Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to use this opportunity to pay tribute to an old friend of mine who sadly passed away. Lindsay Gordon Bower Jones passed away on 9 October. Lindsay was a former assistant secretary of the party in Queensland back in the 1980s and 1990s, but when I first met him in August 2000 he was someone who had left the party office but had come back in a temporary capacity to help out on campaigns. I first started at the Queensland branch in August 2000 as a 22-year-old and I met Lindsay Jones, who had just turned 60. Lindsay was someone who I was a really good match with because Lindsay knew everything there was to know about campaigning, but he knew absolutely nothing about technology. So we were a very good match. I was able to help him with computers and mobile phones; he was able to take me under his wing in terms of campaigning.

August-September 2000 was an interesting time in the Queensland branch. Basically, the day I started at the party office an article appeared on the front page of The Courier-Mail alleging all sorts of vote rorting had gone on in the Queensland ALP. Of course, everyone would know that the Labor Party don't get up to those sorts of things, but the allegation was there nonetheless. It's fair to say that Lindsay Jones, who had such a long history in the party, knew every secret everyone had inside the Queensland ALP. So he was certainly someone who was an integral player in the party at that time. For an inexperienced 22-year-old, I probably learnt more about internal politics in those two or three months that the Shepherdson inquiry ran than I have in the 17 years since. It was a brutal period, but it was interesting and insightful for me that Lindsay Jones never lost sight of the bigger picture—and that was winning the state election, which was due imminently. And what a role he played in that win in 2001, especially on the Gold Coast.

Lindsay was integral in Labor winning seats on the Gold Coast for the first time since 1989. I can recall one phone call we got from Lindsay on the Gold Coast. I was with Andrew Fraser, who went on later to become the Deputy Premier in the Labor government. I was working on that election at the time. Probably two weeks out, Lindsay said: 'You need to get down to Mudgeeraba. You need to have a drive around. This seat is going to elect a Labor MP.' Being the young guys who knew everything, we looked at the pendulum and, at the time, Mudgeeraba was on about 20 per cent. Andrew Fraser went down there, did a bit of letterboxing and—sure enough—on election night it was one of the seats that we picked up.

The history books would look back at that election result in 2001 and say it was a real cinch and one that Labor were always going to win, but anyone involved knew the reality of it—that it was a really tough election. Winning seats on the Gold Coast and the remarkable role that Lindsay played in that was something that actually sustained Labor governments across 2004, 2006 and 2009. The role Lindsay played in that election campaign really created a modern legacy. If you think about the current election campaign that we've got underway in Queensland, I know how much Annastacia, as Premier, would love to have someone like Lindsay helping out on that election campaign right now.

When I knew Lindsay, he was never one to seek the limelight or acclamation for his achievements, like many of us in politics do, particularly when campaigning. I recall in 2001 he came back from Parliament House after a new MP had shouted him lunch and handed him a framed photo of the 66 MPs who had won election that year. Lindsay threw it straight on my desk and said, 'Straight to the outhouse.' He was never one to seek acclaim. But he was always someone who was scrapping for resources. My memory is of him leaving the office late at night after raiding the stationery cupboard with two boxes of envelopes under his arm as he raced out the door. Lindsay, who was in his 60s at that stage, was certainly not someone who moved very quickly and he was pretty easy to spot. He was dedicated to doing his best for those campaigns.

Some images of Lindsay I can't escape, but sometimes I wish I could. One is the spa bath at his old house in Ashington Street at West End. While sharing an office every morning, it would often start with a conversation about the current political events. Lindsay would always start with, 'As I was saying to Norma in the spa last night—'. Lindsay in a spa is not always the image you want in your head whilst drinking your morning coffee, but you also got an understanding of how important the relationship was between Lindsay and Norma, and you got a sense that Lindsay never did much unless he'd talked it through with Norma beforehand, whether it was some sort of political event or whether it was any decision that they were making in life. I also learnt how important family was to Lindsay, who would do anything for his family and was incredibly proud of them all.

I have so many fond memories of Lindsay Jones—driving down to the Gold Coast at 80 kilometres an hour in the right-hand lane while people zoomed past us hurling all sorts of abuse and beeping their horns; the phone call where his sense of urgency was contagious. 'Mate, mate, are you with me?' He'd often fall asleep in the chair in my office where he found a really comfortable place to lie down. He had a really healthy plumber's crack. And he kept working just to top up the super. So every election campaign he'd come back. He was always saying, 'I'm just here to top up the super.' But he was always doing it for the benefit of the party.

I remember when my now colleague Milton Dick, as predecessor as state secretary, was, one day, driving back from Bundaberg to Brisbane—which is about a four-hour trip. They were just about to head out from Bundaberg when Milton turned to Lindsay and said, 'Lindsay, how did you first get involved in the Labor Party?' Four hours later, they turned up in Bundaberg while Lindsay still had a head of steam about his involvement. He was someone who joined just after the '57 split, so the history of the Queensland branch was something that Lindsay had experienced and knew very well. I also recall the Saturday morning horseracing tips that I would get from Lindsay. They were completely hopeless, but I would back them out of loyalty. Every Saturday he would ring and give his horseracing tips which he told me were a certainty.

But he was also, for me, a conduit to the past. I think about all the people who worked with him whilst he was at party office on and off for such a long period: Jackie Trad, the current Deputy Premier; Andrew Fraser, a former Deputy Premier; Milton Dick and Jim Chalmers from the other house; current minister in Queensland Shannon Fentiman; and a backbench MP Linus Power. We all grew up with Wayne Goss as Premier. That was our experience. But Lindsay was someone who really taught us that whilst you're in government you need to make the most of it. He was that reminder of the past that it isn't always a Labor government in Queensland and the need to make the most of your opportunities. Whilst I'm not speaking for all of them that were influenced by Lindsay, I have no doubt that, like me, we use his skills, his ideas and his lessons every day in this place and in the work that we do as representatives of the people. He was such a tremendous influence on so many people for such a long time.

In recent years, since Lindsay retired, we'd have lunch or coffee regularly. These were less frequent after I left party office because Lindsay lived very close by. But it says so much about Lindsay that, at his memorial service, there was a part of his life that I really hadn't fully appreciated. One of the speakers at his memorial service was Steve Haddan, who wrote a book on the history of Brisbane rugby league. He spoke glowingly of Lindsay and his involvement in rugby league, but also as a teacher at Toowoomba Grammar. He spoke about how at Lindsay's wedding to Norma—and they had a long relationship together—that he had a groomsman like Alan Jones. He coached Toowoomba Grammar to their first athletics championship. I knew of his involvement in the Labor Party, but he had such a remarkable life outside of the Labor Party—that was a real eye-opener for me.

The last time I saw Lindsay, I took him to a speech that Steve Haddan was giving about the history of rugby league in Brisbane. Afterwards, we went and had lunch up at Paddington, where we talked politics, just like we'd done for 17 years. It was such a great opportunity for me, and something that I will look back on so fondly—that we had that one last opportunity to do something that we had been doing for 17 years.

I'd like to pay tribute to Lindsay. He was an insightful and passionate visionary. He was someone who was a friend to so many people and a mentor to so many people, and particularly women MPs in Queensland. He was a really instrumental driving force in getting so many women elected to parliament. My thoughts are with Norma, his wife; Glen and Meg, his children, and their extended family at this time. Rest in peace, Lindsay Jones.