Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support the motion of the Prime Minister that was also spoken to by the Leader of the Opposition, about the death of the Australian boxing legend Lionel Rose. The reason I rise to speak about Lionel Rose is that I had the good fortune of meeting Lionel on quite a few occasions and entertaining him at my house on quite a few occasions. This was in 1980, after Lionel had finished his boxing career but when he was still well known and respected within the Australian sporting community. We all know that Lionel suffered some hard times during his life, but he always managed to use that spirit of his, the fighting spirit that Lionel had, to continue to get on with his life.

I would like to put on record some information that I have researched about Lionel on the biography websites. Lionel Rose's career embodied the stuff legends are made of. In a boxing career begun in a makeshift ring in a poverty-stricken Aboriginal settlement, Rose developed a crushing punch that helped him become the first Australian Aborigine to win a world championship title and the second Australian to take home a world title in boxing. His win catapulted him to fame in Australia. His lifetime career of 53 fights with only 11 losses made him a legend in the world of boxing.

Lionel Rose was born on 21 June 1948 and raised in Jacksons Track, a poor Aboriginal settlement 50 miles south of Melbourne. The eldest of nine children in an Aboriginal family, Rose was on the wrong side of a society divided by racism, mistrust and economic disparity. As a child Rose escaped racism through boxing. Rose's father, an amateur boxer, inspired Rose to don his first pair of boxing gloves at the age of 14. The pair trained in a ring made of chicken wire. Rose and his siblings also became avid fans of tent matches, which were popular boxing bouts that travelled the country, much the way a circus might. However, it was at a ring match in Melbourne that Rose found his inspiration in another Aboriginal boxer.

I'd seen plenty of tent fights when I was younger, but the great George Bracken was the first boxer I saw in the ring—

Rose told the website Vibe Australia.

His great fighting style and speed really made me take an even bigger interest in boxing than before.

Rose began his amateur boxing career under the guidance of trainer Frank Oakes. He later married Oakes' daughter Jenny. Rose won his first big fight in 1963, the day after the death of his father. By the end of that year Rose had won Australia's national amateur flyweight title. Flyweight is one of the lowest weight classifications in boxing, with an upper limit of 112 pounds. In 1964, Rose narrowly missed being selected for the Australian Olympic team. By that time Rose knew he wanted to make a career of boxing and decided to go professional. In 1964, Rose began his professional training at Jack Rennie's Melbourne gym. Rennie, a legendary figure in Australian boxing, worked Rose hard often pairing him with Mick Croucher, a more experienced boxer 20 pounds heavier than Rose. Croucher recalled to the World Boxing Foundation website:

Champions are born not made and [Rose] had enormous natural ability. Some people work hard in training and are very dedicated but to be a champion in any sport a person must be born with a natural gift and Lionel was fortunate enough to have that.

Under Rennie, Rose moved to the bantamweight division, with a weight limit of 118 pounds. He also developed what the Age described as an 'easy style married to a tooth-shaking straight left to the clenched jaws of all who came against him'. In September 1964, Rose won his first professional bout in eight rounds. He won his next four fights in a row. In all of 1965, Rose lost only one fight. Between January and October 1966, Rose won six of seven matches, qualifying to compete for Australia's bantamweight title. On October 28, 1966, Rose beat the reigning champion, Noel Kunde, in a 15-round decision to win the title. Rose went on to win his next nine matches, including a 13-round challenge to his title in December 1967. That fight made Rose famous in Australia, as his challenger Rocky Gatellari was expected to win. Yet that fame was nothing compared to what was about to come.

By 1968 Rose had a fight record of 29 wins and two losses. He was the two-time Australian bantamweight champion and had developed quite a following in the boxing world. Boxing promoters at the international level took notice and offered Rose a chance to fight then bantamweight world champion Masahiko 'Fighting' Harada at a title match in Tokyo. The Japanese fighter was already a legend in the ring, having successfully defended his world title five times. Rose was eager to take him on. His trainer Rennie was not so sure. According to the World Boxing Foundation website Rennie thought Rose, then barely 19 years old, 'wasn't yet ready for a World Title shot'. Nonetheless, Rose accepted the challenge. Rose arrived in Tokyo six weeks prior to the fight to train extensively and assimilate to the Japanese culture. Despite his preparations, no-one considered him a threat to Harada's title. Boxing scholar Jim Amato noted on the Inside Boxing website:

When this Australian entered the ring to face Harada he was a prohibitive underdog. Very few gave him a legitimate chance.

Rose ignored the naysayers and entered the ring with confidence. The website actually says: 'An estimated 30 million Australians'—but I am sure it would have been more like three million—'tuning in by radio and television, entered with optimism.' The website further states:

Rose started the fight by holding back, a stance which caught Harada off-guard. I expected Rose to come in and attack first but he didn't. So I started to take the initiative myself. That is where I made a mistake," Harada told The Age. After the third round, despite injuring his hand, Rose told Rennie, "Don't worry about me; this bloke can't punch," noted The Age. That seemed true throughout much of the fight as Harada unleashed a volley of punches that Rose either ducked or absorbed without much notice. Meanwhile, Rose landed several stunning blows to the champ. "By the end of the flight the desperate champion was chasing Rose round the ring," wrote The Age. After 15 rounds, Rose became the new World Bantamweight Title. The disappointed Japanese crowd was stunned, but gave Rose a respectful ovation as he struggled to hold aloft the massive title trophy. Rennie proudly told The Age, '[Rose] was a boy doing a man's work, and he did it well. He was in a strange country, among a strange crowd, and he did not let this worry him.'

