Paul Calvert (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tonight I would like to pay tribute to the life and work of the Hon. Sir Harold William Young, KCMG, President of the Senate from 1981 to 1983 and a senator for South Australia from 1968 to 1983. I make these remarks during this adjournment debate because I was absent from the Senate earlier today when the motion of condolence was moved as I was in Adelaide attending Sir Harold’s funeral. Although I entered the Senate after Sir Harold left, I was privileged to meet him on several occasions when he and Margaret returned to Canberra for various events. He was a very warm individual, good humoured and generous natured.

Harold Young was born in Port Broughton, South Australia, in 1923. He grew up on the land and, after war service in the Navy, established himself as a wheat farmer. In those days, he did it the hard way. He drove a team of 12 Clydesdale horses and formed such a successful working relationship with them that he was very upset when he had to finally acknowledge that motorised equipment had supplanted their use on the farm. He became involved in agricultural politics, serving as a member of the Australian Wool Industry Conference, the Federal Exporters Overseas Transport Committee and as a member of the South Australian State Wheat Research Committee. He was significantly involved in shipping innovations, such as containerisation, and never forgot his interest in wheat. Indeed, a sheaf of Alford wheat was, most appropriately, placed on his coffin during the funeral this afternoon.

In the Senate, Senator Young maintained his interest in primary production and trade through committee service. In 1971, he became government whip and from 1972 to 1975 was the opposition whip in the Senate. He became a temporary chairman of committees in 1976, and held that position until elected as President in 1981. As President, Senator Young was obliged to preside over a Senate where the government had just lost its majority. That he did so without a single motion of dissent is a mark not only of his steady hand but also of the high regard in which he was held across the chamber. Sir Harold was knighted in the New Year’s Honours of 1983 for his parliamentary service. After leaving the Senate, he continued to maintain an interest in public affairs, notably through his membership of the Australian Bravery Decorations Advisory Council.

Sir Harold’s funeral was very well attended, including by several former senators and members of the other place, by my predecessor, the Hon. Margaret Reid, and by the Usher of the Black Rod, Ms Andrea Griffiths, representing Senate officers. It was clear from the affectionate tributes paid by the Reverend David Purling and the eulogy from Mr Scott Young that Sir Harold Young was above all a man highly regarded by all with whom he came into contact and a husband, father and grandfather who was dearly loved and will be sadly missed. Harold Young loved Australia and in particular his state, and recently asked his wife to drive him around parts of rural South Australia so he could see the effects of the drought first hand. I extend my sincere sympathies to Margaret—Lady Young; to their four children, Sue, Scott, Andrea and Rob; and to all the members of their extended families.