Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I rise to wish Mervyn Sidney Latham a happy 100th birthday on 14 October 2024. Born at Port Macquarie, Merv spent his early years helping out on the family farm and at his grandfather's blacksmith shop. His hard work at school meant he passed the rigorous entrance exam for the Public Service, where he subsequently started work as a clerk in the correspondence and records branch of the department of mines and forests. He joined the naval cadets as a telegraphist and crewed on a coastal patrol vessel, including on 31 May 1942, the night the Japanese midget submarines entered Sydney Harbour and fired torpedos at USS Chicago, missing it but hitting HMAS Kuttabul, killing 21. Later Merv enlisted in the Army, serving in a number of posts and then undertaking training through the Commonwealth reconstruction training scheme in fitting and turning, diesel engineering and boot making before his discharge in 1946.

Merv's post-military career was long and distinguished and included various roles with the departments of mines and forests and also industrial relations. Throughout his life Merv has travelled across Australia and around the world to places including Canada, Europe, England, the UAE and the Americas. All of these experiences have made Merv the person he is today—servicemen, accountant, traveller, inventor, husband, father and companion—a true gentleman. Happy 100th birthday, Mervyn Sidney Latham.