Andrew Leigh (Fraser, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Jonathan Swift once said that vision is the art of seeing the invisible. The ability to see through the fog of the present to the clarity of tomorrow exemplifies the great progressives of our age. From early on in his life and legal career it was clear that Keppel Enderby, known as Kep, was something of a master in this art. Initially drawn to a burgeoning Canberra in the early 1960s to lecture in law at the Australian National University, Kep wasted no time making his presence felt in the bush capital. By 1970 he had secured Labor preselection for the Australian Capital Territory electorate—and he entered parliament in the same year.

As it happened, my parents knew him through a mutual friend. They recall him as a whirlwind of ideas. Apparently, I even stayed at his home in 1972. It was a few months before I was born, so my memories of it are a little hazy.

When then Attorney-General Lionel Murphy was appointed to the High Court in February 1975, Enderby went to Gough Whitlam with a forceful case for replacing Murphy in the role of Attorney-General. In an exchange characteristic of the period, Enderby went down to the Prime Minister's office and told him, 'Oh, come off it, I think I deserve it', to which Whitlam reportedly replied: 'All right, you bastard.'

Enderby served only nine months as Attorney-General. But during the period he helped shepherd some of the Whitlam era's most notable social reforms through a turbulent legislature. This included the legalisation of homosexuality and abortion in the territories, no-fault divorce, and the Racial Discrimination Act. Each was seen as radical for its time but, looking back at the words with which they were introduced, the vision was palpable. Speaking on the Racial Discrimination Bill 1975, Kep Enderby said:

The Bill will … make it unlawful for a person to do an act involving discrimination based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin which impairs the enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedoms. The Bill will guarantee equality before the law without distinction as to race.

On introducing no-fault divorce, he said:

It gets rid of the legalism because it establishes family courts. … I speak as a lawyer who has the role of deciding these matters.

He also spoke about the value of no-fault divorce:

… to try and bring about conciliation in a less rigid, less legalistic, less frightening way than under the present system.

Reforms like this were part of the foundations for a more open, tolerant and modern Australia.

Kep Enderby's relatively short term in parliament saw him serve as the last member to represent the entire territory in the lower house and the first to represent the newly-created division of Canberra. Unfortunately, Labor lost that seat when the government was swept from office in 1975—a pattern repeated in 1996 but not, thankfully, in 2013, otherwise my good friend the member for Canberra would not be here today.

Like Jim Fraser, after whom my electorate is named, Enderby was a proud and passionate advocate for Canberra. His efforts in championing civil liberties for the Australian people translated seamlessly into his representation of Australians in the territory and his push to enfranchise them. In decriminalising homosexuality and abortion, Enderby not only improved the lives of Canberrans. These changes impacted over two million people in the Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory, Christmas Island and Papua New Guinea that previously had their penal codes derived from nearby states. The changes came through a criminal code for the territories, which reflected Enderby's understanding of the fundamental inequity in punishments being imposed by judges who sit in the Australian Capital Territory but administered by someone else.

Kep Enderby had many sides to him. He was a skilled golfer: New South Wales amateur golf champion 1946; second amateur, British Open, 1951; and leading amateur, Australian Open, 1947—among other awards.

After politics, Enderby learned the world language of Esperanto and became president of the World Esperanto Association. This prompted leading ABC broadcaster Phillip Adams to eulogise: 'Mia malnova amiko Keppel Grafo Enderby, politika idealisto kaj Esperanto defendanto, mortinta ce 88.'

He served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales from 1982 to 1992.

He married Dorothy Leaper—Dot—1964. They had a son and a daughter.

ACT MLA Chris Bourke has spoken about Kep Enderby's championing the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people during the Aboriginal Tent Embassy protest. He said:

In 1972, as ALP spokesperson for the Interior, Enderby stood up against the McMahon government's attempts to tear down the Tent Embassy.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has described him as 'a passionate Labor man who fought strongly for Labor values'.

Age did not weary this great crusader. Right up until his later years, Kep Enderby remained a vocal proponent of civil liberties, unafraid to write and speak on controversial issues such as the rights of prisoners. Thanks to the changes Enderby brought about, Australians now suffer less discrimination than they did before his time in politics.

Our challenge now is to find the issues that demand reform, from prominent issues such as inequality and climate change to invisible issues such as end-of-life care and civic participation. The work of progressive change is never done and each generation can draw inspiration from those like Kep Enderby who were the mighty builders of ages past.

