Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Both the member for Swan and I made brief statements last week in remembrance of Laurie Humphreys, a very significant and special resident of the city of Cockburn within my electorate of Fremantle, who passed away from cancer on 8 May 2012. I would like now to expand upon the sentiments expressed already in this place, as well as at Laurie's funeral held at Fremantle cemetery on 15 May which was attended by many of Laurie's family members, including his partner of many years Frankie, and his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as well as many friends including the mayor of Cockburn Logan Howlett, and Cockburn RSL Vice-President Arthur Stanton, who both spoke at the service.

Despite the fact that Laurie did not have a classic childhood, Laurie was in many ways a classic Australian—a man who came here from another country; a man who made a life in the face of considerable difficulty; a bloke whose sense of humour and forbearance allowed him to grow from a boy who was given very little in the way of love and care, to a man who gave so much. Laurie was sent to Australia as one of many British child migrants in the middle of last century.

In late 2009 I spoke of Laurie's experience during my contribution to the motion on the national apology to the forgotten Australians. At that time I described Laurie as plainly resilient, resourceful and good-humoured. He was a man who experienced a hard life from the beginning, who, as a boy, was subjected to abuse and to the requirements of physical labour that should not have been placed on someone his age, and he was given little opportunity through education. From that kind of start in life—a childhood of hardship and dislocation—Laurie Humphreys' enormous contributions to community and public life in WA and to the wellbeing of his fellow Western Australians are remarkable.

As a boy, Laurie's excitement at arriving in Fremantle and the promise of a new life was soon thrown against the harsh reality of the actual circumstances in Bindoon, a place known as 'Boys Town'. It was here that he confronted the shock of learning, first, that he had not actually been an orphan when he came to Australia and, second, that he had a brother, Terry, who did not know he existed. It is understandable that family became one of the most important things in Laurie's life, and at his death his extended family now stretches to more than 50 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

In his work and community life Laurie was an active and successful unionist, a member of the ALP in Western Australia, and a long-time and influential Cockburn councillor. It was only in 1982, when he returned to England, that he was finally reunited with all his living siblings. He subsequently formed FACT, Forgotten Australians Coming Together. In his book, A Chip off What Block: A Child Migrant's Tale, he talks about how extremely blessed he has been in his life, despite his upbringing and despite never having had the benefit of a formal education.

I want to note that Laurie's staunch advocacy for forgotten Australians in my electorate of Fremantle but also throughout WA and nationwide put this miscarriage of justice into the public view. And although Laurie did not live to see the opening on 16 May of the recently established Tuart Place, a centre dedicated to continuing to assist forgotten Australians in the Fremantle area, it is an achievement that owes a great deal to Laurie Humphreys, as is acknowledged in the plaque dedicated to him at the site. I was privileged to attend the opening of Tuart Place and to join with others, including the patron of the centre, the member for Swan, in celebrating Laurie's life and his remarkable achievements.

I want to express my condolence to Laurie Humphreys' family, and as the federal member for Fremantle I want to acknowledge the enormous contribution he made to the Cockburn and wider WA community. On a personal level, I would like to say how much I enjoyed getting to know Laurie. He was a charming, gentle, genial but very determined man—and I benefited greatly from his input, guidance and wisdom. What I came to understand about the plight of the forgotten Australians I owe in large part to Laurie. He helped me to see, as I was moved to say in 2009:

There is no greater act of responsibility, there is no heavier weight of care and there is larger placement of trust than that which exists in undertaking the care and custody of children who are without the benefit of a secure and capable and loving family. A society's capacity to look after children who find themselves in those circumstances is one of the best measures of its compassion, of its commitment to a broad safety net for the protection of the vulnerable and the disadvantaged, and of its principles of social responsibility and social justice.

Laurie Humphreys helped me to see this—through his life, his fortitude and his testimony. He was one of thousands of children who were badly let down by our institutions and policies here in Australia at the time, but he transcended that hardship and neglect and he lived a life full of generosity, full of dedication to his community and family. We miss him and we remember his amazing life. Rest in peace, Laurie.