When Rose returned to Melbourne, he was met by an estimated quarter of a million people lining the streets to welcome him home. 'It was simply unbelievable,' Rose told Vibe Australia. 'To fulfil my ultimate dream and then be met by so many people was amazing. My picture was all over the newspapers and it made me realise how much it meant to everyone.' Later that year he was named Australian of the Year, the first Aborigine to receive such an honour. Rose had not only become an Australian hero; he had also become an Aboriginal icon. 'To see the way that my people looked at me and to know that I made a difference to them was an honour,' he told Vibe Australia. Rose refused to get involved in political issues, instead helping Aborigines, often children, at a grassroots level. One example occurred in 1999 when Rose gave his championship belt to an Aboriginal child who had been set on fire in a racially motivated attack.

In the late sixties and early seventies, Rose continued to fight successfully He defended his title three times: in July 1968; once again in Tokyo; in December 1968, in Inglewood, California; and in March 1969, in front of record crowds in Melbourne. The Inglewood match was memorable for two reasons. The challenger was a Mexican boxer, Chucho Castillo, and the fans were evenly split, with Americans rooting for Rose and Latin Americans pulling for Castillo. When Rose won in a decision after the 15th round, the crowd erupted into a riot. Over a dozen people, including a boxing official, were hospitalised.

Despite the sensation the riot made in the press, the most impressive moment for Rose during his California visit was meeting Elvis Presley:

I was punching a heavy bag in a gym in L.A., and I hear a voice sing out, "Hey, Lionel! What's doin'?" "And it was Elvis himself," Rose recalled to The Age. "I was in awe of him, but he said he was in awe of me." Music had been a part of Rose's life for even longer than boxing. He had learned to play guitar as a child and was never without one. "You're never lonesome with your guitar," Rose told The Age.

In 1969 Rose appeared on a televised variety show, singing along to his guitar. Australian producer and songwriter Johnny Young caught Rose's act and offered to pen a song for the boxer. The result was "Thank You," Rose's first single. The song reached the No. 1 spot in Australia's country charts. The following year Rose, again, made the charts with a cover of the country classic Pick Me Up On Your Way Down. Rose began touring as a musician when not boxing and, in 1970, recorded two albums for the Festival label. One of those, Jackson's Track, is considered a lost classic in Australian country music circles. Back in the boxing ring, Rose had a couple more successful fights before he fought Mexican boxer Ruben Olivares in August of 1969. Olivares, who went on to become a boxing legend, knocked Rose out in the fifth round, taking the world championship title. Rose fought seven more bouts over the next year and a half, winning five. However, he had begun to have trouble keeping his weight down to bantam levels. 'I used to spit a real lot in order to lose an ounce,' he recalled to the Age. By 1971 Rose was up to the lightweight category that had a weight limit of 135 pounds. In that division he fought unsuccessfully in a bid for the Australian lightweight title. By the end of 1971 he had gone down to the superfeatherweight level that had a weight limit of 130 pounds. In that category he made an unsuccessful bid for the world title in Japan. After that loss, Rose decided to hang up his gloves. He did not fight again for four years.

Rose interrupted his retirement and returned to the ring in 1975. However, after losing four of six bouts, he retired from the sport for good in 1976. Over the next few decades, Rose worked odd jobs, including running a cafe and performing as a musician. He soon fell on hard times due to alcoholism. At his lowest point, he was arrested for his role in a robbery attempt. Despite these setbacks, Rose remained a hero for both Aboriginal and white Australians. In 1991, a biography of Rose, called Rose Against the Odds, was published. In 1995 a full-length movie of the same name was released. Ten years later, Rose was honoured with an Australian stamp bearing a replica of his boxing gloves. That same year he was honoured with a Deadly Award for lifetime achievement in sports, one of Australia's most prestigious Aboriginal awards.

I would like to get on the record a couple of quotes by his peers. As the member for Bennelong will know, we all get a lot of plaudits when we are successful in sport but some of the most meaningful are the ones you get from your peers who played a sport with you. You understand those people. Jeff Fenech, who clawed his way out of working-class Marrickville in Sydney's inner west to win three world titles, told the Australian:

Lionel was simply brilliant, arguably the most gifted fighter this country ever produced.

Barry Michael, another famous Australian boxer, recalled:

Lionel would often jab with triple left hooks and thrown at incredible hand speed.

Australian boxing historian Paul Upham said:

Rose's win against Rocky Gattellari, himself a former WBC flyweight world title contender, at the old Sydney Stadium, remains one of the best pound-per-pound bouts in the annals of the sport in this country.

Lionel was to win with a knockout in the 13th round with a straight right hand and it was the very first boxing match televised interstate by the Seven Network.

I applaud the career and the life of Lionel Rose. It was a pleasure to have met him and entertain him in my home during a time when he was going through a tough period. He was a champion bloke and an Australian legend.

Sitting suspended from 13:08 to 16:00

Deborah O'Neill (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to put on the record my condolences on the passing of Lionel Rose, the famous Australian boxer. The condolence motion was discussed a little earlier this morning. Sadly, Mr Deputy Speaker Murphy, you were not here to hear the words of the member for Swan, who gave a quite detailed history and a very personal testimony to the life of Lionel Rose and what he contributed to Australian society. I also acknowledge the presence in the chamber of the member for Hasluck as the first Indigenous member in the House of Representatives. He shares with Lionel Rose that he was a first in Australian history, as Lionel was the first Australian of the Year and I think the first Australian champion in his teens as well. So there are a number of firsts happening here.

Lionel Rose was born in the late 1940s and grew up in Victoria in an Aboriginal settlement called Jackson's Track. The history is that his dad was a boxer, and the talent obviously ran in the family. Lionel Rose's talent was identified when he was quite young. Clearly Lionel saw an opportunity to use his talents to advance his life. By the age of 14 he was well engaged in boxing. By the age of 19, after a very short period of time—a space of just five years—he became the bantamweight champion of the world against Fighting Harada in Japan. I also recall, from when I was a young girl, not just the energy around that fight with Fighting Harada but also the fight with Rocky Gattellari.