Gai Brodtmann (Canberra, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last month I was saddened to learn the passing of the Hon. Keppel Earl Enderby QC and I would like to use this opportunity today to highlight some of his legacies, particularly to Canberra where he was the federal member between 1970 and 1975. Like so many in Labor, Kep Enderby's life had humble beginnings. He was born in Dubbo on 25 June 1926. His parents owned a milk bar and he attended the local high school. During his teen years, he earned money by selling ice-creams at the theatre. He served as a pilot in the Air Force from 1944 to 1945 and then moved to Sydney to study law under the Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme, which was a Chifley government initiative. He was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 1950 and then moved to England where he worked for a while in the bar. He returned to Australia in 1955 and then settled in Canberra, in our wonderful national capital, in 1962. It was during this time that he was a lecturer at the Australian National University.

He became increasingly involved in the Labor Party, and in 1970 was elected as the member for the ACT, which became the seat of Canberra, which I now proudly and passionately hold. He served his community until the dismissal in 1975. Kep was active in the community long before he entered politics. He was an active civil rights advocate in the 1950s and 1960s, and he continued to campaign on issues like prisoner welfare and voluntary euthanasia after he left politics. He served as a Supreme Court judge between 1982 and 1992, and he was also the head of the Serious Offenders Review Council and was one of the founders of the New South Wales Council of Civil Liberties. Kep will be remembered for his long and dedicated service to our country. In Canberra he will be remembered as a champion of homosexual law reform, of abortion rights and of fierce opposition to poker machines.

In a way, Canberrans have traditionally been altruistic. Canberrans have come to serve in the national capital in the public service, to make a difference, to serve their nation and to serve their democracy, so we are traditionally a community that thinks larger than just ourselves and that thinks broader than just the community. We think about the nation and how we can best serve it. As a result of that, we tend to have progressive politics and progressive views on things. I think that, in those very early days of Canberra coming together as a national capital following the investment that Robert Menzies made in the 1950s and the move of people to Canberra,—the significant moves in the 1960s and 1970s—Kep Enderby reflected and, in a way, was at the forefront of those progressive views of the community. Those policies, those reforms, are the ones that we hold very dear in this community. As you know, we are very strong proponents of marriage equality and we are generally a progressive community. I think Kep Enderby did not just reflect that, but was at the forefront of those views.

He fought for ACT residents and those of the Northern Territory to be represented in the Senate. He also helped steer controversial legislation through the parliament including no-fault divorce, as we have just heard, and the Racial Discrimination Act. His most important initiatives were in the law where he is credited with a host of legal reforms including the Trade Practices Act, the Family Law Act and the introduction of legal aid, which was a significant reform that opened up access to legal services for so many of the disadvantaged and underprivileged. These are policies and rights that we take for granted today. Without Kep Enderby's tireless work, they may have taken decades longer to pass into law. And, he achieved all of this during his nine-month stint as Attorney-General. What he achieved in a very short amount of time was pretty extraordinary.

I have been talking to people over the past few weeks who knew Kep, because I did not know him. I spoke to a number of Labor Party people, and Kep was described to me as having a gifted mind, a mind that traversed a range of issues, that had progressive thoughts on those issues and that managed to realise many of those issues into policy and into changes that benefited the nation. His gifted mind help achieve so much for Canberra and, more widely, for Australia. As the current member for Canberra I pay tribute to his vision for our city and our nation. His electorate, my electorate, is a far better place because of him.

Aside from the law and politics, Kep had a love of golf and competed in the 1951 British Open as an amateur. He also loved flying, and he was flying helicopters well into his 60s. As we have also heard, another one of his passions—and I am not going to speak Esperanto—was the Esperanto movement. After learning Esperanto in 1987 he was made the president of the Australian Esperanto Association from 1992 to 1997.

He is survived by his wife, Dorothy, their son Keir and daughter Jo as well as many grandchildren. I offer the Enderby family my deepest condolences. Vale Kep Enderby.

Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I understand it is the wish of honourable members to signify at this stage their respect and sympathy by rising in their places.

Honourable members having stood in their places—

I thank the chamber.

Andrew Broad (Mallee, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That further proceedings be conducted in the House.

Question agreed to.