Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's with great sadness that I rise to say a few words on the passing of the former federal member for Bendigo, my predecessor, Steve Gibbons. Steve Gibbons passed away just over a week ago. But, being Steve and his family, they chose to keep it quite quiet until they had the opportunity to inform everybody, and only late on Friday was an official statement released.

He reclaimed the seat of Bendigo for Labor back in 1998 and held it until his retirement in 2013. He was the longest-serving federal member for Bendigo, something the Labor movement in Bendigo were very proud of.

Bendigo is a federation seat. For as long as there's been a parliament, there's been a federal member for Bendigo, and Steve Gibbons is the longest serving one that we've had. It didn't happen by chance or by luck but because Gibbo worked hard. He was a character and many in this place would agree. He understood Bendigo deeply, and he was a proud Bendigonian. My friend Jacinta Allan, the state member for Bendigo East and Victoria's Deputy Premier, worked for Steve on his 1998 campaign. On his passing, she said, 'I've pretty much known Steve my entire life. My father and grandfather were involved with the Bendigo Trades Hall and so was Steve. He understood the importance of a job, of a secure source of employment, and what that meant for supporting your family and community. He had very strong Labor values around taking collective action to support Bendigo workers and their jobs.'

Steve's tagline on his campaign material was 'Fighting for Bendigo'. It was on all his corflutes and he lived up to it. People locally knew that if you had Steve in your corner, you had a chance. He'll be remembered fondly as a champion of and advocate for local manufacturing, particularly in defence and printing.

He was a champion of the Bushmaster, and I've inherited the son of the Bushmaster—the Hawkei. They were built, designed and manufactured in Bendigo by the former ADI, now Thales, and still are to this day. The site almost closed and its future was unclear, but Steve took up the fight to make sure that those jobs stayed and that vehicle continued to be made here in Bendigo. I can remember being involved in a rally that he led down the main streets with the union and Thales calling on the government to continue manufacturing Bushmasters in Bendigo.

They weren't the only jobs that he saved in his time. The Fortuna defence mapping facility faced being closed and moving back to Canberra, but Gibbo worked closely to gain local support and cross-party support and eventually convinced the then Liberal defence minister to keep the facility in Bendigo and base it at Longlea. This campaign saved 150 high-skilled local jobs. We still have the stickers on some of our materials and desks in the office—save DIGO, as it was called back then. Upon hearing of his death, the site flew the flag at half-mast in memory of him, his character and what he had done.

He fought hard for duplication of the Calder Freeway. He was vexed that the then state and federal governments had committed to funding it fifty-fifty, but, despite the promises, had not delivered. The Howard government had reneged on the deal, and Steve was not going to let that happen on his watch. He ran a long campaign until the government finally agreed to fund it.

Post politics, Steve Gibbons was never far away and nor was he silent. He loved his Twitter, particularly at question time. I wonder what he would have thought of today's question time and what he might have tweeted. He loved his guitars, he loved his classic cars and he loved talking about them. He loved rebuilding and he loved making. He also had a deep fondness and passion for animals and was an advocate for them. He was a good character that many adored. There's so much more that I could say about him, but I will close by saying this: we all share in and express our deep condolences to his wife Diane and to his family. May he rest in peace. Vale, Steve.