Laura Smyth (La Trobe, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I knew Clyde Holding largely through the anecdotes and the reflections of others, but I certainly know just how fondly he was regarded by colleagues, by branch members and others in the labour movement, in the legal profession, in the land rights movement, in the arts community and very much beyond. I certainly associate myself with the remarks the Prime Minister made yesterday about such an extraordinary life and such an extraordinary contribution to this place and the parliamentary life of Australia generally.

As an alumnus of Holding Redlich, I would like to record in this place the regard in which he was held by members of the firm past and present. The firm was founded in 1976 by Clyde together with Peter Redlich. Since its earliest days, it has supported the labour movement, the arts and human rights and has engaged in public discussion about corporate social responsibility. Clyde Holding will certainly be best remembered for his contributions as a parliamentarian, but I think it important to reflect also on his contribution to the legal profession, of which I am certainly a beneficiary.

I know that my colleagues at the firm have publicly expressed their appreciation and pride at having been associated with a great Victorian and a great Australian, a man who supported the underdog and had a deep and lifelong commitment to supporting and advancing the causes of human rights and the rights and welfare of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, a man who worked tirelessly to advance the interests of ordinary Australians. As a relative newcomer to the corridors of this place, I hope that I can measure up to at least a little of the legacy of a compassionate, determined and irreverent Labor leader and a very decent human being.

Michael Danby (Melbourne Ports, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As the member for Melbourne Ports, I am very pleased to be speaking on this resolution about my predecessor, Clyde Holding, who died on 31 July aged 80. I join the member from La Trobe, in her remarks today, and the Prime Minister, in her remarks yesterday in the House, in saying that we express the appreciation of the Australian people and people in Victoria for his life and work in politics.

Yesterday at the National Gallery of Victoria many people across the political spectrum made very generous comments. The beautiful singing of Deborah Cheetham was an appropriate response to his life and work in politics. The speeches of former Prime Minister Paul Keating, whom Holding served as Aboriginal affairs minister and immigration minister, and former Foreign Minister Gareth Evans, now Chancellor of the Australian National University, were particularly memorable. I congratulated former Senator Evans on particularly picking up the larrikin element that Clyde had, in a very affectionate kind of way.

Clyde represented Melbourne Ports for 21 years from 1977 to 1998 and is remembered with great respect by Labor people, by his many supporters in my electorate and by people of goodwill. He belonged to that generation of Labor men and women whose political careers were formed in the fires of the great Labor split of 1955. He was the son of a police officer, and both of his parents were from Northern Ireland. He was president of the Melbourne University ALP Club while he was a law student. He was president of Victorian Young Labor at the height of the split, from 1955 to 1957.

Clyde grew up in a very tough political school, fighting with both the DLP on the Right and the Communists on the Left in the inner suburbs of Melbourne. In the 1955 election he was the campaign director for Jim Cairns in the then seat of Yarra, which covered Richmond and Collingwood. The campaign is regarded as probably the most violent single election in Australian history, and I am sure it was, from everything that I have read, with both groupers and wharfies brawling in the streets of Richmond and Collingwood—the Collingwood Football Club does not have its reputation and its supporters for no reason—prior to that election, because of course the seat prior to the split was held by the Labor anti-Communist, later DLP, Stan Keon, and the contest was between Jim Cairns, with Clyde as his campaign manager, and Stan Keon. From that point, Clyde Holding was recognised as a person on the way up in the then devastated Victorian Labor Party. His chance came with the by-election for the Victorian state seat of Richmond in 1962. In the meantime he had been co-founding with Mr Ryan and Peter Redlich—who has played such a prominent role in Victorian public life both in running various companies and in setting up his own law firm and nurturing so many people in politics, human rights and the law—an industrial law firm. They set up this industrial law firm which nurtured many generations of Labor talent—the member for La Trobe being a very recent example.

Clyde became a prominent civil libertarian, campaigning against censorship, White Australia and the death penalty. Senator Evans described a most amusing incident where, as Deputy Leader of the Opposition, the member for Richmond, Clyde Holding, was actually there are on the front line protesting against the hanging of the last man who was hanged in Victoria, Ronald Ryan. Clyde was actually arrested. Can you believe that? The Deputy Leader of the Opposition in Victoria was at the demonstration against hanging in Victoria and was asked by a policeman for his occupation, according to Senator Evans, which he reported as parliamentarian and lawyer and then was asked by the copper if he could read or write. Obviously the two things were not connected in the policeman's imagination.