As much as I might not be the person in this parliament who is most associated with boxing, in the absence of there being an eldest son in my family I sufficed, as the eldest daughter, as my father's companion in watching the boxing on the television on many, many evenings. It was a great passion of his to follow the boxing, so I was given the commentary of his view of many fights over many years. I recall very fondly the time I spent with my dad and the pride we felt watching Lionel Rose and his progress to the world championship, as well as the things that happened in the time that followed.

We listened on the radio, as well, to the reports of that boxing match. I can still recall the energy all these years later, even though I was only a child at the time. I can still recall how it captured a part of the imagination of Australians that an Aboriginal person was representing us, and we were very proud to be associated with Lionel's great success. One of the images I also recall is the victory parade that greeted Lionel on his return. For me there is an image of him in a sports car and of a ticker tape parade. How appropriate that such great recognition by a quarter of a million people was given to such a fighting hero of our nation.

The Prime Minister yesterday recorded Lionel Rose's success, a career of 42 wins from 53 bouts—no mean achievement—and, in fact, 12 knockouts amongst those successes. His refusal to fight in South Africa was also noted by the Prime Minister. We understand the courage and conviction of the man who lay beneath the fighter in that action.

As much as I enjoyed watching the boxing with my father, I think a more enduring love in my life has been a love of music. I can absolutely recall as a young girl hearing Lionel Rose's voice singing I Thank You for Just Being You. What good words they are to have as we remember him today. He was the first Aboriginal person that I knew, through the television. In my world there were no people in my class who identified as Aboriginal. There were no people in my community that I was familiar with who were Aboriginal. Lionel Rose was the first Aboriginal person that I met through the media.

I recall a man with a great smile, a man of humility, a man who was a world champion and a man who was seen as a hero. He is an inspiration and that is why I am pleased to be speaking here to this condolence motion. He is an inspiration to all young Australians, an ideal that teens might achieve great things, that they might become the very best in the world in their teen years and that success at that level is not only for the old but for those who have talent at any age. He is an inspiration to the first peoples of this nation: to follow your dreams, to believe in yourself and to achieve recognition not just in our own country as an Australian of the Year—the first Aboriginal Australian of the Year—but internationally, for the talents that lie within when they are unleashed are a great thing.

Also, for all Australians generally, he was a complex man. He lived a rich life—a tapestry of great times and also great sorrows, as we heard from the member for Swan. But he was a man of particular talents in the fields of sport and music. One of his own songs was titled I Thank You for Just Being You, but I am sure that there are many Australians today who would say, 'I thank you, Lionel Rose, for just being you and the great joy you brought to our lives.'

Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak with pride on the condolence motion for Lionel Rose, an Aboriginal champion boxer, who served as an inspiration to many Australians but, particularly to Aboriginal people, he was a hero. Lionel Edward Rose was born on 21 June 1948 at Jackson's Track near Jindivick, Victoria, Australia and passed away at Warragul, Victoria, Australia, on 8 May, aged 62. In 2007 he had a stroke that left him partially paralysed. He had an impressive boxing record of 42 wins, with 12 wins by knockouts and 11 losses, out of a total of 53 fights. Lionel Rose was heralded as one of this country's greatest sporting heroes yet he was humble and down to earth. He will be missed by his family, but equally by the many he touched.

I want to use the words of Alan Duff from his book Maori Heroes:

Every family, group, tribe, race and nation needs heroes. Heroes give us someone to look up to. Heroes inspire us and provide a model and standard for people to aspire to. They represent what is best in us, the qualities of courage, determination, perseverance and humility and, yes, talent and intelligence. The first qualities listed are a necessity but the latter two are not. The most ordinary person is capable of being a hero.

Lionel Rose was our hero. David Horton's entry in the Encyclopedia of Aboriginal Australia, publishedby the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, appears on pages 954 to 955:

Lionel Rose, Australian boxer. Lionel Rose was born in the early 1940s. He was one of Australia's most successful boxers. Lionel grew up in an Aboriginal settlement called Jackson's Track in Victoria. When Lionel was growing up he studied his father, who was also a boxer. Lionel saw boxing as an escape from the poor living in the country. He ended up winning his first Australian amateur flyweight title when he was just 15. One of Lionel's greatest achievements was winning a world title. Although he was not the first Aboriginal to win a world title he was the first boxer to do so. Rose won the bantamweight title in 1968 against Harada from Japan. He was also only the second Australian to win a world title while still in his teens. After Lionel missed out on the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, Rose turned professional. He was trained by a Melbourne trainer named Jack Rennie. Rose entered in a fight against Rocky Gattellari at Sydney stadium. Everybody was behind Rocky Gattellari but when Lionel Rose knocked him out in round 13 the fans had a new hero. When Lionel went to Japan to fight Harada, Harada already had five successful title defences to his credit. Harada was given advice that if he hit an Aboriginal in the legs he would fall immediately. He ignored the advice and hit him in the head, but this had no effect. In the ninth round Harada dropped to his knees from a short left punch to his chin. He then opened himself to more and more punishment and Lionel went on to win that fight. Lionel Rose became a symbolic figure in the interracial politics of the times. He won his world title just a few months after the referendum which gave the Australian government new powers to advance Aboriginal rights.

Lionel was 16 when he made his professional boxing debut, and at 18 he won the Australian bantamweight title. At 19, we know that he went on to win the fight against Fighting Harada. He gained a considerable amount of weight and moved up several classes to the lightweight, but he was unable to emulate his success as a bantamweight and retired in 1976.

