution to education policy and Aboriginal affairs was recognised when the Australian National University awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Laws in 1976.

After retiring from parliament in 1977, Mr Beazley remained involved in education. From 1981 to 1985, he was Pro Chancellor of Murdoch University, Western Australia’s second university that took in its first students in 1975.

In parliament he was highly respected as a fine orator—some say one of the greatest orators of his generation. He was a highly principled man, a man of great and deep intellect, a man of great and deep faith. He was a man who sought to bring his faith to bear on both the public policy debates of his time and his approach to politics itself. In recognition of his service to politics and government, Mr Beazley was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1979.

On behalf of the government, I offer condolences to his wife, Betty, and their children, Kim Beazley, the former Leader of the Australian Labor Party, and Merilyn Wassen and their respective families. Sadly, his youngest son, David, passed away in 2006.

If we reflect on the public career of Kim Beazley Sr and the contributions he made to education policy and Aboriginal affairs, these are the hallmarks of a truly distinguished career in this place—not just measured by the length of years he served here but by the quality of his contribution and his lasting impact on public policy, particularly in the area of higher education.

For any of us here to lose our fathers is a difficult time and, because Kim Beazley Jr is a friend to so many of us in this place on both sides of the aisle, we remember Kim at this time of the loss of his father as well. They were very close. They shared a lot of time together. Our thoughts in particular are with our friend and former parliamentary colleague and parliamentary leader, Kim Christian Beazley, at the time of his father’s passing.

Brendan Nelson (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In joining to support the Prime Minister’s motion, there is no doubt that Kim Beazley Sr was one of the most significant political figures of the 20th century—significant not only because of his contribution to public life and that of his party but also for the family he produced, which in no small way is a measure of the man.

Born in 1917 in Western Australia to Alfred and Mary, he was one of nine children. Mary’s very strong Christian faith was passed on to her son, who carried it through his parliamentary career. He came from the poorest of working-class families. He went to school without shoes. In fact, he recounted the time when the Duke and Duchess of York visited his school where he and others without shoes were consigned to the back of the flag waving. But Kim Beazley Sr did not miss out on the love of learning and he would later say, ‘If you can read and write, your future is in your own hands.’

He won a scholarship to Perth Modern School and topped the state in English and history. He went on to gain a BA and train as a teacher before he came to parliament after the death of John Curtin, of course, in 1945. In 1946, he married Betty Judge, who was an athlete, the 880 yards champion, and a fellow graduate from the Perth Modern School. They had three children, as we all well know: Kim; David, who the Prime Minister again reminded us was sadly lost in 2006 on what one can only imagine must have been the most difficult day for Kim Beazley Sr in his public and his private life; and their daughter, Merilyn. His son Kim Jr, of course, followed in the footsteps of Kim Sr and gave exemplary service to the parliament and, indeed, to his party and Australia. The Beazley’s second son, David, of course, as we know, was lost in 2006.

When he came to Canberra, Kim Beazley Sr became known as ‘the student prince’ for his eloquence and erudition. A somewhat serious fellow—which I suspect in part he passed on to his son Kim Jr—he went on to become one of the most accomplished speakers and debaters in the parliament. His deep Christian conviction led Kim Beazley Sr to be concerned with improving the lives of the poor. It also led to his involvement in Moral Rearmament, a group committed to preserving high ethical standards in public life, which was indeed reflected in everything that Kim Beazley Sr did. In fact, some people say that his dedication to his values cost him his leadership of the Australian Labor Party. But it certainly made him an outstanding person and an outstanding parliamentarian. It seems that, as a member of the right of the Labor Party at a time when the left was ascendant, he often found himself on the wrong side of the argument. His stance as an anti-communist once even raised accusations that he had informed Menzies of his concerns that the communists were taking over the Labor Party.

But it was not until the election of the Whitlam government, as we just heard from the Prime Minister, that Mr Beazley had the opportunity to implement policy. Although he had great knowledge of foreign affairs, Whitlam appointed Kim Beazley education minister, where he made an enormous impact. His notable achievements include the introduction of free university education and the creation of a schools commission, which introduced needs based funding for schools. He was also deeply committed to improving the lives of Indigenous people and supporting Papua New Guinea in its transition to independence. His work with Indigenous communities continued long after his parliamentary career ended—indeed, the measure of his commitment.