In 1967, aged only 36, Clyde Holding became leader of the Labor opposition in the Victorian parliament. He modernised the party's platform and made a good impression on voters who were emerging from the oppressions of the split. In 1970 the Bolte Liberal government had become very tired and arrogant and Labor was set to make big gains. Unfortunately, however, their campaign was sabotaged on the eve of the state election by the extreme Left faction in the then Victorian central executive, led by Bill Hartley. They issued a statement in blatant and obvious opposition to federal Labor policy and to Mr Holding's announced public policy. They said that the Victorian Labor government would cut off funding to Catholic schools. As a result, a furious federal Labor leader, Gough Whitlam, refused to campaign in Victoria and the Bolte government was re-elected and Clyde denied his chance to become Premier of Victoria.

This was the last straw for many people in Victoria. The Button-Duffy group participants, including Michael Duffy—a very famous federal minister who was there at the ceremony yesterday at the National Gallery—and Bob Hawke and Clyde Holding, together with Gough Whitlam, engineered probably the most important event in the modern history of the Labor Party—the 1971 federal intervention in the Victorian and New South Wales branches. This ended the factional dictatorship of the hard Left in Victoria. It got rid of the influences of Crawford and Hartley, and it laid the foundations for Labor's subsequent successes in Victoria and federally. In fact, former Prime Minister Keating made the point to Premier Baillieu that ever since those days Victoria has been the jewel in the Labor crown. He said, 'We have lent it to you, Ted, and we will get it back soon.' I thought that was a very affable way of handling political differences.

Unfortunately for Clyde he was not the beneficiary of the long-term revival of Labor's position post the split in Victoria as state leader. The appeal to Melbourne voters of a modernised Liberal Party of Dick Hamer was too strong for Clyde to overcome and he was defeated in the 1973 and 1976 elections. So when Frank Crean, one of five members who had been the member for Melbourne Ports, retired as the member for Melbourne Ports in 1977, Clyde was ready to switch to federal politics.

Clyde was an early and strong believer that Bob Hawke was the man to lead Labor back to office after the heavy defeat of 1975. Clyde was a tough operator and played the dual roles of parliamentary headkicker and numbers man for Bob Hawke with great skill. Together with my dear friend and mentor Barry Cohen, he was one of Bob Hawke's numbers men. It was a tough decision that the Labor caucus had to make in those days, but I think the 1983 election result was proof of the wisdom of their undertaking.

No less an authority than Graham Richardson described Clyde Holding as tough, resourceful and utterly ruthless. He was the main organiser of Hawke's challenge to Bill Hayden in 1982 and of Hawke's rise to leadership on the eve of the 1983 election. His reward, a strange reward—in fact it was something that was made very clear yesterday in the National Gallery of Victoria—that was requested by him was the Aboriginal affairs portfolio in the Hawke government. This is to his great credit. This choice surprised some people because it was, and still is, a difficult and thankless portfolio. You would not have thought it was the choice of an ambitious, hard-headed factional warrior. It was not the choice you would expect him to make. But Clyde was not just a political operator; he was an idealist and he wanted to make a difference for Indigenous people. As he expected, he found the portfolio frustrating. He had some great achievements. We all remember the appointment of probably the most prominent Aboriginal Indigenous leader of the time, Charles Perkins, as the first head of the federal Department of Aboriginal Affairs, and the return of that great Australian landmark, Uluru, to its traditional owners.

The member for Brand, the Special Minister of State, pointed out to me that these great decisions, including the resumption of Uluru to Aboriginal ownership, had political consequences; nonetheless Clyde was indomitable and it was the right thing to do. He also provided personally the funding that allowed Eddie Mabo to take his historic case to the High Court. All of us who have seen the film The Castle know about the vibe around Mabo, but it actually began with private funding of a case that wended its way through the High Court and ended up with a decision that authorised some of the things that Clyde had been thwarted on earlier. His great ambition was a uniform national Indigenous land rights act. That had been thwarted by the mining lobby and the WA government and, some people would say, the unwillingness of the then Prime Minister, Bob Hawke, to stand up to them. I notice that Bob Hawke has since expressed his regret about that episode and I think that his judgment is correct. Clyde's reward came in the support, as I said, of the Mabo case, leading to the landmark 1992 ruling by the High Court, which has revolutionised Indigenous land claims in Australia.

From 1987 to 1990 Clyde held several other portfolios in which he made an important contribution, particularly in the arts and immigration. We heard about both of them yesterday in great detail, particularly about his contribution to the arts and the purchase of homes of very important Australian painters, including Arthur Boyd, for the National Estate. I must note also Clyde's staunch and unswerving support for the Australian Jewish community, which began long before he was the member for Melbourne Ports. He was the founder of Labor Friends of Israel, an organisation which is still going strong. He has a forest in Israel named in his honour, and deservedly so.

