Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I rise to speak of the passing of a great Sunshine Coast servant, Gordon Simpson. Gordon was what we call a man's man. He was strong in his faith, strong in his convictions and strong in his love for his wife of 64 years, Norma; their children, Bruce, Helen, Jock and Fiona; and their eight grandchildren. Gordon was old school, a pragmatist, but one who never, ever lost sight of his principles. Unfortunately, those two virtues are often considered to be mutually exclusive these days. Gordon embodied the old adage: 'If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything.'

He was the state member for Cooroora for 15 years, between 1974 and 1989, and served as a minister of the Crown in the great state of Queensland. He was a minister of the Crown and the member for Cooroora in a time when Queensland was great, when, as a state, there was minimal waste, minimal fuss and minimal bureaucratic nonsense. It was a time when Queensland was an economic powerhouse rather than the economic basket case it has become. It was a time when Queenslanders were proud of their state because we led the nation in competitive federalism and in many pursuits, not just on the football field. While Gordon was a committed National Party man, he saw the value in the amalgamation of the Liberal and National parties and he supported that merger, just as he continued to support his daughter Fiona throughout her political career, which would ultimately see her rise to the heights of Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.

The Sunshine Coast commemorated Gordon's life on Monday with a public memorial service. Unfortunately, because parliament was sitting, I was unable to be there. Gordon moved to the Sunshine Coast with his young family from country Victoria in 1969. He was a legendary pioneer of the Sunshine Coast. As one example of that, in his first maiden speech he talked about how good it would be to have our own Sunshine Coast university—a university that has now graduated almost 20,000 students. It has been life-changing for them and their families. I am very proud to be a part of the LNP, a party that Gordon helped shape the future of in this state. (Time expired)