Lionel Rose grew up in hardship, learning to box from his father, Roy, a useful fighter on the tent-show circuit. Lionel Rose began his professional boxing career on September 1964, outpointing Mario Magriss over eight rounds. The fight was in Warragul, but the majority of Rose's fights were held in Melbourne. He lived in Melbourne with Jack and Shirley Rennie, training every day in their backyard gym.

His defeat of Harada made Rose an instant national hero in Australia, and an icon among Aboriginal people. He responded well to the public reception at Melbourne Town Hall, which was witnessed by a crowd of more than 2,000. The parade had more than 250,000 and at a point later when he was interviewed he acknowledged the impact of that crowd on him and the success that he had achieved.

Lionel Rose of course was Australian of the Year in 1968, the first Aboriginal person to be awarded the honour. In 1996, Rose presented young burns-attack victim Tjandamurra O'Shane with his world-title belt, helping to speed the youngster's recovery. Tjandamurra had been the victim of a racially charged attack in Cairns the previous year. In 2007 Lionel Rose suffered a stroke that left him with speech and movement difficulties.

I also want to share with you the person Lionel Rose was. I cite an article by Cathy Bedford in which she wrote a personality profile. This profile gives an insight into Lionel Rose the person. To do her work justice, I will quote her article faithfully:

Lionel grew up in an Aboriginal settlement called Jackson's Track near the Gippsland town of Drouin in the 1940s. Born into a large family with tight budgets Lionel was forced to bring in money to support his eight younger brothers and sisters.

He instantly looked to his father, a professional boxer in the travelling tent-show circuit. Tragically Lionel's father and greatest boxing mentor died when he was 14 before he could see his son fight professionally.

I went from nothing to something, you know what I mean … in an instant ... I got the shock of my life

“He saw one amateur fight and I won that." Lionel says. "Of course he was over the moon about that. He used to talk all the time about the boxing he showed me the real fundamentals of it. So by the time I got to the gym I trained under another fella named Frank Oakes; actually ended up marrying his daughter too.”

Lionel's path to glory was not as straight forward. A young country boy taken swiftly to the bright lights of Melbourne. From small-time bouts to a chance at the big time.

“I went from nothing to something, you know what I mean…in an instant. When we got back to Melbourne so many people lined the streets to welcome you home at the town hall. And that’s a memory that will never disappear from my mind. I got the shock of my life anyway. Especially because there were only 10 to see us off when we went over there to fight for the title.”

“I wanted to go home after a fortnight, I couldn’t hack the noise it was all that." Lionel says. "You know the city and the country it’s all differences you know. I was 16 or 17 and I couldn’t be doing the things that other 16 year olds do today."

I ended up cutting the song at Armstrong Studios in South Melbourne and blow me down it became number one within a fortnight. And it stayed at number one for 32 weeks.

"I had to be up at 6 o’clock running, I had to go to work during the day and then come home and train and then into bed again, I did that for six years… But it made a name for me and I’ve met some terrific people in my travels.”

“That was in Los Angeles, we went out to MGM studios with Elvis Presley for about three hours. I was in awe of him anyway. We were the first allowed on his set in 10 years.”

But singing was to be Lionel's triumph too. Who would have thought the poor boy from Jackson’s track could progress from the musical domain of his lounge room to the heights of the Australian musical charts with the song 'Pick me up on your way down'.

“I did a show on Channel Seven called Sunny Side Up and sung a song called Pick me up on your way down." Lionel says. "Anyhow, Johnny Young came around to the gym and look he said ‘I’ve got a song here, I’d like to record if you want to do it?’ I said ‘Nah I’m not into that I only sing in the bathroom or in the lounge room with the brothers and sisters’."

"But he persevered and I ended up cutting the song at Armstrong Studios in South Melbourne and blow me down it became number one within a fortnight. And it stayed at number one for 32 weeks that song."

But now, 25 years after he stepped out of the ring for the last time he has finally got his wish and returned to his roots in Gippsland.

“Well I’m doing good at the moment, thank you very much. It’s all clear ahead so I’m just enjoying life at the moment.”

“My mum only lives 5 mile away in Drouin so I’m back with my family, and I really am enjoying life immensely at the moment. I’ve got a hell of a lot of friends here, so there’s no shortage of that you know.”

“I’ve got fond memories of growing up here. They were probably the best times in my life. But life wasn’t too hard, we lived in a community, there were uncles and aunties living next door and down the road a bit so it was a family thing.”

“If you go down the track a bit and you look back, you realise that the days at Jacksons track were black tea and damper days but the fond memories I have of it are incredible.”

Lionel Rose never lost his connections to his community nor his family. He cherished the times when he was boxing at the height of his career and many of the memories he shared with those of us who he knew. But equally he was as content back within his community, because the memories of where you grow up, your totems and the significance of the land around you, becomes important.

Lionel, you gave all Australians a hero to be proud of. In keeping with the lyrics of your song, thank you for being you. Rest in peace in the presence of the Almighty.

Geoff Lyons (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to acknowledge the life of Lionel Edward Rose. I mourn his passing. I will not go through the facts and figures that I have before me that others have covered and will cover. I think of my times in the YMCA boxing ring and when I went to the local shows, with Harry Paulsen beating the drum and asking people to roll up. As a kid, I always rolled up. There were always plenty of Aboriginal fighters. I had the good fortune of playing football with many Aboriginal players. In fact, every club that I played with had at least one Aboriginal player. But in Tasmanian in 1968 they did not stand up and talk about their Aboriginality. Lionel Rose not only gave Australia a hero but gave Tasmanian Aboriginals a hero and made them stand that bit prouder. I remember in 1968 listening to him fight Fighting Harada. What a great feeling that was for Australia. I am involved with Australian Rules footy and each year we have an Indigenous round. We have people like Syd Jackson come down and talk to us about Australian Aborigines and what a wonderful contribution they have made to sport. Before I embarrass myself any further I just want to say he was a hero. I bought his songs, although I did not buy too many records. I think I Thank You was a great song for our nation at the time. Pick Me Up on Your Way Downwe could still live with those words today, couldn't we? And Please Remember MeI certainly do.

