Bridget Archer (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Just before Anzac Day I stepped across the electorate boundary into Lyons to speak at the launch of the book Lastof the cavalrymen: memoirs of Major General Robert Harley Wordsworth, edited by his daughter Ana Scarf and granddaughter Charlotte Scarf. It was a great honour to be invited to launch the book, and it was a lovely afternoon in the grounds of historic Hagley House, listening to the reflections on his extraordinary life, edited from his own recorded recollections in this fine book.

Robert Harley Wordsworth was born on 21 July 1894 in New South Wales, the son of William and Robena. After he left school he joined the local militia at Cowra, serving in the 41st Infantry and then the 9th Light Horse. At the outbreak of World War I he was commissioned as second lieutenant in the 1st Light Horse Regiment, AIF. He fought at Gallipoli and then in Palestine. At the conclusion of the war he joined a cavalry regiment in the Indian Army. He served in two campaigns on the north-west frontier of India, serving again during World War II. Mentioned in despatches, Wordsworth was appointed CBE in 1943 and CB in 1945.

Wordsworth retired from the Indian Army in 1947 and settled on a farm near Westbury in northern Tasmania, continuing his love of sporting pursuits such as polo and fly-fishing. He stood unsuccessfully at the state election in 1948 in the seat of Wilmot, now Lyons, and then agreed to attempt the Senate in 1949 and was successful. He served as a Liberal senator for Tasmania until 1959. Wordsworth considered his 10 years as a senator the unhappiest of his life, soldiering having been his profession. 'A soldier,' he wrote, 'is trained to be concise in speech and to act quickly and decisively,' while, 'a politician must be a talker above all else.' He came to abhor uninformed criticism, particularly in debate. After his parliamentary career he served as Administrator of Norfolk Island.

Ana did suggest to me, ahead of the launch, that perhaps I'd like to ponder on the life of a politician today compared to the 1950s when her father began his almost 10-year political career. Although we're generations apart and politics today is markedly different to when Senator Wordsworth represented the people of Tasmania as a Liberal senator, I was pleasantly surprised to find that we had a lot more in common than I had first thought. It's a great book and a remarkable life. Congratulations to Ana and Charlotte in bringing to life his entertaining and amazing life adventures. The book is published by Forty South Tasmania.