David Johnston (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Resources and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

When I first rose to speak in this place to deliver my maiden speech as a freshman senator in 2002, I had occasion to thank the many people who had contributed to my elevation to the Senate. Among those mentioned was a household name who I first met as a university student and who influenced and inspired me to perhaps, one day, also assume public office. This larger-than-life figure of Western Australian politics made his name as the proud father, promoter, and facilitator of the North West Shelf gas project. His efforts as a minister in the Brand Liberal government in the early seventies saw Western Australia start to develop as the resource powerhouse it is today. Indeed, it would seem these days in Western Australia that the ‘sheep’s back’ is powered by LNG, coal, oil, gold and iron ore.

It will come as no surprise to senators to hear that I am talking about the late Sir Charles Court: the wonderful gentleman, soldier and Western Australian statesman of high integrity and international renown who died in Western Australia on 22 December 2007. It is my privilege to cement into the public record my personal gratitude, the gratitude of Western Australians, and the gratitude of the nation to Sir Charles for his vision and determination over a lifetime of public service.

The Court family emigrated from England to Perth in Western Australia in 1912, six months after Sir Charles was born. As a boy, Charles was known to ring a bell in the street to advertise meetings for a Labor member of the Western Australian parliament. With Sir Charles’s father being a plumber and an ardent trade unionist, no doubt his early political activity was, like that of many young Australians, a reflection of his parents’ views. However, by 1933 the young Charles Court had qualified as a chartered accountant and had set up his own accounting firm during the height of the Great Depression. He was the first from his family to enter a non-trade profession. Success followed, and in 1938 he became the founding partner of a very esteemed Western Australian firm, Hendry, Rae and Court—later to become known as Grant Thornton and Associates.

Through his own endeavours owning a small, then larger, accounting practice, there is little doubt that Sir Charles came to understand and appreciate the importance of small business to our economy. Then, like now, Liberals believe that small business is essential to the economic health of our nation. It is the powerhouse that provides the jobs, products and services we so desperately need in each of our communities.

While qualifying to become an accountant, Sir Charles also managed to succeed in becoming the ‘Champion of Champions’ as a cornet soloist in an Australian brass band competition, which I believe was held in Adelaide. He was 18 years of age at the time. Music would prove to be an abiding passion in Sir Charles’s life, and I recall fondly his 95th birthday party—the Liberal Party held a sizeable bash—where he took the baton and conducted a Perth brass band who had come to perform for the occasion. It was a wonderful sight. No-one who watched the ensuing performance was under any doubt that once again Sir Charles was calling the shots from the podium. That was the culmination of his music passion at 95 years of age. He chided us that we had held celebrations for him on his 80th and 90th birthdays, but we lacked the confidence to wait until he turned 100!

Like all young Australians between World War I and World War II, Sir Charles completed his national service training. He volunteered with the 44th Battalion, only to be seconded to the band due to his strong background as a musician, band trainer and conductor. Frustrated by his secondment and restrictions on ‘manpower release’ in Western Australia, Sir Charles was determined to serve in a fighting capacity by hook or by crook. Showing much of his now legendary courage and determination, he enlisted with the Royal Australian Army Service Corps as a private and rose rapidly through the ranks to sergeant, before receiving a commission as lieutenant, and then as temporary captain. It is well known that throughout this period he went to great lengths to avoid service in the band, which sought him out for his considerable skill.

After receiving his commission, he seized the opportunity to transfer as a lieutenant to 1 Australian Armoured Division at Puckapunyal, Australia’s first fully mechanised unit. No. 1 Armoured was under the direction of the influential and controversial military commander Sir Horace Robertson, then Major General Robertson—known in his day as ‘Red Robbie’. Major General Robertson was well known to ruffle a few feathers to get the job done—always to the benefit of the men under his command. Perhaps a young Lieutenant Court learnt a few tricks from this well-respected leader of men. Indeed, Lieutenant Court was soon promoted to captain, and adjutant of the division’s ASC Support Group, before successfully attending the junior wing of Staff College at Duntroon. He fulfilled a number of other divisional roles on his return to the unit until 1 Armoured was disbanded in September 1943 and its personnel reassigned.

Sir Charles was posted to the Northern Territory where, serving under Major General AS ‘Tubby’ Allen, he conducted a special military appreciation of the Northern Territory as a staging base for operations directly against the Japanese. Already a temporary major by this time, he went on to attend the senior wing of staff college before being posted to 2 Australian Corps in Bougainville as a major and temporary lieutenant colonel. During this period he accepted the surrender and disarmament of a very large Japanese force, having considerably fewer troops under his command than the force that surrendered to him. He was later recognized for his service, which I will come back to in a moment.

