David Jull (Fadden, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a great privilege for me to speak in this particular debate tonight. I would like to extend to Lady Cotton and to all members of her family my deep condolences. I first met Sir Robert Cotton after I had first stood for a seat in this place in 1974. The result of that election was that I was beaten, but not by many votes, and we undertook a major campaign for the next 18 months until the 1975 election came about. Sir Robert Cotton was a very great help indeed to me at that time. I appreciated his advice then, I appreciated his help then, and I certainly appreciated his advice when I came to this place early in 1976.

But, even more than during that time, it was during the period that I served as the shadow minister for tourism and aviation that I think Sir Robert and I probably came to know each other in this place. He indeed was full of advice. I contacted him on a number of occasions seeking advice when we were in the process of making policy for those various elections, when I had responsibility for those particular areas. He served Australia well, and reference has been made earlier in this debate to the tremendous contribution that he made.

But tonight I would like to speak more specifically about my mentor and friend Sir James Killen. I was very proud indeed to be asked to represent Mr Speaker at that magnificent cathedral of St John in Brisbane for Sir James Killen’s state funeral. I think, frankly, that Sir James would have loved it. Madam Deputy Speaker Bishop, you were there. The music was magnificent. The deliveries by the Prime Minister, by the Hon. Gough Whitlam, by the head of Defence and by Bishop Adrian Charles were more than appropriate. I thought they were quite brilliant. The fact that 1,000 people were in the cathedral and many more were outside was a great tribute to Sir James and all he achieved.

I had known Sir James Killen for I think 42 years. I first met him when I was working as a young radio journalist and I was sent to interview him in the old Commonwealth parliament offices which were in Adelaide Street in Brisbane. In those days things were not quite as sophisticated or as comfortable as they are now. Every federal member in the Brisbane metropolitan area, I think, sat in one big room. There may have been one or two secretarial staff between all the members, and they did their business that way. There certainly was not much privacy. But, from then on, I think Sir James and I struck quite a chord.

Once again, when I first stood for parliament, he was a great help, and he was a tremendous help to me after I was elected in 1975. I remember a lot of the good advice Sir James gave me. One piece of advice has always stuck with me. Jim said, ‘My boy, now that you are in this place, you have a very heavy responsibility to bring to the attention of the parliament and the government of Australia the hopes and aspirations of those people you represent.’ He said: ‘My first bit of advice is to never read a speech. If you haven’t got the capacity to stand on your hind legs and make your case known in 10 to 20 minutes, you shouldn’t be in the place.’

One of the things that I miss these days is that sheer sense and capacity of some of the orators of that generation. It was one of the great highlights of my parliamentary career to be in the House on the night that the Governor-General’s address-in-reply was debated in February of 1976. The former Prime Minister Mr Whitlam gave a most magnificent, emotional and, dare I say, fierce speech. At the end of that speech, you could almost see the smoke coming out of his ears. About halfway through, the then Prime Minister, Mr Fraser, called over Killen. I was a rookie, but I sort of guessed what was going on. I think the then Prime Minister was probably scheduled to speak after Mr Whitlam, but Killen got up without a note, and it was one of the most magnificent speeches I have ever seen delivered. I would pay thousands of dollars to see an action replay of that speech again today.

Of course the story was that, after that speech, Mr Whitlam went out one door of the old Reps chamber; Killen went out the other door of the old Reps chamber, went around to the members bar and ordered a bottle of champagne and two glasses. Sir James had been quite vicious in his dissection of Mr Whitlam’s speech, but he sent around this bottle of champagne and two glasses and a note that allegedly said, ‘Gough, can we still be mates?’ Allegedly, Mr Whitlam called him around and they had a very pleasant evening together. That is part of the folklore of that place.

It was good advice that he gave all young members in those days and some others too. He told me at that time that I had to do all the shopping in my family from that moment on, because you never want to be caught out by people who thought you did not know the price of a bottle of milk. I can tell you to this day the price of a bottle of milk in my supermarket. But he was that sort of politician. Despite his tremendous capacity as an orator and his tremendous knowledge of things, he was very much a grassroots politician.

He was one of the best campaigners I think I have ever seen. Traditionally, he used to open his federal election campaigns in the suburb of Rocklea. Rocklea, in a Liberal sense, would be described as real tiger country. There are two hotels there: the Rocklea Hotel and the Highway Hotel, which were on the main road. They were frequented principally by the truckers. They were good fun, and, every campaign, Jim Killen would go out there with his entourage and he would be accompanied by the Slacks Creek Band. The Slacks Creek Band was led by Mr Keith Brough, who is the father of the Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs in this place. The band would strike up and, of course, the interest that came out of the public bars was quite immense. Killen would get on to the microphone, campaigning on the back of trucks as we did in those days, and he would really give them some, as we would say in Queensland. Of course, there were almost riots in the hotels. Killen would make his presence felt and then go into the bars and meet these fellows, and he won them every time. He had some great friends there.

I remember that, after the 1977 redistribution, I inherited some of his territory. The Holland Park Hotel was there, and that was one of my introductions to the rough and tumble of campaigning. We would go there at 11 o’clock on a Saturday morning on the back of a truck, park straight outside the public bar with these huge speakers, and blast away for 10 minutes or quarter of an hour until everybody inside was upset. Jim could not operate if he did not have interjectors. By the time the 10 minutes was up, everybody was firing and it was all good fun. Then you proceeded to move through the bars to sign them up, so to speak. He was a tremendous campaigner. He certainly was very much on the level of the people he represented. That is reflected in really the love that is being shown since Sir James, sadly, passed away. I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted.

Debate (on motion by Mr Neville) adjourned.