Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this evening to pay tribute to the life and work of a most remarkable man and friend, Emeritus Professor Jack Golson AO, FAHA, one of the leading figures in Pacific archaeology and someone who has been important to me both personally and professionally. I first met Jack as a 17-year-old student at the University of Sydney. His daughter, Kate, and I attended the same residential college, and we've been friends ever since. Jack Golson was the most modest of academics. It wasn't until I studied anthropology and prehistory, which was part of the department of anthropology in those days, that I had any clue as to the depth and breadth of his work and the high regard in which he was held by his peers and indeed all who knew him. Regardless, Jack was a humble, unpretentious, gracious and generous man.

He grew up in Rochdale, near Manchester, in England in a poor working-class family. He won a scholarship to study at Cambridge university, but his studies were interrupted by the outbreak of World War II, when he was sent down to work in the underground coal mines. Following the war, he returned to Cambridge university to resume his studies and switched from history to archaeology. He graduated with a BA (Honours) in 1950 and a Master's in 1952.

At the age of just 28, in 1954 Jack Golson accepted the foundational position of lecturer in archaeology in the anthropology department at the University of Auckland. Within six months, he persuaded museum colleagues and collectors to come together to form the New Zealand Archaeological Association and, in 1955, was instrumental in the founding of the New Zealand Archaeological Association Site Recording Scheme. This has now developed into a large and invaluable database. It's now digitised and online, consisting of over 60,000 individual records of occupation and places of Maori and European origin. His capacity to bring people together and connect was recognised by the New Zealand archaeologist Louise Furey. She said:

Golson's ability to get along with people, including landowners and Maori, enabled him to drive changes in attitude without alienating people.

In 1961 he moved to Australia to take up a position at the Australian National University, where he became head of the newly formed Department of Prehistory and was a foundational figure in the development of archaeological research across Australia, New Guinea and the islands of the south-west Pacific. In the late 1960s Jack commenced archaeological research in the highlands of Papua New Guinea which became his life's passion and, in particular, his research at Kuk Agricultural Research Station near Mount Hagen in the Western Highlands Province. Recognition of the significance of Kuk, not just for PNG but for the international community, was realised in 2008 when it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The thing that always stood out for me in my discussions with Jack about his work was his quiet but steadfast inclusion of local people, not just in his field work but in all aspects of his work and life. He was a man truly ahead of his time.

I was lucky enough to visit PNG in 2019 and 2022, last year, where Jack's work and legacy is still spoken of today. He's one of the only Australian researchers to be recognised in the PNG national museum. He brought his signature graciousness and generous approach to work in Papua New Guinea at a time when building relationships with our nearest neighbours was probably not front of mind for most Australians.

After 30 years at the ANU, Jack officially retired in 199, yet never stopped working until recent years, remaining connected to the university throughout his life as a visiting fellow, while continuing his focus on his work in PNG. Even at home, you'd always find Jack in his study, working on a book, writing a paper or organising a conference. His work ethic was prodigious. Jack was a member of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies from 1974 and was indefatigable in his calls to officially protect Aboriginal cultural heritage in the early sixties, at a time when such considerations were far from people's minds.

For his service to education he was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1997. In 2001 he received the Centenary Medal, and in 2009, along with his phenomenal wife, Clare, he was the recipient of the World Archaeological Congress Inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award. Jack's 97th birthday would have been tomorrow. His beloved wife, Clare, died in April last year. I'll be toasting them both. They were a remarkable team. Vale, Jack Golson. You will be missed.

My heartfelt condolences go to Jack's family: his daughter, Kate, and her partner, Julie; his son, Toby, and his wife, Jacinta; his grandchildren, Lenna, Aisha and Jack; and his great-granddaughter, Sage. Your collective love for Jack was so evident in the way you cared for him in recent years. Jack Golson led a remarkable life and his legacy is immense, for which we should all be truly grateful.