Following the war, Sir Charles once again took up with his accountancy firm until he was elected as member for Nedlands in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly in 1953. He went on to hold a ministerial appointment in the Brand government—Minister for Industrial Development and the North West—before becoming Leader of the Opposition in 1972. Opposition was never to be Sir Charles’s destiny, however, and in 1974 he achieved that rarest of political feats: defeating a government after just one term in office. Sir Charles then led Western Australia as its 21st Premier for eight years before pulling off that other rare feat in politics: leaving the mantle of political leadership at the time of one’s own choosing.

But before I get too ahead of what I want to say about Sir Charles, it is worth filling in the details of this political career for which Sir Charles is most well known. Starting in the Brand government as Minister for Industrial Development and the North West, the newly appointed minister forged ahead with ambitious plans for developing the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Drawing upon his knowledge of Northern Australia from his time in the Army, his 18-hour days became the stuff of political legend in Western Australia. Not only did he champion the Pilbara, but he personally devised the agreements needed to facilitate exploration up there for oil and gas as there was no precedent. These agreements became known as ‘take-or-pay’ contracts. And may I say that in terms of domestic gas into Perth, down our Dampier to Bunbury pipeline, the take-or-pay contract is still today the foundation stone of the provision of gas for our vital domestic and commercial consumption.

With vision far beyond the time, he insisted on any agreement including the requirement for exploration companies to build vital infrastructure in local communities in the Pilbara, in the north-west. Sir Charles’s vision for developing Western Australia was a passion that he pursued throughout his parliamentary and, indeed, all his public life. I note that in his maiden speech to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly he was unapologetic about focusing on the big issues of the day facing that great state, rather than the day-to-day issues within his electorate of Nedlands.

After the Brand government’s defeat in 1971, Sir Charles started to rebuild the opposition as leader, being anointed by his Liberal colleagues as Brand’s natural successor. Their faith in his abilities was not misplaced, and in 1974 the Tonkin government was defeated and Sir Charles’s bold agenda continued in great earnest. The next eight years saw Western Australia grow its resource sector, but with one eye to the development of the state for the people who lived there. During this time, Murdoch University was established, His Majesty’s Theatre was extensively renovated and restored, the Western Australian government bought the Entertainment Centre and opened the Art Gallery of WA. It is fair to say education and the arts flourished during this time of prosperity, a worthy model for the current Western Australian government to follow in this even more prosperous boom cycle.

Sir Charles’s active role in Western Australia did not cease when he retired from politics in 1982 at the age of 70. Well into his 90s, Sir Charles was the patron or life member of some 36 community organisations, including the Kalgoorlie Mining Hall of Fame. ‘Not bad for someone who is 93!’ I once heard him quip to a young staffer.

The contribution Sir Charles made to public life was well recognised and he stands as one of the most decorated figures in Western Australian civic history. His awards included being made an Officer in the Military Division of the Order of the British Empire in 1946 for distinguished service during World War II in the South-West Pacific; a Knight Bachelor in 1972, a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1979 and a Knight of the Order of Australia in 1982. In 2001 Sir Charles was awarded the Centenary Medal for services to the community.

Insofar as the Liberal Party is concerned, he is one of only three holders of the Liberal Party’s Distinguished Service Medal, the others being Dame Pattie Menzies and Tony Eggleton. I was at the 1998 annual convention when Sir Charles made a 45-minute speech dealing with his life and experience, and you could have heard a pin drop.

He was of course most proud of his family, whom he adored. Sir Charles married Rita, his first wife, in 1936 and raised five sons—Victor, Ken, Barry, Geoffrey and Richard. All these men have had fine and very successful careers, and Richard succeeded his father as the member for Nedlands and himself became Western Australian Premier in 1993. I might also mention here that son Barry will on Sunday become the President of the Western Australia Division of the Liberal Party of Australia. Following Lady Rita’s death in 1992, Sir Charles married Lady Judith in 1996 and she has become extremely well loved and respected in her own right.

Sir Charles stands as a giant in the history of Western Australia and, indeed, of our country. Long may his legacy be noted by those who would walk in his footsteps. My great privilege is to have shared his political affiliations. He is the enduring benchmark of public service and parliamentary achievement in Western Australia and, may I say, here in Canberra. He is a truly great Western Australian.