He said a couple of things that are worth remembering—one of which I will not remind those opposite of, but he said of schooling: we might have been barefooted but we could recite Wordsworth. In 1953 Kim Beazley’s declaration that he would strive to live his life with honesty led to much bewilderment in some political quarters. One political columnist wrote at the time that no-one with even a slight working knowledge of politics could fail to delight in the confusion that could result from even one of our politicians resolving to be absolutely honest.

With that I leave the House to reflect on an extraordinary life and an extraordinary contribution to his party and to Australia.

Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, first of all I will add my congratulations to you on your elevation to the speakership. I know that your good humour and sense of fair play will make sure that this House reflects what all Australians hope it will.

Kim Beazley Sr is often viewed—and I think the Leader of the Opposition really picked this up—as something of a political enigma, a moral man in a not-so-moral profession. In fact, his own words reveal the high moral integrity that constituted his very being and guided both his political and personal life. This was clearly reflected when he said: ‘If you do not accept the importance of conscience, you accept only the importance of power.’

Not only was Kim Beazley Sr immovably true to his own conscience, which was not always to his political advantage, he was also widely regarded as the conscience of the Labor Party—no easy task, we can tell you. At his funeral in October last year his son, the Kim Beazley we all know, told the hundreds in the congregation that his father wanted to be remembered for two things. One was his conviction that he had a duty to pursue the dignity of our Indigenous people, the other was his conviction that education should focus on the needs of the child—that every child counted. He was determined to address sectarianism.

Today I asked Kim what his father would have thought of the apology to the stolen generations which is to be offered by the parliament tomorrow. His response was simple: ‘Dad’s whole life was about saying sorry,’ he said. From the early days of his political life he worked to improve the lives of Aboriginal Australians. It was his conviction that, if he focused on the issue rather than laying blame, he would catch the conscience of the people. He was, as his son recalls, a voice for Aboriginal Australians at a time when many were unable to speak forcefully for themselves. I can only imagine how satisfied he must have felt with the emergence of a generation of articulate, passionate Indigenous Australians more than capable of arguing their own case.

He was a pioneer in the campaign for Aboriginal land rights back in the early 1950s. And in 1952, in a first for the federal parliament, Kim Beazley Sr made the first speech on Aboriginal reconciliation in the House of Representatives. In 1963 he travelled to Yirrkala in Arnhem Land to support the Yolngu people, who were speaking out against a bauxite mine planned for their land on the Gove Peninsula, a mine given the go-ahead without consultation with them. The Yolngu people made a traditional petition fashioned from a piece of bark. Today this now famous bark petition is here in Parliament House, brought to Canberra by the Yolngu people, a permanent reminder of the fledging land rights movement. Kim Beazley Sr was there with the Yolngu people as they brought their struggle to national attention.

After 27 years in parliament and with the election of the Whitlam government, Kim Beazley Sr at last entered the ministry, and with the education portfolio came his chance to make a difference. One of his first initiatives was to encourage Aboriginal children to be taught in schools in their own language with English as a second language. Until then, in some states teachers could be penalised under the law for teaching in an Aboriginal language or in any language other than English. When he left the ministry, Aboriginal children were being taught in 22 of their own languages.

He instigated a national inquiry into education which resulted in innovative reforms, including programs for Aboriginal children, migrant children, children with special needs, technical education and adult education. It was under his direction that legislation enshrining the principle of Commonwealth funding for all schools based on need was passed, ending forever the bitter and divisive debate in the Labor Party and in the community over state aid for non-government schools. And of course thousands of people from my generation gratefully remember him as the minister who abolished university fees.

Kim Beazley Sr will be remembered for many things: his formidable intellectual capacity, his effectiveness as a minister, his sharp debating skills and his immense moral integrity—not that he was one to be above having a dig at his opponents. One of his remarks, which has passed into parliamentary folklore, was directed at the then Country Party when he accused them of ‘socialising their losses and capitalising their profits’. He will be remembered for what he stood for. He stood for justice and equality; he stood up for the disadvantaged and the oppressed; he was a champion for public duty and the overarching imperative for our national leaders to act with integrity and honesty. To his family I give my heartfelt condolences.

Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Kim Edward Beazley was elected to the federal seat of Fremantle in 1945 following the death of John Curtin. He was just 27 years old. He had recently graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in history. Just four years later, in 1949, Kim’s former university lecturer in history, Paul Hasluck, was elected to the adjoining federal seat of Curtin, which had been created in a redistribution after the war of the Federation seats of Perth and Fremantle.

Over a period of more than two decades, these two Western Australians from opposing political parties made the long haul across the continent to represent their adjoining constituencies. Sir Paul, aged 44 when he was elected, was somewhat dismissive, perhaps slightly envious, that the far younger Beazley had succeeded to the seat of Fremantle. He did not, according to Sir Paul, seem the sort of candidate that the Labor Party usually favoured. Writing in 1958, Sir Paul recollected Beazley, his former student, as ‘tall, fresh faced, prancing, intolerant of other students’ opinions and rather fond of his own’. I suspect Sir Paul had that view of all his former students. But writing in 1981, Sir Paul’s wife, Alexandra, had a rather different recollection, and in this instance, as in so many others, we should trust the woman. Alexandra remembered Kim Beazley in the parliament as a dashing young man who stood out among the tired and older looking men of Labor. She pointed out that they could boast few young members with a university education. The most noticeable was Kim Beazley, a good and thoughtful speaker who was so handsome he acquired the nickname ‘the Student Prince’.

Kim Beazley was a renowned public speaker. His parliamentary speeches have been described as ‘eloquent and elegant, often with a brilliant summing-up’. With a sharp intellect and a sensitive conscience, he made an invaluable contribution to the parliamentary debates of the day. As longstanding residents of the beautiful beach suburb of Cottesloe, once in the electorate of Fremantle and now in the electorate of Curtin, Kim Beazley Sr and his wife Betty were familiar faces around the western suburbs. Those who know the political make-up of my electorate may understand when I venture to suggest that, in their capacity as the foundation members of the Cottesloe branch of the Labor Party, there were perhaps some rather lonely evenings at their branch meetings. I have fond memories of more recent elections while visiting the polling booth at Cottesloe Primary School, when I observed Kim and Betty Beazley securing their spot to hand out how-to-vote cards for the Labor Party. In a polling booth that has generally returned a primary vote for the Liberal Party of 70 per cent or more over the past 50 years, the Beazleys remained cheerfully committed to the Labor cause, and Betty would bring a basket of biscuits to share amongst the volunteers, Liberal and Labor alike.

Kim Beazley Sr had three great commitments in his life: his family, the Labor Party and his faith. He had a great many more causes for which he argued passionately throughout his life. After 23 years in opposition, he was appointed Minister for Education in the Whitlam administration. Former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam later wrote that he believed that the transformation of the education system was his government’s most enduring single achievement and that Kim Beazley’s efficiency and integrity was one of his government’s great personal success stories. Canberra took over responsibility from the states for funding tertiary education. The Commonwealth Schools Commission was established, and assistance to non-government schools was increased. Kim Beazley was proud of the fact that he was able to establish a school chaplaincy program, an initiative revived many years later by the Howard government. His strong belief in the value of education was no doubt inspired by his own experience. He was a bright student, who won a place at Perth Modern School—also in the Curtin electorate—which has educated many of Western Australia’s and Australia’s leaders. He topped the state in English and history in the 1935 Leaving Certificate exams before completing his Bachelor of Arts at the University of Western Australia. He was a teacher before entering parliament.

By the time he retired in 1977, Kim Beazley Sr was the longest-serving member in the House. His passion for education continued long after his parliamentary career ended. He joined the Senate of Murdoch University and served for three terms, the last four years as Pro-Chancellor. In 1983, the Burke government appointed him to chair an inquiry into primary and secondary education in Western Australia, focusing particularly on the advent of technology. He advocated a technology revolution no less. The most prestigious academic award for secondary students in Western Australia is named the Beazley Medal in recognition of his achievements.

Kim Beazley Sr had a keen understanding of the properties of responsible government and the necessity of maintaining the highest ethical standards in public life. I extend my deep sympathies to his family, particularly Kim Beazley Jr, who has every reason to be immensely proud of his father’s legacy and the contribution that the Beazley name has made to Australian public life over 60 years.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As a mark of respect to Mr Beazley Sr, I invite honourable members to rise in their places.

Honourable members having stood in their places—

I thank the House.

Debate (on motion by Mr Albanese) adjourned.