It is less than three years since we in Melbourne Ports farewelled the member for Hotham's father, Frank Crean, our federal member from 1951 to 1977, and we are now farewelling his successor, Clyde Holding. They were both great Labor men. What they had in common was a deep and lifelong commitment to the values of the labour movement: fairness, social justice and the rights of workers and the disadvantaged. Melbourne Ports has changed a lot since their day, but I think they are still the values that are supported by voters in my electorate. On behalf all Labor members and supporters in Melbourne Ports, I extend my sympathies to Margaret Holding, his first wife; to Judy Holding; to their children, Peter, Jenny, Danny and Isabella; and to Clyde's four grandchildren who, from the pictures at the National Gallery of Victoria, obviously held him in great affection. It was a wonderful video presentation of his life from the great state conferences of the late 1960s and early 1970s, which I can remember as a teenager, in the black and white films, right through to his last days in a nursing home in Castlemaine.

Simon Crean (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It gives me great pleasure, despite the sadness of the occasion, to rise to speak in tribute to Clyde Holding, a colleague and a friend, and to follow his successor in the seat of Melbourne Ports who has just spoken so eloquently about Clyde's contribution. I want to do something of that, too, and to acknowledge at the outset that Clyde made a great contribution to this country in the world of politics.

He was the member for Richmond from '62 to '77 and member for Melbourne Ports from '77 to '98, so that is a long stint in a representative collection of parliaments. He was the leader of the Labor Party in Victoria from '67 to '77, and he was also, as has been noted, the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. But some of the issues I want to touch on today go to those areas that he always also had ministerial responsibility for that overlap with some of my responsibilities—those of local government, the arts and the territories. But he was Minister for Aboriginal Affairs from '83 to '87 and subsequently minister for local government and then Minister for the Arts and Territories.

I first became aware of Clyde Holding and his passion for social justice and for taking action in terms of causes and seeking to change things around the demonstrations associated with the hanging of Ronald Ryan, the last man hanged in Victoria. Clyde was leader of the Labor Party at the time. He was passionately against capital punishment, and there were many demonstrations around those issues. In one, which was referred to in a humorous way yesterday by another former colleague, Gareth Evans, Clyde actually got himself arrested. But I first really met Clyde during 1970, and that, again, was associated with other causes for social change driven by activism, and they were the Vietnam War moratoriums. In many ways, these were the first awakening for me of the importance of activism and determination in fighting for change. Clyde was up there at the front of the marchers with Jim Cairns and others. I was a university student in the day, but actively involved, and I got to know Clyde from that day onwards.

It was, of course, a different circumstance, not long after that, where the party, led by people, including Clyde Holding, understood the need for fundamental reform in the Victorian branch of the Labor Party. This came about on the back of the bandwagon of Gough Whitlam's rise to popularity and support within the community, and the winning of the Geelong by-election in '67 and the Bendigo by-election in '68. But what we did not do was to win the swing to Labor election in '69 and, fundamentally, what dragged us back was our failure in Victoria. In many ways, our problem as a Labor Party in winning support translated to both the federal and state level: our disasters at the state level when Clyde Holding, who was a supporter of support for schools, not just state schools—this was the state aid debate—had his position changed by the then party secretary, Bill Hartley. This was a fundamental challenge in terms of the relationships between party administrations and parliamentary representation. Clyde, as a democrat, was not only furious at the circumstances he was put in around the issue, but also at the circumstances. That, amongst other things—like the loss in 1969—led to federal intervention in the state of Victoria. It did not stop Bill Hartley as party secretary making pronouncements completely contrary to whatever the Labor Party was pursuing at the time. We had many important rallies and mass meetings of party membership, incensed with where the party was going, including at Festival Hall in Victoria. There were some 3,000 people at conferences, talking about the reconstitution of the branch and the way forward.

Clyde was a determined leader in that, and he did it not just because of his anger at the circumstances he found himself in but also because of the realisation that, if Labor was to have a chance, it needed to reform itself. That said a lot about his determination to pursue issues that were unpopular. Clyde did not make many friends within the Victorian branch of the Labor Party in the day, backing Whitlam on the one hand and ousting the state secretary on the other, but he was prepared to do it because he understood it was the right thing to do.

I also note that that really was the turning point for Labor in Victoria, both federally and at the state level. Not only did it pave the way for John Cain's victory in 1982—and Labor has dominated government in Victoria since that time, something that eluded Clyde as opposition leader; he could not take the party to victory for a whole lot of internal reasons—but it also laid the foundations for what was the jewel in the Liberal crown, Victoria, becoming a Labor stronghold at the federal level as well. Not only did the party continue to win in the Victorian parliament; it also provided huge ballast in terms of the numbers that constitute this parliament. At the last election, for example, the strength of Labor's vote in Victoria was instrumental to our winning government.

