Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I stand to associate The Nationals with this condolence motion for the Honourable Les Johnson, AM, a devoted champion of the Left. Born in 1924, Johnson was the last of the 1955 cohort who entered federal parliament. He was the father of the House when we left in 1983. Another Whitlam minister, at one time Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, is being farewelled. He said to Malcolm Fraser not very long ago: 'We're an endangered species.' Malcolm Fraser was another one of the 1955 group. Approaching 60 myself, and born a year later, it is unsurprising.

Les Johnson was with Gough Whitlam when he poured soil through the hands of Vincent Lingiari, symbolising the handing back of land to the Gurindji people, in 1975. This was not only one of the most defining images that, I think, we all remember about Gough's prime ministership but a defining moment of when, if we look back and see, the return of lands and the respect of the connection between lands and Aboriginal people actually started. He was at the British bomb testing at Maralinga—and, as we have just heard, without protective clothing. He visited Vietnam during that war, always railing against the United States.

I think it was Les Johnson's unique background that explains his particular drive for politics. His father died when young Les was only six. Four brothers and sisters grew vegetables for sale during the Depression. He left school at 14 to earn money to help keep the family. It was a tough life, but Les got a rare education through the local gospel hall in the Sydney Domain, where he saw the speakers and joined in himself. A boy preacher on the streets of Sydney, it was all about words and ideas and performance. On the practical side, Les was apprentice to a fitter and joiner, and signed up for the ALP when he was just 15. He went to technical college at night, but it did not take him long to become a shop steward for the Amalgamated Engineering Union. He continued his interest in words by buying a book on the art of debating and writing poetry. It must have been obvious that here was a young man who was going to make his mark.

During the war he became a man of the house when his two older brothers went off to war. There was a lot of responsibility on his young shoulders, including with being the local air raid warden for Enfield. His Labor Left moulding continued with time with the Eureka Youth League and as an organiser with The Federated Clerks Union of Australia. No doubt wanting to put his beliefs into action, and move from words to something more tangible, Johnson went to work with the Red Cross, recruiting blood donors and setting up clubs for teenagers in the inner Sydney suburbs. He showed a passion for his local area through all his life—the Sutherland Shire was the hub. He established a Council for Social Services and chaired the Gymea Progress Association. Johnson was also a president of the Aboriginal Children's Advancement Society and set up the Gymea branch of the ALP. He was involved with local government in the Southerland Shire and ran the local general store.

In 1955, Johnson contested the preselection for Labor in the new set of Hughes. There was a wide range of contestants—a field of 11. He came up through the middle. It was an amazing achievement at a young age with a poor background. They bank actually would not lend him money for a house, so he built it itself. This perhaps accounts for his passion for public housing, with a future that was going to enable him to do something about. He was never challenged for his Labor candidacy for Hughes, which he represented from 1955 to 1983—accept for the 1966 Vietnam election, when Labor's vote collapsed. He, meanwhile, worked for a chief of staff for Lionel Murphy and ramped up local support. He won the next election, in 1969, with 61 per cent of the primary vote. From here, high offices awaited the former boy preacher. Following Labor's win in the 1972 election, he was appointed to the Whitlam ministry as Minister for Housing. In October 1973, he was appointed to the additional portfolio of works. These portfolios fitted in with his great enthusiasm for public housing. Record levels were built in 1973 and 1974.

In 1975, Johnson became the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs at the time of the birth of land rights, led by Gough Whitlam. In June of 1975 the racial discrimination bill was enacted, outlawing discrimination on the grounds of race, enabling Australia to ratify the international Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. I understand that there is, in fact, a motion on the books today. We should recall that the genesis was, in fact, with Mr Johnson. The 1972 Woodward Royal Commission into land rights of the Northern Territory ultimately led to Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 and, from there, to successful claims all over Australia, and to the eventual overturning of the concept of terra nullius, in the Mabo case, in 1992. The Whitlam legacy of the way we engage with Indigenous Australians today is an integral part of political life. This was a new political climate that Les Johnson was part of.

Johnson used his superb local organising skills to keep his seat in the 1975 and 1977 elections, which kept Labor in opposition. He became Chief Opposition Whip. When Hawke came to power in 1983, Johnson became the Deputy Speaker, not wanting to take a ministry. On his retirement, in December 1983, he was appointed as Australian High Commissioner to New Zealand—an awful long way from preaching on street corners. The Nationals send our condolences to Les Johnson's wife and family. They should be very proud of his achievements.

Question agreed to, honourable senators standing in their places.