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

I move:

That the Senate records its deep regret at the death, on 23 March 2017, of the Honourable Ian Louis Robinson, former Minister and Member for Cowper and Page, 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.

Ian Robertson was born on 27 March 1925—92 years ago today in Coraki in New South Wales. He spent all his life in northern New South Wales. Before entering parliament he worked as a dairy farmer, as a journalist and as a company director. His political career spanned an impressive 37 years. He was first elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as the member for Cowper in 1953 at the age of only 28. He held that seat for 10 years. His initial political association on the north coast of New South Wales was with Sir Earle Page, the then member for Cowper, who was an early mentor of Ian Robertson.

Sir Earle Page lost the seat of Cowper to the Labor Party in the 1961 election—the only time the Labor Party has ever taken that prized Country Party, now National Party, seat. In 1963, Ian Robinson was endorsed as the Country Party candidate for Cowper, which he won at the 1963 federal election having resigned from the New South Wales parliament after 10 years of service. He was elected as the member for Cowper at the 1963 election, and successfully contested the seat at every election until 1984, when he changed to the seat of Page. There is a certain appropriateness in the fact that Ian Robinson, having been a protege of Sir Earle Page, first represented in the House of Representatives Sir Earle Page's seat of Cowper and then represented the seat named for Sir Earle Page. He continued as the member for Page until his defeat in 1990 in the Labor swing of that year.

A profile of Ian Robinson in the House of Representatives magazine of 18 September 1984 describes him thus, 'Ian Robinson is a strong speaker, particularly off-the-cuff, and says he has always taken the view that political statements should be based on the strongest facts.' If only that were always the case. On one occasion when he was elected, he was unopposed; on another occasion, so strong was his support that he was not opposed by an official Labor Party candidate.

During his 27 years of service in the House of Representatives, Ian Robinson served as Assistant Minister to the Postmaster-General, Sir Alan Hulme. In fact, his appointment to that position on 20 August 1971—after the first reshuffle of the McMahon government following the resignation of then Mr John Gorton as Minister for Defence—means that he was one of the very last members appointed to the frontbench of the coalition government that had served Australia for 23 years, between 1949 and 1972. Of course he went out of office with the election of the Whitlam government in 1972. During the period of Malcolm Fraser's leadership of the opposition, he served as the shadow spokesman on decentralised development, but, with the election of the Fraser government in December 1975, he was not included on the frontbench. He did, however, serve as deputy chair of committees from 1976 to 1983.

Upon his death, the current member for Page, Mr Kevin Hogan, had this to say in valediction of the late Ian Robinson:

Ian will be greatly missed …

[He] represented the community for 37 years with distinction – a community that he loved …

     …      …      …

In many ways he was a mentor [of mine] and I thank him for his encouragement, advice and support over the years.

Mr Gulaptis, the member for Clarence in state parliament, said:

Ian was true blue all his life. He was born in Coraki in 1925 and after a distinguished political career spanning 37 years … he never stopped fighting for country people right through his failing health.

He will be sorely missed by a community he loved …

I never had the opportunity to meet the late Mr Robinson, but it is very obvious, from the esteem in which he is held by those who knew him and from the political career of such a long span that he enjoyed, that he was one of the great old Country Party warriors for regional Australia. They are not a dying breed—we see them today in people like the Deputy Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce—but they are a particular type in Australian politics: a type of person who is patriotic, community minded, fiercely loyal to his constituents, fiercely loyal to and beloved of that part of Australia that he represents. So in reflecting on the life and career and achievements of the late Ian Robinson, we reflect upon all that is good in a public life well served and we offer our condolences to his widow, Florence, his family and his many friends.