Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to associate the opposition with the remarks of Senator Wong in relation to the motion marking and honouring the life of Ronald Charles Elstob. On 29 November 1924, in Toowoomba, Rob Elstob was born, son of Charles and Ann. With his two sisters, Ron attended Toowoomba East State School before the family moved to Sydney when Ron was 14. As Senator Wong indicated, Ron's parents became part managers of the Marlborough Hotel in Newtown. After completing his education, Ron helped behind the bar and in the cellar. This was where he gained his education in many ways. Also, at this time, Ron joined the east Sydney branch of the Labor Party.

In 1942, Ron joined the United States Army Small Ships Section. He had been too young to join the Australian Imperial Force at the outbreak of the war. The US Army Small Ships Section instead provided a collection of trawlers, sailing craft and freight vessels crewed by men and boys considered too young or too old for the regular forces. In shallow vessels, they were able to land on small beaches, carrying ammunition and supplies, in this case for the New Guinea campaign. It was tough and dangerous work, carried out under the cover of darkness and often in rough weather. Ron and his company continued this work for a year before their ship was sunk by a Japanese Zero fighter. They were then dropped onto an uninhabited island to be coast watchers reporting on the movements of enemy aircraft by radio. Sadly, though, Ron was one of only two in his company to survive. He himself, as Senator Wong acknowledged, was shot in the ankle and lost an eye during the war.

Recounting his wartime experiences, he made clear he believed the allies knew of Japanese movements long before the war ended. He believed many more lives could have been saved. He had strong views in this regard. His reactions and approach are a reminder of the different emotions and reactions that many returning service people have to the traumas and challenges of war. Ron, like some, chose never to join his local RSL or march in Anzac Day parades, but, as Senator Wong acknowledged, he worked hard in different ways to uphold the rights of those who had served in all forms, including those serving in a non-military capacity.

Post war, Ron worked selling industrial equipment, travelling much of Australia. It was through this that, in 1949, he settled in Allenby Gardens in Adelaide, having met and married South Australian Angela Smerlac after first meeting her during one of his work trips. Ron found work as a crane driver and joined the Waterside Workers' Federation and the Port Adelaide Labor branch, later joining the subbranch in Hindmarsh, as Senator Wong has touched on. Ronald still believed he'd left his run for politics too late, but I understand it was South Australian Premier Don Dunstan who helped convince Ron to run for the Senate, and in 1977 he was elected.

Ron served with great enthusiasm as a senator. His interests spanned across industry, transport, social welfare, defence procurement and foreign affairs. As well as making time for his constituents, Ron also acknowledged that he had a vital interest in his committee work. Notably, Ron was a member of the foreign affairs and defence committee for nearly seven years. He sat on the publications committee for eight years, four as chair, and for eight years on the social welfare committee, of which, again, he was chair for four years.

In Ron's early years in the parliament he had a quick but perhaps unwelcome claim to fame. As the National Times described it in 1984, he made 'a notable oratorical flourish that the Parliament House tucker was "fit to kill a brown dog"'. Ron probably wouldn't have predicted that such remarks would result in the then Parliament House chef in the old building announcing his resignation and the building's catering staff staging a 24-hour strike.

Indeed, different times, Senator Wong. The report suggests that the matter was perhaps settled in good humour, with Ron giving an apology in the Senate and the Parliament House chef constructing a metre-high sculpture made entirely of butter and margarine in his honour.

More seriously, Ron's committee work saw him navigate inquiries into income support for the retired and elderly as well as into institutional care for children and youth. His time as chair of the publications committee also led him to oversee the production of the fourth edition of the Commonwealth Style Manual, which I gather was jokingly referred to as 'an eagerly awaited tome'. He did the hard yards in many different ways that are necessary for the operation of this place, and effectively so.

But Ron also took strong and principled approaches. In 1986 Ron was one of three Labor member of the foreign affairs and defence committee to call for the then Hawke government to take a stronger stance in response to sanctions imposed by Indonesia against Australia at the time as a result of Australian media reports on President Suharto. Ron's stance was informed in part by a delegation visit he made with the committee to Papua New Guinea, where he saw firsthand refugee camps and people fleeing Indonesia. He was in agreement with those recommending that Australia take some of those refugees.

A double dissolution election was called in 1987, as Senator Wong said, and, due to the South Australian Labor Party's then age rule, Ron did not recontest, after serving for nine years in the Senate. At the age of 63 Ron retired to Mountain Creek in Queensland but continued to be an active member of the Labor Party. Reflecting on his time in parliament and his engagement in the Labor Party and politics more broadly, Ron was quoted as saying: 'If you can't count numbers in politics, don't go into it. It doesn't matter whether you've got the best idea in the world, unless you can count on the numbers to support that. You've got to be able to count and count accurately.' In this, as in life, Ron Elstob showed the pragmatism and practicality that appear to have been a hallmark of his life and contributions in politics, in parliament, in the Labor Party and more broadly. We acknowledge and thank Ronald Charles Elstob for his service to our parliament, and we pay respects and send condolences to his family and loved ones.

Question agreed to, honourable senators joining in a moment of silence.