Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the occasion, yesterday, of the celebration of the 90th birthday of Mr Frank Holland. As you would well know, Madam Acting Deputy President, yesterday was St Patrick's Day and I was very honoured to attend the 90th birthday of a very fine Adelaide man, Mr Frank Holland.

Frank was born in 1923, the first child of Joe and Pauline, and was named after St Francis of Assisi. Of course, we now know that the new Pope has also adopted the name of Francis. Frank's father, Joe, served Australia in the 9th Light Horse Regiment in World War I and I recall many occasions when Joe would come to our house in Goodwood Road after attending the repatriation hospital which was just up the road from where we lived in Colonel Light Gardens. Frank, his son whose birthday it was on the weekend, was educated at St Anthony's School in Edwardstown and the Sacred Heart College in Somerton Park before he began work in various departments at Myer in the city. When World War II broke out he served in the AMF in ordnance. After a severe illness he was discharged in 1942. He went on to work in the government produce department in Port Lincoln with his friend John Kiley, whom he remained friends with all of his life.

When Frank heard that John had purchased a block of land at Glenelg North, he followed suit and in 1943 bought 23 David Avenue, Glenelg North, for the princely sum of 75 pounds which in today's currency would be $150. Frank met his wife, Shirley, while working for engineering company TJ O'Connor. They married in 1947 and Frank's best man at the wedding was a fellow called Val McCarron, who later became the State President of the Shop Assistant's Union in South Australia and would regularly ride his pushbike from Hauteville Terrace in Eastwood into the Harris Scarfe store in the city where he worked.

Frank and Shirley built a modest five-room house on the block in Glenelg North which was the happy home of their expanding family of ultimately nine children and where they spent many years of very happy life together. After six sons, Frank and Shirley finally welcomed a daughter, Margaret, into the world in 1964. Madam Deputy President, you might recall that was the year the Beatles came to Adelaide and received the biggest reception at any Beatle attendance anywhere in the world.

Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was too young.

Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, you would have been, Senator Back, but I was not. On that particular occasion, I was 10 years of age and my mother for the first time let me go into Adelaide by myself to see the Beatles. As it turns out, Frank's oldest son, John, who was 16 at the time—so he was six years older than me—recalls his father's excitement at finally having a daughter. Not only did Frank buy six cases of champagne for his friends to enjoy after Margaret's baptism, but also he promised John, his eldest son, a ticket to the Beatles concert if he could pay half. John came up with the 12 shillings and six pence and his father bought him a 25-shilling ticket. After Margaret, one more daughter, Elizabeth, was born followed by the seventh son, Timothy.

Frank became the employment and personnel officer for Commercial Motors. Wherever he worked as an employee, Madam Acting Deputy President, Senator Moore, I am sure you will be very pleased to know he was a member of his appropriate trade union, and in this case it was the Federated Clerks Union, then led by Mr Harry Krantz, whose funeral he attended in due course. Later, Frank entered the real estate industry with M. K. Tremang and Company. He managed the Glenelg office for a number of years and took over the business, which began trading as Frank Holland Real Estate in 1972. The business continued for 25 years developing a reputation for honesty and fair dealing. In a very rare double, Frank was granted life membership of both the Federated Clerks Union, now known as the ASU, and the Australian Human Resources Institute, both a union and an employer association.

In 1985, when in his 60s, Frank became a mature-age student and studied for a Bachelor of Arts. He graduated in 1992 but continued his studies. He received a Graduate Diploma in Social Sciences in 1997 and the topic of his thesis was 'The effects of Asia on the Australian horse racing industry'. Frank is a true Irishman in that he liked to attend the races; in fact, he had a small share in a Lindsay Park racehorse at one stage. John, his eldest son, recalls his father and mother riding their bicycles all the way from Glenelg to the Cheltenham Park Racecourse, with John and his brother Paul on little seats on the back of the bikes. Frank was a member of the Morphettville Race Club for a number of years and really enjoyed a modest punt.

The Holland family is a great South Australian pioneering family. Frank's grandfather, Terrance Holland, established a market garden in the Piccadilly Valley in the Adelaide Hills and set up a fruit and vegetable stall in Adelaide's East End produce markets. Terrance married Margaret O'Malley in Kadina in 1888 and by 1893 they lived in Goodwood. It is believed that Terrance was a great benefactor of the nearby Goodwood Orphanage and supplied them with free fruit and vegetables. In fact, thanks to the good work of Catherine Heptonstall, the Unley Council is about to establish a plaque at the site of Terrance and Margaret's home at 37 Florence Street, where they raised their 10 children.

Frank and Shirley are blessed with a big family, including their nine children, 19 grandchildren and nine great grandchildren. More than 120 family members and friends attended Frank's birthday celebration and it was great that Shirley, who was unwell, was also at the party. The federal member for Hindmarsh, Mr Steve Georganas, was kind enough to send a congratulatory message to Frank which was displayed with pride of place at yesterday's birthday party.

Life continues to be very busy for Frank and he takes an interest in all of his wonderful offspring. I am sure he has lost count of the number of sports days that he has attended and football and hockey games for which he has supplied oranges. In fact, at that time he was known amongst the players and school children as 'the orange man'. Frank is a genuine family man and his family vouches for that every day. They say he is wonderful and a supportive father, grandfather and, of course, now great-grandfather. He is also a friend of many. And that, to me, is a mark of a successful man. Frank Holland is a true success as a human being and family man. I wish him many more years of love and fulfilment with his family.