Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Vice-President of the Executive Council) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate records its deep sorrow at the death on 9 December 2018 of the Hon. Gordon Scholes AO, a former member of the House of Representatives for the division of Corio, Speaker of the House in the Whitlam government and Minister for Defence and Minister for Territories in the Hawke government; places on record its gratitude for his service to the parliament and the nation; and extends its deepest sympathies to his family in their bereavement.

The Hon. Gordon Scholes AO was a man of many talents and vocations: a train driver, fireman, heavyweight boxing champion, parliamentarian, Speaker, cabinet minister, family man—an impressive list stretching from the railways of Victoria through to the halls of Parliament House and the cabinet table. And, in each of those roles and throughout his entire life, Gordon served his family, his community and his country with distinction.

Born on 7 June 1931 to Thomas and Mary Scholes, much of Gordon's childhood was spent following his family as they moved from place to place. Before entering the political arena, Gordon found success in an entirely different arena, though perhaps not so different at all. He was so good at boxing that in 1949 he became the Victorian amateur heavyweight boxing champion. By day he worked as a railwayman for Victorian Railways from 1949 until 1967 and also served his community as a fireman and fire engine driver from 1955. Clearly, in the early years of his career he took on the two dream jobs of many boys, I'm sure, across Australia at the time—certainly during my childhood across Belgium at the time, train driver and fire engine driver sound like the sorts of jobs that any boy aspires to while growing up.

Some might say that politics was an unlikely path for Gordon. As one family member would later note, at the time he married his loving wife, Della Robinson, in late July 1957, life on the federal political circuit seemed a world away. However, having settled in Geelong in the 1950s, Gordon joined the Australian Labor Party in 1955 and went on to serve in a range of positions, including as president of the Labor Party's Geelong branch between 1962 and 1964 and as president of the Geelong Trades Hall college from 1965 to 1966. His foray into formal elected office began in earnest with his election as a City of Geelong councillor in 1965, a post that he held until the year of his election to the federal parliament.

Gordon was at first unsuccessful when contesting the seat of Corio. However, when long-time Liberal incumbent, Sir Hubert Opperman OBE, retired from politics a year or so later, Gordon recontested the seat, this time successfully, in the July 1967 by-election. He would go on to retain the seat at 10 subsequent elections—sometimes comfortably, at other times decidedly less so, including by a razor-thin but still winning margin of just 20 votes after the December 1975 election.

In his first speech, Gordon showed a keen interest in policy, touching on issues that ranged from defence industry to social services. Commendably, he spoke passionately in favour of the needs of Australia's First World War veterans, many of whom were reaching the end of their lives at the time he entered the parliament. He also displayed his keen local focus, advocating for rail infrastructure that would benefit his local electorate. It is a credit to the person and the good character of Gordon Scholes that he also took the time in his first speech to acknowledge his predecessor, commending his many years of service, just as he set about his own work for the people of Corio. Appointed as Deputy Speaker in February 1973, he served diligently in that role and was thrust quite literally into the hot seat during one of the most tumultuous periods in our nation's political history, becoming Speaker of the House of Representatives in February 1975 and remaining in that role until the defeat of the Whitlam government.

Notably, he did not allow those turbulent years in Canberra to distract him from his local community. He played a key role in establishing Deakin University in 1974, an achievement that many point to as one of his most significant contributions to the city. As well as serving initially as Manager of Opposition Business in the House, Gordon became Labor's defence spokesperson during the ensuing opposition years and took on a vast portfolio faced with significant technological and political transitions in the years following the end of the Vietnam War. Ever locally minded, he was also acutely aware that the government's aircraft factories, which had played an important role in the nation's defence industry until that point, were nestled within his own electorate.

When Labor next formed government under then Prime Minister Bob Hawke, he retained his portfolio and ascended to what would be his most significant job in government, serving as Minister for Defence from the Hawke government's election in 1983 through to December 1984. At the time The Canberra Times involved his sporting past with a clever 1983 headline declaring 'Ex-boxer retains his sure-footedness in a tricky portfolio'.

Gordon also served as minister leading the newly formed Department of Territories, remaining in that role until he departed the ministry in July 1987. In the years that followed he remained active within the walls of parliament and outside them, working diligently for his constituents and serving as Deputy Chairman of Committees from May 1990 through to his retirement. Choosing to retire just prior to the 1993 federal election, Gordon's final speech, made a quarter of a century after his first, made clear that over 25 years of Canberra life had not dimmed his earthy and practical approach to politics. The same man who began his parliamentary career with a focus on policy and pragmatism ended it in the same way, calling on the parliament of the day to better meet the expectations of the public and more effectively serve a changing Australia. Having been appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1993 in recognition of his lengthy service to the Australian community, he was honoured further, a decade after his retirement, with the receipt of a Centenary Medal in 2003. A keen stamp-collector in his later years, he was also appointed as an honorary member of the Geelong Philatelic Society.

Ultimately, it was Gordon's family that was his rock through it all. Though politics may not have been on the horizon at the time of their marriage, Gordon's wife, Dell, was a constant source of support through his parliamentary career and the 55 years of marriage that they shared before her passing. Indeed, in his valedictory speech he noted just how essential his family's support had been and expressed a depth of gratitude that I'm sure many of us in this chamber would sincerely empathise with.

It is to Gordon's two daughters, Kerry and Anne, and his two grandchildren, Monica and Jed, that on behalf of the Australian government and the Australian Senate I extend my sincerest condolences on the passing of a good and humble man whose service to this parliament and our nation, shaped and coloured by a busy life well lived, will not be forgotten.