Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to mark the passing of Alfred John Mitchell OAM, BEM, a giant of the Dickson community. Alfred, better known as Jack, was born in 1922 in Camp Mountain. Jack passed away on 21 May, aged 96, after a very long and eventful life making our country and our community a much better place. He was a loving husband to his late wife, Joyce, and a doting father to his children, Ron and Kathy. He was a very proud grandfather and great-grandfather. Jack was a Samford man through and through. Like so many local children over the last century and a half, he attended the historic Samford State School. An industrious young man, by the age of 16 Jack was studying entomology and working on the banana plantations. When war came, Jack enlisted to defend his country. In 1942, at age 19, he joined the 7th Pioneers Unit of the Second Australian Imperial Force. He saw heavy fighting and served behind enemy lines, along Papua New Guinea's Wau-Salamaua Track in 1943. Even in war, his love of insects never waned, and he was known to ensnare PNG's exotic tropical butterflies in bamboo nets. Jack suffered from bouts of malaria and was severely wounded in his arm. He was discharged on medical grounds in October 1944, having served valiantly in the 2/17th Battalion of the 17th Brigade.

It was during the war that Jack came to develop a strong sense of community and a deep appreciation of the value of teamwork. Shortly after the end of the war, Jack, along with others, formed the Samford RSL. This was a significant achievement, but it is important to note that Jack's community service was not limited to supporting veterans. He formed the Camp Mountain firefighters in 1948 and, in 1951, successfully lobbied the government to form the rural fire brigade. He went on to create the Samford progress and protection association, and it was on the association's initiative that The Village Pump first went to print in 1977 and that the Samford museum would open in 1986.

Jack was a passionate naturalist and conservationist. His reverence for the bush saw him establish a rainforest nursery and led him to work with rural landholders and councils on revegetation projects. All through Jack's life, he strongly believed in giving back to his community. A deep appreciation of the value of community service and volunteering formed the basis of his world view. Jack may have passed, but his legacy will live on in the community he so enriched. His life was one well lived, and each of us can learn a great deal from Jack's life and his example. My condolences to Ron, Kathy, their families and his many mates throughout the local community.