John Murphy (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Lyons, and you certainly did not embarrass yourself.

John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the sad and premature passing of one of our greatest ever sporting legends. It is rather difficult to do this after my friends the member for Hasluck and the member for Bass so vividly demonstrated what Lionel Rose did for our generation in bringing us together. He was born and raised in Jacksons Track, south-east of Melbourne, one of the few remaining untouched Aboriginal communities at the time. Lionel grew up in the most difficult of circumstances. He learned to box from his father, Roy, who was an amateur fighter. Initially, when he could not afford gloves, he wrapped his hands in rags and he boxed in a ring made of fencing wire stretched between trees. There was no such thing as rope-a-dope for Lionel. He was given his first gloves at the age of 10 by a press photographer.

Lionel commenced organised training at the age of 15 under a local trainer, Frank Oakes; Lionel would later marry his daughter Jenny. Soon after, he won the Australian amateur flyweight title. He turned professional in 1964 after missing out on selection for the 1964 Olympic Games. He moved to Melbourne and lived with Jack and Shirley Rennie. Jack became his trainer and they worked out every day in their backyard gym. Interestingly, Harry Hopman was a great friend of Jack Rennie and a great fan of boxing. He took two young Australian tennis players who were living and training with him at the time to see Lionel do his farewell spar before he went to Los Angeles to defend his title: Phil Dent and I got to meet Lionel at that time. We were so impressed with his gentleness and with his incredible modesty. He was already a world champion at 19.

He built up a flawless record in Australia and New Zealand, leading to winning the Australian bantamweight title in October 1966. He continued to win belts, including a famous knockout win against Rocky Gattellari at Sydney Stadium. He then challenged the legendary national hero Fighting Harada for the world bantamweight title on 26 February 1968 in Tokyo. He was an enormous underdog; he was said to be too young to fight at this level. He made history by becoming the first Aboriginal Australian to win a world championship. He defeated Harada in 15 gruelling rounds.

This win made Rose an instant national hero and an icon among Aboriginal Australians. He was welcomed back to Melbourne by 250,000 fans to celebrate his great success. Rose defended his title again in Tokyo and in California, where the disappointed local crowds started a riot; the referee needed hospitalisation and over a dozen spectators were also treated. He retired in 1971, with a brief but unsuccessful comeback attempt in 1975.

Lionel Rose became the first Indigenous Australian to be awarded Australian of the Year in 1968, the same year he was awarded an MBE. In 2003, he was an inaugural inductee into the Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame. He was featured on an Australia Post stamp two years later and also awarded the Ella Lifetime Achievement Award for contribution to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sport. Lionel went on to have a musical career. In 1970 he released two hit ballads: I Thank You and Please Remember Me. The song I Thank You was a nationwide hit, more recently used by the comedians Roy and HG as a substitute for the Australian national anthem during their sporting broadcasts.

After retiring from boxing Lionel remained an inspiration for Indigenous Australians. In 1996 Lionel gave his world title belt to a six-year-old Indigenous boy, Tjandamurra O'Shane, who was the innocent victim of a horrific schoolyard attack, suffering burns to 70 per cent of his body. Lionel hoped the belt would give O'Shane hope for a speedy recovery. In 2008 O'Shane completed year 12 and graduated from Woree State High School, providing a great joy for Lionel, who had suffered a stroke earlier that year.

An award-winning film of his life, a documentary called Lionel, premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival in 2008. The film explored his rise and his struggle with the dimensions of being a mythic sporting figure, showing the contrast between hero and the man. The film is not just a tribute to an icon but an honest portrayal of a complex and conflicted human being. The filmmaker added the by-line: 'Lionel's imperfections may be larger than life, but so is his heart.'

Lionel Rose was an inspiration to his people, many of whom experience great hopelessness in white society. Lionel showed that anything is possible, that a poor young Indigenous boy could rise to be a world champion and become a national hero. It is a beautiful irony that, on the same day that Lionel passed, Daniel Geale, another young Australian with Indigenous heritage, won the IBF middleweight championship in Germany, becoming only the fourth Australian born boxer to win a title on foreign soil.

Legendary trainer Johnny Lewis said:

I think Lionel Rose showed indigenous Australians that they could achieve anything if they worked hard, but he was an inspiration for all Australians.

Even current boxing champion Anthony Mundine, one not normally renowned for sharing the limelight, described Lionel Rose as the best Australian fighter ever. Lionel also became a symbol of the political discourse of the time, as debate on racial equality and Indigenous rights was the defining issue of the day. He turned professional the same year as the Freedom Ride and won his world title one year after the 1967 referendum.

It is interesting that Lionel found his fame in the manly art of self-defence, yet he displayed the most extraordinary level of gentleness. I grew up with a girl called Evonne Goolagong. Evonne showed the same extraordinary gentleness, as did Cathy Freeman later on. All three shared an incredible physical grace. In Lionel's case it belied his speed and also belied the power with which he hit. This unusual mix of manliness and gentleness produced in Lionel Rose, our champion, a gentle man. Thank you.

Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My contribution will only be brief. I would like to place on record my tribute to a truly great Australian. Lionel Rose was a role model for not only Indigenous Australians but all Australians. Whilst I am not a person who is usually a boxing fan, I can remember where I was and what I was doing at the particular time that Lionel Rose won his world title. His win had a great impact in my community, which had a large Indigenous population. It had an empowering effect on those people, especially when he was made Australian of the Year. That showed just what a groundbreaking person he was and the impact he had on our society. The songs he wrote and the contribution he made crossed so many different layers of our society. I briefly place on the record of this House my appreciation and thanks for the work that he did.

Russell Matheson (Macarthur, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I pay tribute to a great man and legend, Mr Lionel Rose MBE, who passed away on Sunday, 8 May 2011. I would also like to express my deepest sympathy and pass on my condolences to his family and friends. In 1968, when Lionel Rose beat Japanese boxer 'Fighting' Harada, Lionel became a role model for Aboriginal people throughout Australia. Lionel was a great champion and was rightly hailed as Australia's first Aboriginal world champion, with over 100,000 people attending a civic reception in his honour at Melbourne Town Hall. In that same year, Lionel was made Australian of the Year—what a great tribute to a great man. He was an absolute legend and a champion for his people and all Australians.

Lionel Rose was a remarkable man admired by all. He was a wonderful human being and it is fitting that he will be honoured with a state funeral. In a Sydney Morning Herald article on 9 May, Australian boxing trainer Johnny Lewis said:

It seems incredible that on the same day Lionel Rose leaves us Daniel Geale becomes a world champion.

Mr Lewis goes on to say:

Daniel is very proud of his indigenous background and the way was opened for Daniel by Lionel Rose and Tony Mundine. They were great role models. I think Lionel Rose showed Indigenous Australians that they could achieve anything if they worked hard, but he was an inspiration to all Australians.

This was a wonderful tribute to Lionel Rose by the legendary boxing trainer Johnny Lewis. Only four Australians have won world titles overseas—Jimmy Carruthers, Lionel Rose, Jeff Harding and a local boy from my Macarthur electorate, Daniel Geale. Daniel is a resident of Harrington Park; he trains at the Grange Old School Boxing gym at Smeaton Grange. Even though Daniel was born in Launceston, Tasmania, in recent years he has resided in the Macarthur electorate. Daniel won gold at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and turned professional in 2004. In December of that year, he won the world IBO middleweight championship. On 8 May, Daniel won the IBF middleweight world championship—an amazing achievement. I am proud to say that my office gave Daniel the Aboriginal flag that he took with him to Germany for the world championship this year.

Daniel Geale is the latest Aboriginal champion to become a role model for the Aboriginal youth in my electorate. I am proud to be the member for Macarthur, a place where Aboriginal heritage is valued and cherished. The Macarthur region is home to one of the largest urban concentrations of Aboriginal people in Sydney. There are more than 5,000 Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people living in the Macarthur region, representing approximately 2.3 per cent of the total population of my electorate. The median age for Indigenous residents in Macarthur is 17 years, compared to 32 years for the general population.

Macarthur over the years has produced many Aboriginal role models in sports, the arts, policing and education. People such as Djon Mundine, our internationally recognised Aboriginal curator at the Campbelltown Arts Centre; Constable Brenton Magee, a Campbelltown police officer and a great role model for local Aboriginal youth; and Frances Bodkin, a botanical author, teacher and traditional storyteller at the at the Mount Annan Botanic Gardens, who was recently one of 100 Indigenous women across the country recognised for their tireless contribution to the community. That is to name just a few of our local Aboriginal people who have made a significant contribution to our community. I am sure that Lionel would not mind me mentioning other inspirational Aboriginal leaders here today. There are many throughout all our communities. Lionel Rose was a quiet, unassuming Australian, a role model not only for Aboriginal people but for all Australians. He was a national hero for us all. It has been said that Lionel Rose's decency redefined sportsmanship. Lionel Rose led by example and remained a man of the people. There will never be enough accolades to celebrate the wonderful life of Lionel Rose and his contribution to humanity and Australian society. I am pleased to inform the House that Daniel Geale has these same attributes. I have no doubt that he will also become a role model for the youth of Australia and follow in the same footsteps as the great Lionel Rose, who will always be remembered.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to pay tribute to Lionel Edward Rose MBE, world titleholder, Australian of the Year and modest singer, who overnight became an instant Australian hero and an icon amongst Aboriginal Australians—indeed, all Australians. Rose stayed true to his roots and his life throughout the rags to riches tale. He came from very modest beginnings to the highest level of international sport, taking the hopes of a nation with him. On 26 February 1968, Rose made history by becoming the first Aboriginal Australian to win a world champion boxing title. That same year, Rose was also awarded Australian of the Year, making him the first Aboriginal Australian to be awarded the honour.

Lionel Rose was born and raised at Jacksons Track near the Victorian town of Warragul. He grew up in hardship, learning to box from his father, a useful fighter on the tent show circuit. Yet it was a friendship Lionel Rose forged with local press photographer Graham Walsh, who later introduced him to local Warragul trainer Frank Oakes, which launched him into the fighting circuit. The making of his career was once described by boxing historian Grantlee Kieza as aboxer who 'sparred with rags on his hands in a ring made from fencing wire stretched between trees'.

At the tender age of 16, Lionel Rose narrowly missed out on selection for the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. However, this was the year he began his professional boxing career on 9 September, when he outpointed Mario Magriss over eight rounds at a professional fight in Warragul. Over the next 18 months, Lionel Rose had a record of 13 wins, one loss and one knockout. It was on 26 October 1966 that he won the Australian bantamweight title. He won that title in a gruelling 15-round decision. Lionel Rose challenged Japanese boxer Fighting Harada for the world bantamweight title and won, again in a gruelling 15-round decision. On 8 March 1969, Lionel Rose retained the title with yet another 15-round decision over British boxer Alan Rudkin, but lost the title five months later in a fifth round knockout. Thinking that his career was over, Lionel Rose continued to box, but only unknown fighters. However, after a 10-round decision on 10 October 1970, when he upset Japanese lightweight champion Ishimatsu Suzuki, he once again positioned himself as a world title challenger.

