Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, on indulgence, I pay tribute to Emeritus Professor Frank Fenner, who died yesterday at the age of 95. Professor Fenner was one of Australia’s greatest scientists and a man of exceptional integrity, modesty and generosity of spirit. During World War II, he helped lead the effort to control malaria in Papua New Guinea, which had been badly affected and which hampered Australia’s war effort. After postwar studies he became a foundation professor at the Australian National University and an original member of the Australian Academy of Science. His finest hour was in helping to oversee the eradication of smallpox, which killed and disfigured millions of people each year. Frank Fenner was a selfless benefactor to scientific causes and in retirement maintained a productive output of books and articles. Until recently, he attended his office at the ANU, his red jumper a familiar sight around Canberra. Professor Fenner showed that Australians are capable of great things. Today we acknowledge his brilliance and his achievements but also the sense of public service that drove him to seek excellence in everything he did. I honour the memory of this remarkable Australian and offer my sincere condolences to his family, friends and colleagues, who today are mourning the passing of a giant.

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