George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That Senate records its deep regret at the death, on 22 September 2016, of John Royston Siddons, a former senator for Victoria, and places on record its appreciation of his long and distinguished service to the nation and tenders its profound sympathy to his family in their bereavement.

John Royston Siddons was born in Melbourne on 5 October 1927. He was educated at the Ivanhoe state school, Preston Technical School and Wesley College before starting work in his father's business, Sidchrome. In 1952 he established Ramset Fasteners Pty Ltd, which eventually joined with his father's firm to become Siddons Industries Ltd, of which he became chairman in 1963.

Although his early forays into business gave him a taste for public policy, particularly industrial relations, John Siddons's formal involvement in politics did not begin until the early 1970s when he joined the Australia Party. That brought him into contact with Don Chipp, with whom he shared a dream of building a third political force to challenge both the coalition and the Labor Party and which led in turn in 1977 to the formation of the Australian Democrats.

John Siddons was elected as a Democrats senator for Victoria at the 1980 election, commencing his term on 1 July 1981. As a senator, he sought to promote industrial and economic reform and developed a bill on industrial democracy, which, much to his disappointment, never made it into law. At the time of his election and because of his background in commerce, he brought a greater knowledge of business to the Senate than most members of the Senate have ever possessed. He was also passionate about conservation and sustainability and actively campaigned to stop the Franklin Dam project in Tasmania.

Senator Siddons's party affiliations throughout his career were nearly as varied and numerous as his accomplishments outside the parliament. Defeated at the 1983 election and then re-elected to the Senate in 1984, John Siddons served as Deputy Leader of the Australian Democrats from August to November 1986 and was the Democrats spokesman on industrial relations, Treasury, finance, industry and commerce from July 1985 to November 1986. At the end of November, he broke ranks with the Democrats to serve out the remainder of his term as an Independent. In the lead-up to the 1987 election, he registered the Unite Australia Party, but he failed to retain his seat as its candidate.

I think we may say that, although his politics were quixotic, it is clear that in the relatively short time he spent in this chamber Senator John Siddons succeeded in winning the admiration and respect of his Senate colleagues. As the then Senator the Hon. Fred Chaney remarked when Senator Siddons first lost office:

… we should all regret losing Senator Siddons because he represented one of the scarcest commodities in this place; that is, a person with independent business experience.

Senator Chaney's regret was short lived as Senator Siddons was duly re-elected the following year.

He was an accomplished businessman and company executive, a pioneer in the field of sustainability and a champion of the Australian manufacturing sector. He was also the author of four published works, as well as being a successful entrepreneur. To be elected to this place twice as a Democrat, John helped to form and lead two political parties, but perhaps it would be more apt to say that John Siddons was always an Independent in the true spirit of the word, notwithstanding his party designations.

On behalf of the government, I celebrate a life well lived and a career in this place, which, albeit relatively short, was a notable one, and I offer the government's sincere condolences to former Senator Siddons's family.