All in all, in his professional boxing career Lionel Rose compiled a record of an impressive 42 wins, 11 losses and 12 wins by knockout. During his time off from boxing in the 1970s he became a modest Australian singer, releasing one album and two singles. His climb to the top from the lower end of society made him personable to Australians and a pillar to the Aboriginal community.

In 2007, Lionel Rose sadly suffered a stroke which left him with limited speech and movement. However, it was a short illness which took his life on 8 May 2011, at the all too young age of 62. Lionel Rose was an inspirational man whose tale is recognised both nationally and internationally. The world has lost a boxing champion, Australia has lost a national hero and his own people have lost a wonderful role model. He will be sadly missed and I offer my sincerest condolences to his family and also the countless members of his wider family, which stretches the length and breadth of the nation, the country he loved so much. To a great man and champion of his people, all people: may you rest in peace.

Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It was NAIDOC Week last year when a person walked into the room, and of course it was Lionel Rose, and no room was the same in Drouin if Lionel was in that room, or if Lionel was at the football ground, or if Lionel was around. Lionel did not want any attention whatsoever, as we have heard today from the very generous speakers who have spoken in this condolence debate and who have passed on their condolences to the family, as I do to the broader Rose family. As their local member, I am as distant from Lionel and his family as any other person of my background. But I am not distant from Jacksons Track, and I am not distant from the story of Jacksons Track. I do not think anybody fully understands the incredible story that Lionel Rose is, coming out of Jacksons Track. No-one understands the enormity of the journey of the young boy coming out of Jacksons Track onto the world stage.

I do not think he had much time for politicians, or even NAIDOC Week, but he was out with his family; he was doing what he wanted to do. It was great to hear from members of parliament, especially the member for Bass, who obviously has a very deep and personal connection to Indigenous communities because of the work he has done with young footballers and sportsmen. Lionel, speaking to you now—we were there listening to you on the radio. I do not like boxing, because for all of my life, when I have listened to or watched boxing, my heart was in terror that Lionel Rose or one of his sporting colleagues was going to be severely hurt boxing on behalf of this nation, because that is what he was doing. Maybe it seemed that he was doing it for himself, but the nation was watching Lionel Rose. The nation was listening to Lionel Rose. The nation was hoping and praying for his wellbeing and his success. Fourteen people saw him off when he left to go overseas, and when he achieved that success 250,000 people crowded the streets of Melbourne—all the way from Essendon Airport and all the way in, there were people standing on the side of the road waiting for Lionel's car to come past. He was our new hero. And don't we love a hero!

Jacksons Track was a disgrace. When Carolyn Landon wrote the story of Jacksons Track and put it in black and white, we had an issue. I do not cry reading books, but I cried many times when I was reading Jackson's Track. I had to put the book down, and I could not read the next page until I could get myself back to a state where the tears in my eyes were not destroying my ability to read the book Jackson's Track. As a local member, I know where this guy came from. And he must have had a burning desire within him. You would hear those who are competent in sport talk about his speed, his ability and the power that came from such a gentle soul. The only person I ever met in Lionel Rose on the number of occasions that I met Lionel was a gentle, quiet, unassuming, humble human being. That is the person I knew. He did not have the humour of Syd Jackson. He did not even have what you would call grace and style—but humble!

Here was this guy who changed the world for Australia—to think that one of our Indigenous young people could go and tackle Fighting Harada and win. As you have heard from all of the people today who spoke about how he was rated, if he was on Sportsbet going into that fight, you would not have had any money on him at all. And he won. He won against the odds—as a child, as a teenager and as a boxer.

He could sing as well. I thought he sang Telephone to Glory.

Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That was Jimmy Little.

Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, I know, but I think Lionel actually recorded Telephone to Glory, which was one of the songs that we sang at my wedding. I am not saying I have an identification with Lionel because of that, but I am saying that it has been interesting and fascinating to hear the members of parliament in this place speak on Lionel Rose in the way they have today.

If this nation ever thinks that members of parliament do not care about our families, our Indigenous communities and all that goes with them, today is a perfect example of it being wrong. When tears were shed here today we all entered into that moment with the member for Bass. He said, 'I do not want to disgrace myself any more over this issue.' He was not disgracing himself. There was not a person here who was not standing with him. Vale, Lionel Rose.

I am sorry that he suffered after his stroke, but I want to let you all know that what I saw in that room was not just a hero but a family gathered around an ordinary man in protection, in care and in honour. He could go back to his community near Jacksons Track to live and say, 'I am very comfortable,' as he said to Kathy Bedford. He said, 'I am back with my family and I am very happy. I am living life well.'

His cousin, who was the chairman of the Boxing Federation, was interviewed by ABC Radio the other day. He said, 'He was never on time, so to get him to the footy on time we would always tell him that the football was two hours earlier, and then we would get him there.' He loved being there at the footy with his family, watching his family play. Even with his great talent and ability, his family's love of him was for his ordinariness—for his love of community, for his love of his family and just for the fact that he was nestled in their arms before he died.

