Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with deep regret that I inform the Senate of the death on 26 May 2015 of the Honourable Leslie Royston Johnson, AM, a former minister and member of the House of Representatives for the division of Hughes, New South Wales, from 1955 to 1966 and from 1969 to 1984. I call the Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate.

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

by leave—I move:

That the Senate records its deep regret at the death, on 26 May 2015, of the Honourable Leslie Royston Johnson, AM, former minister and Member for Hughes, places on record its appreciation of his long and highly distinguished service to the nation and tenders its profound sympathy to his family in their bereavement.

The Honourable Les Johnson was born in Sydney on 22 November 1924. He was educated at Belmore and Sydney Technical College, and in 1939, at the age of 14, he was apprenticed as a fitter and turner, going out to work at such a young age to help the family finances in the grips of the Great Depression. He also studied business administration at night school and became an organiser for the Federated Clerks Union in 1945. He then worked for the Red Cross, recruiting blood donors and setting up clubs for teenagers in inner Sydney. In 1948 he married Peggy and they had three children. In 1954, Les Johnson became proprietor of the local general store and newsagency and experienced firsthand the challenges of small business. In 1953, he was elected to the Sutherland Shire Council and he held office until 1956. Then, in 1955 he was the successful Labor Party candidate for the newly created federal electorate of Hughes. Thus began a parliamentary career that would span almost three decades.

He was re-elected at the three subsequent elections and then defeated in a close contest in 1966 by Don Dobie. However, he successfully recontested Hughes in 1969 and retained the seat until his retirement from the House of Representatives in 1984. Les Johnson was appointed to the ministry in 1972 upon the election of the Whitlam government and given the portfolio of Housing. He subsequently held the portfolios of Works, Housing and Construction, and Aboriginal Affairs. As one of the ministers in the Whitlam government, Les Johnson therefore partook in one of the most dramatic chapters in Australian political history. With his passing, there remain only five of the 27 men sworn in as members of the Whitlam government on 19 December 1972.

Mr Johnson had a lifelong and strong interest in Indigenous affairs. He was President of the Aboriginal Children's Advancement Society from 1963 to 1972, parliamentary representative on the council of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies from 1976 to 1977, and he helped establish and operate the Kirinari hostels, which provided accommodation for Aboriginal boys attending high school. He was Opposition Whip from 1977 to 1983. When he was Opposition Whip he suggested that the term 'whip'—which, of course, has an English origin—should be replaced with a more Australian title. His proffered suggestions of 'boundary rider' and 'jackaroo' were not taken up.

On the election of the Hawke government, in 1983, Les Johnson chose not to stand for the caucus elections to the ministry. He was instead elected by the House as the Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees and served in that office with distinction throughout the first term of the Hawke government. In the 1984 election he retired from the House and was appointed the Australian high commissioner in Wellington. Sadly, his time in New Zealand was cut short by family illness and he and his wife chose to return to Australia in 1987. He became chairman of the Australia New Zealand Foundation in 1989 and held that post for eight years. In 1990 he was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia for parliamentary and public service and, in particular, for service to the Aboriginal community, and he was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001.

With the death of Malcolm Fraser, earlier this year, Les Johnson was the last of those elected to the House of Representatives in 1955 to have survived. The Honourable Les Johnson's career was one dedicated to community and public service. Sadly, his daughter Sally died shortly after the family's return from New Zealand and his wife of many years, Peggy, herself died in 2002. Les remarried, to Marion, and so to her, his surviving children, Grant and Jenny, and their families, on behalf with the government, I offer our most sincere sympathies today.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise on behalf of the opposition to speak on this motion of condolence on the passing of the Honourable Leslie Royston Johnson AM. The loss of Les Johnson is a sad one and I convey, at the outset, our thoughts for his family at this time. Of course, Mr Johnson was also part of the Labor family and there are many associated with our movement who feel his passing especially keenly.

