Ewen Jones (Herbert, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last month was going to be a fantastic month. We were all going to gather together to celebrate George Roberts' 100th birthday. Sadly, one week short of his 100th birthday, George Roberts passed away. For the average citizen in Townsville, to know George Roberts is to cross the bridge that is named after him or to drive past George Roberts Hall at James Cook University. But George Roberts was far more than a name on a couple signs somewhere; George Roberts was an absolute visionary of a man. He served during the Second World War; he was a great solicitor; he built a lot of Townsville.

Just after I was elected, one of my staff came through and said: 'There's a Mr George Roberts on the phone. He says he'd like to speak to you. Will I just take a message?' I said: 'No, you will not! You'll put him straight through.' To get a call from George Roberts meant that something fantastic was about to happen. He might be about to belt you over the head with an idea and tell you what you must do, but he would also come to you with a great deal of empathy and a fantastic vision. We would not have had James Cook University and we would not have had the land for James Cook University without George Roberts. His children will tell you that their Sunday drives were in the car across paddocks as he skirted the scene in what was then the bush.

His funeral service was packed out at St James Cathedral in Townsville. Bishop Bill Ray, who had only just lost his mother, said fantastic words and gave an insight of a man he still called Mr Roberts. He said he believed that men of George Roberts's stature earned the right to be called Mr Roberts. I always called him Mr Roberts as well, even though he would always say, 'Call me George'. And even though I got to know him a little bit towards the end of his life, and his voice was a little bit croaky, you knew there was still steel in his spine.

We in this place, and people who live their lives a little bit publicly, we are seen a lot and we seem to be doing a lot. But as George Roberts would tell you, he could not do any of it without his family. He could not do any of it without having his family's support. And he did it because of his family. He did it because he wanted to make sure his family, his children, had the education, that they had the opportunities that he so drastically strived for. As I said, we would not have James Cook University, we would not have the RSL villas, we would not have the Good Shepherd nursing home, we would not have the Jezzine Barracks without George Roberts. He was a fantastic man, great to be around, and our city will miss him greatly. We still have a lot of good people in Townsville, but we are the city today, and will continue to grow, because of his vision. I am glad I got to know him; I am glad his family has got to know me a little as well.