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Action, Environment and Heritage) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a great honour to rise to speak in recognition of Lionel Rose and to do so after the members for Hasluck and McMillan. I say that because they both, in their own way, represent a part of this story. The member for McMillan represents the area in which the great Lionel Rose grew up. It was not a privileged background, as has been well set out. It was a tough, hard background, but he was an Australian who took an extraordinary journey. In my view, the definition of what we in this House seek to achieve for people is the opportunity to live the life of their choice. The title of a book by the great British explorer in the Danakil area of the Horn of Africa, Wilfred Thesiger, was The Life of My Choice. If that is what we aspire to bring in some small measure to Australia, Lionel Rose was the embodiment of that life. He came from the most humble of beginnings in the Gippsland area, an area adjacent to my own electorate. I know that on the Mornington Peninsula and in West Gippsland this is somebody they looked to as one of their own, and there was a great sense of affection many years—43 years—after he took on and beat Masahiko 'Fighting' Harada in Tokyo. He was looked upon as a local. He was looked upon as an Indigenous path maker and trailblazer. But above all else he was looked upon as an extraordinarily generous, decent and courageous human being.

So in our part of the world there is this great sense of affection, connection and gentle love for Lionel Rose which goes back to the fact that he was a local who came from a background which should not have led him to the world stage but which did, and he did it on his own terms and in his own way—a way which inspired generations of young Australians from all backgrounds. But on top of that he, along with Evonne Goolagong Cawley, also helped pave the way for Indigenous Australians to be held in a higher level of esteem and to give themselves that sense of the possibility that they could do anything in this country.

In that context we have somebody who was an inspiration to young locals in Gippsland and the Mornington Peninsula of Victoria and, more generally, Australia; a particular inspiration to Indigenous Australians; but, above all else—and this is where I want to finish in this very brief recognition and tribute—an exemplar to all of us of a life well lived. At end of day there is no doubt he was able to look back and, with family and friends around him and with his own set of achievements—yes, there was hardship at the start; yes, it was hard along the way; and, yes, there was hardship at the finish—look at a life well lived, believing and knowing that he had lived the life of his choice and done so in a way which brought honour to him and to his family and brought joy to millions of Australians.

Alan Tudge (Aston, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I also rise to support the condolence motion for the late Mr Lionel Rose, and I would like to associate myself with some of the comments of the previous speakers, including Mr Hunt and Mr Broadbent, whom I have just listened to here. I am sorry I did not get to hear some of the earlier speakers as well; I understand they also gave very moving and honourable tributes to this great man.

Lionel Rose, as we all know, passed away last Sunday. He was a world champion sportsman, he was an Indigenous superstar and he was a great Australian. Of course, he is remembered primarily today by most Australians for being the first world champion boxer for Australia, and he won that title way back in 1968 in Tokyo, coming up against the world bantamweight champion at the time, Masahiko Harada. Lionel was just 19 years old when he took that fight on. He was the underdog. Few thought he would be able to win that fight against the world champion, but history showed that he did; and, in doing so, he changed sporting history in Australia forever. He also made an incredible contribution more broadly than that.

Today, when we think about our Indigenous sporting superstars and other Indigenous role models, we have many. We of course have dozens of AFL footballers who dominate the football field. We have had people like Evonne Goolagong Cawley. We have had Cathy Freeman. We have had Nova Peris-Kneebone, Wendell Sailor and the like. We have had other outstanding Indigenous role models reach the peak of our community, including the member for Hasluck here, who is a fellow parliamentarian. But back in 1968, when Lionel Rose became the world champion boxer, we did not have such circumstances. He was the first real Indigenous superstar and real Indigenous hero. Of course, he won this only a year after the referendum on Indigenous affairs. It was a unique time in Australian political history in regard to Indigenous issues, as the referendum was passed a year earlier with 90 per cent approval of the particular measure which gave the Commonwealth power to enact laws to the benefit of Indigenous people in Australia. His win came a year after that and, in doing so, gave Indigenous Australians, from what I have read, a huge confidence boost. As I mentioned, he became Australia's first Indigenous superstar.

It is interesting to note, when we reflect on his victory at that time, that the history books say it was not just Indigenous Australians who were celebrating like crazy over this incredible victory; indeed, there were 100,000 everyday Australians on the streets of Melbourne who gave him a tickertape parade when he returned. In some respects it was a remarkable act of reconciliation, without it being called that at the time. All Australians probably thought, 'We're just proud of this guy, who's a fantastic Aussie hero.' I think that is worth reflecting on as well.

He inspired all of us at the time with his sporting prowess and certainly inspired Indigenous Australians. Sadly, his victory did not mark a turning point in addressing Indigenous social and economic disadvantage. Indeed, in part the opposite is the case when we look back at some of the great social decline in Indigenous communities, particularly remote Indigenous communities, that started in about the late sixties and early to mid-seventies. While we are reflecting upon Lionel Rose today we should also be thinking about the disadvantage which still exists in Indigenous communities. Through Lionel Rose's memory we should commit to maintaining on the political agenda of this parliament the alleviation of disadvantage in Indigenous communities.

Lionel Rose was not just a great sports star but also, as other people have noted in this chamber, a very principled man. The Australian, in its editorial yesterday, pointed out that 'Rose took pride in refusing a lucrative offer to fight in apartheid-ridden South Africa in 1970, where he would have been classed as an honorary white'. Also, in 1996, he generously gave his world title belt to six-year-old Tjandamurra O'Shane, who was the victim of a racially charged attack in Cairns, in the hope that it would hasten the child's recovery. All accounts are that he was a truly honourable man, a family man, a well-loved man and a principled man. We will remember Lionel Rose for all of that and more and we will remember him as an Australian hero.

John Murphy (Reid, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I understand it is the wish of honourable members to signify at this stage their respect and sympathy by rising in their places.

Honourable members having stood in their places—

I thank the Committee.

Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That further proceedings be conducted in the House.

Question agreed to.