Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I stand here to recognise the life of one of Western Australia's leading conservative intellectuals, Dr Hal Gibson Pateshall Colebatch. Hal was incredibly wise and well-read, the essential ingredients to make him a successful author, poet, lecturer, journalist, editor, lawyer and historian.

The son of former senator and WA Premier Sir Harry Pateshall Colebatch, also known as Hal, and Lady Marion Colebatch, the daughter of long-time Fremantle Mayor and parliamentarian Sir Frank Gibson, Dr Colebatch was born into a politically prominent family. Widowed in 1940, with two sons, his father, then aged 72, remarried in 1944 to his mother, Marion Gibson, aged just 33, a nurse with health issues following a wartime incident. Ten months later, Hal Gibson Pateshall Colebatch was born.

Although Sir Harry, or Hal, Colebatch passed away when his son was just seven years old, his influence on Hal Colebatch's life, beliefs and values was considerable. Dr Colebatch's father was a central figure in a number of important issues that faced Western Australia in the first half of last century, including dealing with the Spanish flu crisis of 1919, the establishment of the North West Department and leading Western Australia's secession delegation in 1934. And he was a critical, but sometimes very lonely figure, in highlighting the rise of Nazi Germany as Agent-General in London prior to the Second World War.

It's no wonder that Hal Colebatch's written works include a biography of his father, Steadfast Knight: A Life of Sir Hal Colebatch. In this biography, Dr Colebatch touches on his relationship with his father:

During my mother's too-frequent absences in hospital he would cook for me, dress me, read to me until late at night and look after me generally. It must have been difficult for a man approaching—and reaching—the age of 80 with severe diabetes to cope with an active infant and a sometimes very sick wife, yet all I remember is happiness.

With his father's life committed to public service, he passed away with an estate of just over 2,000 pounds with no house and no car. As a result, his mother returned to nursing at Hollywood hospital, living in a private room onsite, while young Hal Colebatch boarded at Christ Church Grammar School, thanks to the generosity of his grandfather and the Soldier's Children's Education Fund.

In a Quadrant article from October 2013, 'Hal Colebatch: Inside an Outsider,' Dr Colebatch recalled his time at Christ Church Grammar:

I had lived at home with doting parents who treated me like a little prince. Christ Church was mainly for farmers' children, with whom I had nothing in common. I got bad advice that if anyone bullied me, ignore them. That got me bullied worse. Finally I threw a boy out of a second-storey window and the bullying stopped.

Despite his obvious intelligence, Hal Colebatch had to repeat his matriculation at Leederville tech. He went on to earn five degrees, including a PhD in political science; a Master of Arts; a Bachelor of Arts with honours; a Bachelor of Jurisprudence; and a Bachelor of Laws. Hal Colebatch went on to write and contribute to numerous books, including seven volumes of poetry, biographies, a popular science fiction series called Man-Kzin Wars and institutional histories, and he even wrote about Western Australian road traffic laws.

Hal Colebatch's work includes the official biography of the original Modest Member and fellow economic dry the Hon. Bert Kelly, and was the winner of the 2014 Prime Minister's literary award for history, Australia's Secret War. As well as being an award-winning historical writer, Hal Colebatch was the author of an extensive portfolio of poems. In poet Les Murray's forward for Hal Colebatch's 2007 book of poetry, The Light River, Murray wrote that Hal's work had been unjustly suppressed by the Australian literary establishment because of his refusal to join poetic cliques. Instead, Hal Colebatch kept the company of fellow conservatives, with memberships including the Victoria League for Commonwealth Friendship, including as past chairman and holding the position of senior vice chairman at the time of his passing; the Australian National Flag Association; the Australia-Britain Society; the Australian Monarchist League; Australians for Constitutional Monarchy; and of course the Western Australian Liberal Party. Over his extensive period within the Liberal Party, Hal Colebatch was a member of the Curtin and Perth divisions, and, after a break from the party early last decade, rejoined the Cowan division in 2015.

Not all things were spectacular for Hal Colebatch though. He was an unsuccessful candidate for parliament, failing twice to win the safe Labor seat of Perth, although at his second attempt he came within just 0.12 per cent of a victory. But no-one could remark that Hal Colebatch had an unremarkable career. An accomplished barrister and solicitor, Hal Colebatch completed his articles with Stone, James & Co before operating a private practice. As a journalist, Hal Colebatch wrote articles for a number of publications, including The Australian, the Financial Review, the IPA Review, The Salisbury Review, The Record, TheNew Criterion, The Spectator and TheWest Australian.

During his time with The West Australian, Hal Colebatch made several trips to the Kimberley to report on the Ord River dam construction. He forged a close friendship with well-known conservationist, the late Harry Butler, who wrote the foreword to his book, Caverns of Magic. As a leading conservative intellectual, Dr Colebatch spent time working for the think tank set up by two other Western Australian giants, the former Liberal member for Moore, John Hyde, and Western Australian engineering pioneer Harold Clough—and of course that was known as the Australian Institute for Public Policy. While he was studying law he also worked as an adviser to former politicians including the honourable member Sir Victor Garland and former senator the Hon. Chris Ellison, who is still familiar to many senators in this chamber today. And of course he worked in academia, tutoring in creative writing at Curtin University; political science at the University of Western Australia; torts and contract law at Curtin University; as well as lecturing in international law at Edith Cowan University and the University of Notre Dame.

Hal Colebatch has made a lasting impact on Western Australia and on Western Australians. From his pivotal contribution to the exposure of the WA Inc scandal, where with Patrick O'Brien, Bevan Lawrence, Hal Colebatch and others he exposed much of the corruption and inappropriate government spending that occurred during the height of the Burke Labor government. His work with Vietnamese refugees, who came to Australia following their warm welcome by the Fraser government, earned him tremendous respect and was recognised by the WA Vietnamese community in 1987.

Hal Colebatch is a testament to the power of ideas, the power of the written word and the importance of history in understanding our contemporary challenges. In Steadfast Knight, Dr Colebatch wrote about his father and his father's funeral. I did not attend the funeral but was taken to the cinema. However, I remember the half-mast flags which my mother pointed out to me and told me not to forget. She told me later that one of my father's last hopes and ambitions had been to live long enough for him, the young Hal Colebatch, to remember him. There is no doubt, through Dr Colebatch's life and legacy, that this hope and ambition was achieved.

On behalf of the many in Western Australia and beyond Western Australia who put great store in classical conservative and liberal ideals, I extend our deepest appreciation to Hal Colebatch for his contribution to WA politics and to conservative thought, and we extend our respects and our prayers to his family—his wife, Alexandra; his children Katie, Mike, Alexander and Fiona; and his grandchild, James. Hal Colebatch passed away on 10 September 2019, leaving a great deficit in the intellectual rigour of our nation. Vale Hal Colebatch.