Warren Snowdon (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for External Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Friday I attended the funeral in Katherine of David John Ross—or 'Wewak'—a man I was proud to call a friend for over 30 years. The funeral service with close to 1,000 mourners was held in the pavilion at the Katherine Showgrounds. Many were family members, either direct and extended family members, or members of his wider family of brothers and sisters from his childhood at the Retta Dixon Home in Darwin where he was taken at the age of four. He remained there until he left school at the age of 15 to start work as a ringer on Mountain Valley Station. Wewak was born at an army base in the Territory on 1 September 1945. He was the eldest of 11 children born to Theresa Hayes.

His life was forever framed by his life at Retta Dixon, which is where he first met a young woman, Shirley, who was destined to be his life partner and soul mate. They first met in 1959, and on 22 April 1962 they started living together in Darwin. Their life together led them to working across the Top End of the Territory. Their first child, Dorothea, arrived in 1964. In 1965 they moved back to Katherine to stay with David's mother and his siblings, and their second child, Elizabeth, was born. David and Shirley lived in Katherine for many years and their family grew with the arrival of David Jr in 1967, Leonnie in 1968, Diana in 1971, Graham in 1972, Brian in 1973 and Robert in 1975. By the time of his death, David and Shirley had been proud and loving grandparents of 35 grandchildren and great-grandparents of 24 great-grandchildren. For David and Shirley life revolved around their family and work. While life may have often been tough, there was always joy. A party was always an opportunity for sharing or for a song and a couple of beers.

David was a very good sportsman, playing basketball for St Mary's in Darwin in the early sixties. He played Aussie Rules in Darwin, initially for Transport and Works, later for Nightcliff in the early fifties and then the Darwin Buffaloes from 1962 to 1968—although he did have a season with West Perth in the WAFL in 1964. This sporting ability flowed through the generations.

David's working life crossed many jobs—ringer, drover, wharfie, leading hand, surveyor's assistant, CDEP supervisor, road worker, cook and senior project officer for the Northern Land Council variously at Ngukurr, Borroloola and Timber Creek.

David and Shirley often worked as a team. At Montejinni Station, Wewak was a truck driver and Shirley was station cook. That was ever constant—the partnership between Shirley and Wewak. They had unconditional love. Each was the centre of the other's universe. Despite a lifetime together, it was not until March of last year that they finally tied the knot on the banks of the Katherine River. Where else could it be?

He leaves a huge hole in the lives of so many—a unique patriarch, a genuinely good bloke, a wonderful human being for whom nothing was ever too much trouble. He was a man with a huge heart. He was a devoted husband and father and a community leader who had an enormous influence on the lives of so many. He was a great Territorian. May he rest in peace.