Since that intervention, there have not been many periods in which, at the federal level, Labor has not held the majority of federal seats in Victoria. I think that attests to the importance of the need for reform and the importance of the party fundamentally understanding its democratic roots and engaging more actively with the broader community.

At the end of 1977, my father resigned from Melbourne Ports, which the current member for Melbourne Ports has referred to. I remember it well because I contested the preselection! I contested it against Clyde. We both came from the same faction. The faction in those days was incapable of making the call because, obviously, we were both excellent candidates! So we went to a rank-and-file ballot, and Clyde won—but he won by one vote.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 12:04 to 12:27

Before the suspension I was talking about the circumstances in which Clyde Holding won the preselection for Melbourne Ports in 1977. Whilst I was disappointed with the result, I was the FEA secretary and it was my duty to run his campaign. We became very close in terms of the local area, because it was the area in which I lived and an area that I knew well, and he represented the area with distinction from 1977 through to 1998. He was an asset to this parliament and I served in the parliament with him when I was elected in 1990 to the seat of Hotham. He was a great orator. He obviously had a store of corporate knowledge around a whole series of issues.

As the current member for Melbourne Ports previously said, Clyde was also instrumental in agitating for and getting the numbers for Bob Hawke to become Labor's leader and go on to victory in 1983. Clyde went into the ministry after that as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and in that portfolio showed his strong commitment to social conscience and social justice. He sought the portfolio and approached it with intensity. He appointed Charlie Perkins as Secretary of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, and together they did important work, including protecting much of Kakadu as a national park, handing over Uluru to the traditional owners and also, importantly, laying the foundations for land rights and the Mabo judgment. He also oversaw the importance and significance of the repatriation of Indigenous remains from overseas museums.

Clyde was also Minister for the Arts and had a number of major achievements in this field. Yesterday I had the honour to attend his memorial service, along with the member for Melbourne Ports, the Prime Minister and a number of former and present colleagues. We held it in the National Gallery of Victoria, in the Great Hall under the Leonard French ceiling. It was an appropriate circumstance to farewell and recognise his important contribution. He was Minister for the Arts and Territories from 1989 to 90 and he fought for the national cultural institutions at a time in which the arts were under severe pressure for cutbacks. He argued the value of the arts, particularly the national collecting institutions, and he was also instrumental in seeing the National Film and Sound Archive established on a much sounder footing. I will be doing a function in relation to that this afternoon, Sounds of Australia, but Clyde was important in securing their base, because he understood the importance of recording in film and audio the great works of this nation.

He was also a champion of the then new Australian Film Finance Corporation, which invested in a new wave of production of major film and TV projects, and he was active in supporting leadership change for our national institutions, including the appointment of Betty Churcher at the National Gallery of Australia. He was also a champion of Arthur Boyd's gift of his property on the Shoalhaven, the Bundanon Trust, to the Australian people. He helped Arthur Boyd and his wife approach the government in 1992 and supported the proposal with cabinet ministers. He was one of the founding members of that Bundanon Trust in 1993. In terms of cross-fertilisation—joining the dots, so to speak, given the nature of Indigenous art—he was also really important in understanding the significance of Indigenous art in the power of its message and its creativity. When he was Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, he was instrumental in making the country more aware of the significance and power of this art form.

It is a sad occasion when we speak on this motion, but it is a rich and proud history and a great contribution that Clyde Holding made. I will just conclude by saying he was a person of courage, a person of compassion and certainly a person of determination. He made a massive contribution not just to the life of the Labor Party but also to the betterment of the nation. My condolences again are expressed to Judy, his wife; his former wife, Margaret; and their children, Peter, Danny, Jenny and Isabella.

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

I would like to endorse the remarks made in this chamber this morning by the member for La Trobe, the member for Melbourne Ports and the Minister for the Arts and Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government about the late Clyde Holding, who was a champion not only in this place but also in the Victorian parliament. For somebody to have served in both parliaments shows dedication and commitment not just to his own state but also to the nation's interests. I would also endorse the remarks made about his passion for Catholic school education and funding. It is something that is very near and dear to my heart. I acknowledge his contribution in that area, as well to the welfare of Aboriginal people in this nation. My condolences to his family, to the Labor Party in particular and to this parliament in general, because we have lost a fine man, a fine individual and a fine Australian. I trust his contribution has been properly marked in this place.

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—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER:.

Amanda Rishworth (Kingston, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That further proceedings be conducted in the House.

Question agreed to.