Originally a fitter and turner and an engineer, Les Johnson served as a shop steward with the Amalgamated Engineering Union and became an organiser with the Federated Clerks Union and a councillor on the Sutherland Shire Council before being elected to the House of Representatives as the inaugural member for Hughes in 1955. He had also been a proprietor of a general store and worked for the Red Cross recruiting blood donors and establishing clubs for teenagers in the inner suburbs of Sydney—all of this before the age of 30! On his election he was the youngest member of the House of Representatives at that time and—as the acting leader of the government has noted—he was the last surviving member of the 'class of 1955' following the passing of former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser earlier this year.

The 1955 federal election was not a happy one for the Australian Labor Party, with the party losing a net 10 seats in the second election we contested with 'Doc' Evatt as leader. The swing against Labor was nearly five per cent and Johnson found himself in parliament at a time when the Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, was at the height of his powers. With a government majority of 28 in the House of Representatives, it was a depressing time to be on the opposition benches. Further, it was a time when the split within Labor was taking its full effect. Not only did Les Johnson suffer the miserable years of opposition but also he further suffered the despair of defeat in the 1966 election, when the Labor primary vote fell to less than 40 per cent under Arthur Calwell and he lost his seat.

In an election dominated by the Vietnam War, which at that time was still widely supported amongst the Australian population, Johnson did not compromise his strong anti-war principles. As someone who had witnessed the British nuclear tests at Maralinga, in my home state of South Australia—without protective clothing—as well as having visited Vietnam during the early years of the conflict he was well-placed to offer a critique of the 'barrage of death and destruction' and 'dreadful carnage'—using his words—that he regarded the war to be.

Fortunately, he was re-elected in 1969 following a seven per cent swing towards Labor, under the leadership of Gough Whitlam who occupied the nearby seat of Werriwa in Sydney's south-west. Many of Whitlam's policies resonated not just with Johnson's electors but also with Johnson himself. He would go on to play a pivotal role in implementing Labor's nation-building agenda and its policies of reconciliation with our first Australians following the election of the Whitlam government in 1972. He served as Minister for Housing, Minister for Works, Minister for Housing and Construction and also as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. He worked alongside—and occasionally in conflict with—the Minister for Urban and Regional Development, another of our recently departed, the late Tom Uren.

Just as housing policy is a topical matter of discussion today, so too it was then. In his first speech, Johnson spoke of the difficulties that faced young couples looking to enter the housing market and, as minister, he pursued policies aimed at making 'dream homes' come true. In an article in early 1973 he spoke of beginning with the belief that the biggest social injustice in Australia is the economic barrier to housing. He wanted 'to get the right kind of people into the right kinds of houses in the right kind of environment at the lowest possible cost.'

As with housing, as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Leslie Johnson was fulfilling the interests and pursuits he had been engaged in earlier in his political career. He had been president of the Aboriginal Children's Advancement Society from 1963 to 1972, raising funds for Aboriginal peoples in the process, and would be present when Gough Whitlam poured sand into the hands of Vincent Lingiari in 1975. Sadly, of course, like so many other talented and committed individuals, his service was cut short following the dismissal of the Whitlam government.

Back in opposition, after that time, he served as Opposition Whip and following the election of the Hawke government, in 1983, was Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees before leaving parliament the following year. The Acting Leader of the Government in the Senate has referenced Les Johnson's interesting suggestions that the title of whip be replaced by boundary rider or jackaroo—in many ways proving that the Whitlam government ministers did not lose their reforming zeal after losing office.

Having been the youngest member of parliament, when he arrived in this place in 1955, he was the 'father of the House' when he left the parliament. His place as member for Hughes was taken by Robert Tickner, who would himself become Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, in the Hawke and Keating governments, and is now—in another link with Johnson—the chief executive of the Australian Red Cross.

Les Johnson continued to serve Australia, notably as High Commissioner to New Zealand from 1984 to 1987, and then as chair of the Australia New Zealand Foundation from 1989 to 1997. Labor mourns the passing of Les Johnson, a great contributor to our nation, and we again extend our sympathies to his wife, family and friends.

Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to 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.