Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister to the Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

It's a melancholy duty to speak on condolence in relation to a hero of our country, a hero of Melbourne, a hero of the Liberal Party and a hero of so many communities. Of course, I'm speaking about Ronald Joseph Walker AC CBE—or 'Big Ron', or Ron Walker, as he was more commonly known. I will say firstly to Ron Walker's wife, Barbara, and their three children and three grandchildren that we send our warmest wishes and thoughts at this obviously difficult time. And I say it's melancholy because, on one hand, as a city—Melbourne—and as a country we mourn the loss of such a great man as Ron. But we inevitably—and I think it's important that we do—rejoice in his life and see it as an example for all of us to try to emulate. The truth is that very few of us will be able, in any way, shape or form, to emulate what Ron Walker was able to do. And I refer to the contribution of my good friend the member for Kooyong, who outlined so many of the achievements of Ron Walker. I think each of them can be marked by service to others—service to our community, service to our city and, of course, service to our country more broadly.

Ron was a giant of Melbourne, literally and figuratively. He resurrected the city that was unflatteringly known as 'moribund Melbourne' in the early nineties, in the dark days of the recession. He played a role in delivering so many of the institutions that people like me, who grew up in Melbourne in the eighties, take for granted and that so many Melbournians, thankfully, take for granted as just being the fabric of our culture. He chaired the Victorian Major Events Company. He secured the hosting rights for the Grand Prix—and I will say how important that was, as a young man growing up in Melbourne, for our sense of identity and for the re-emergence of Melbourne and the re-emergence of Victoria in a very figurative way. It gave us a sense of confidence. For those of us who remember very fondly the Kennett years, when our numberplates said, 'Victoria—on the move', Ron Walker and the work that he did through the Victorian Major Events Company embodied that and absolutely gave us that sense of confidence and pride. We are very parochial and proud as Victorians and Melbournians, and Ron Walker gave us so much to be proud of.

He was truly a stalwart in business and politics, serving as lord mayor in the seventies, and he dedicated his very scarce spare time to the Liberal Party and our causes. He was a man who embodied our values: entrepreneurship, hard work, aspiration, pulling yourself up from your own bootstraps, doing it yourself. Ron was someone from humble beginnings who achieved so much. He embodied what we stand for, and it was a great honour for our party to have somebody of his status and stature support so many members of parliament and support our Liberal cause more broadly.

This was a man who served his community in countless ways. Towards the end of his life, his generous philanthropy and work for causes such as access to life-saving and life-extending medicines came to the fore. No doubt, Ron Walker had engaged in philanthropy in those ways throughout his adult life, but he gained greater notoriety and greater public acclaim, particularly for the work that he did campaigning to get the drug Keytruda added to the PBS. There will be countless Australians who benefit from that campaign whom you can add to the list of countless Australians who, in some way, shape or form, benefitted from Ron Walker's life, benefitted from the work that he did on behalf of others. I, therefore, again, extend my deep condolences to Barbara Walker, their three children and three grandchildren, and thank them for supporting Ron to enable him to make a difference to the lives of so many. We've lost a true giant of our country, of Melbourne and of the Liberal Party. May he rest in peace. God rest his soul.

See this speech in context