Kerry O'Brien (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Whilst it is tempting to respond to the rant we just heard from Senator Williams, I have something much more important to deal with. I want to talk about Eleanor Grey OAM, better known as Betty. Tasmania lost Betty, a trailblazer in education and a committed community worker, when she passed away last Sunday, 20 March.

Betty was born in Queenstown, Tasmania, on 9 August 1923 and trained as a teacher at the Phillip Smith Training College and the University of Tasmania. She taught at Huonville Area School and Smithton High School—talk about opposite corners of the state!—before being required to resign from the teaching service, as women were required to do at the time, to have her family.

After returning to the education department she was appointed Senior Mistress—something Betty described as a ‘horrible sexist term’—at Launceston Matriculation College. This was an innovative time in Tasmanian education, with the creation of years 11 and 12 colleges in the government system, and Betty was a committed and enthusiastic part of making it work. She was later appointed vice principal of another pre-tertiary school—Launceston’s Alanvale College.

Betty was also active within her professional associations and the community. She was a life member and served as vice president of the Tasmanian Teachers Federation, the secretary of the Northern Branch of the Retired Teachers Association, a member of the Australian College of Education, a life member of the AFUW Tasmania, a member of the World Education Fellowship, the inaugural AEW Tasmania representative at the Tasmanian College of Advanced Education, a member of Adult Education (Northern Group), a life member of University Women Graduates, a member of the Women’s Health Network of Launceston, a charter member of the Zonta International Club of Launceston, the assistant secretary of the National Council of Women, a member of the National Foundation for Australian Women, a member the Tasmanian Women’s Consultative Council, a member of the Advisory Council of the School of Nursing, a member of the Penguin Club, Friends of the ABC, Theatre North and Amnesty International, and secretary of the Launceston Croquet Club. That is quite a list.

Betty was also a dedicated member of the Australian Labor Party and a great advocate for its many causes. She became a life member of the ALP and served as president and secretary of the South/West Launceston branch, and she was also secretary for more than 20 years of an organisation known as the Australian Labor Party Sisterhood, or ALPS, and a member of Emily’s List.

Betty Grey was an intelligent and respected member of the community who always displayed a strong sense of social justice. She has made a valuable and longstanding contribution within many organisations where she has been an advocate for human rights and in particular the status of women, education and equal opportunity. She had a wonderful sense of humour, and enjoyed the theatre and hearty discussions with people from all walks of life.

Betty was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1998 for service to education through the Australian Education Union and to the community through organisations including the National Council of Women and Zonta International. Later she was most appropriately inducted as a member of the Tasmanian Honour Roll of Women. She will be sadly missed by her colleagues and her wonderful friends in the Launceston branch of the Australian Labor Party Sisterhood.

In recent years, Betty did not enjoy great health. My staff and I, over the past few years, have missed her weekly visits to my office, which occurred after she had had her hair done. Impeccably dressed, she would come to the office to check that everything was in order and finish her visit with a ritual glass of red wine prior to heading off to catch a bus home, with her usual ‘Carry on then’ leaving us with big smiles on our faces. My staff would always expect a panicked call from her at election time asking what she should do with her postal vote which she had spilled her coffee over. Every time she would simply wipe it clean and pop it in an envelope to the AEC with a note of apology.

I would like to share with you a particular social occasion that Betty enjoyed with the ALP Sisterhood, whose original members have an average age of 80 years but which also includes some much younger members, including members of my staff. Those members—women on my staff—recalled that they picked Betty up along with other members of the sisterhood to attend the theatre. They all went for dinner prior to the show and then made their way to the theatre. At the end of the show, close to midnight, they decided to head for a nightcap at a local wine bar. At around 12.45 am, members of my staff thought they had best start rounding up the ladies to get them home. With great gusto, Betty asked, ‘Where are we off to now?’ and was most indignant that it had been decided that it was home time. Such was Betty and her social agenda, even at a very late stage in her life.

Betty was a great helper at all the functions held in and around my office. In fact it would not have been a Labor Party function without Betty’s fruit-and-walnut loaf, purchased at Townsend’s bakery, and seeing her working busily in the kitchen prior to the function and after it.

I hope this gives a true picture of Betty’s contribution to society. She had a wonderful sense of humour and, as I said earlier, she did enjoy theatre and, when she was active in the community, had hearty discussions with people from all walks of life. Most of all, we will miss her smile. Betty is survived by her daughter Pam, her grandchildren Emma and Brian and her great-grandchildren Thomas and Toby. Her husband Keith and son Alan predeceased her. Her funeral is to be held this Friday, 25 March, at the Funeral Chapel of JA Dunn in Brisbane Street, Launceston. I am sure it will be very well attended.