Death Of The Honourable Douglas Frederick Moppett, A Former Member Of The Legislative Council
DEATH OF THE HONOURABLE DOUGLAS FREDERICK MOPPETT, A FORMER MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
Page: 3421
Ministerial Statement
Mr CARR (Maroubra—Premier, Minister for the Arts, and Minister for Citizenship) [2.18 p.m.]: It was with regret and real sadness that I learnt yesterday of the death of Doug Moppett. Last week I had called Mr Moppett at his home in western New South Wales. He was, of course, a respected member of his community and a conscientious member of Parliament. I know that all honourable members will agree that Doug Moppett was a true gentleman. I learnt with sadness from his parliamentary colleagues not only of his suffering but of his great bravery in his last days. He certainly evinced that when I spoke to him last week. I congratulated him on his buoyant spirits, even as he was facing a certain and immediate death. He was a hard-working member of Parliament who was held in high respect by members on both sides of the Legislative Council.
Doug was member of the New South Wales Legislative Council for 13 years from 1976 to 1978 and from 1991 to 2002. He had been a member of the Standing Committee on Social Issues for the past 11 years and had been deputy-chair of that committee since 1999. His commonsense and compassion contributed to several excellent reports, including the report on the inquiry into hepatitis C. The recommendations made in that report largely have been implemented. Members of the committee have said that in all their inquiries the rural and regional perspective provided by Doug was invaluable. He was vice-chairman of the New South Wales branch of the National Party from 1971 to 1986 and State Chairman of the National Party from 1986 to 1991. He was a life member of the National Party. Doug has been a grazier since 1962, and I am told that he and his sons recently appeared in a Gowings catalogue promoting Australian wool. In his Address-in-Reply speech on 1 September 1976, Doug stated:
My philosophy on politics is that people should not be inconvenienced by wishing to live in rural areas of this country; they should not be handicapped in their enjoyment of life any more than other members of the community.
Born in 1940, Doug was married to Helen and they had two sons, Warwick and Peter. I extend the condolences of honourable members to them, and to his friends and colleagues in this Parliament and the National Party.
Mr SOURIS (Upper Hunter—Leader of the National Party) [2.21 p.m.]: I thank the Premier for his remarks. I also thank him and the many members of both this House and the Legislative Council for their telephone calls and the support and goodwill extended to the Moppett family in recent days. We lost a friend of parliamentary democracy when the Hon. Doug Moppett passed away on 18 June 2002. We also lost a friend of the power of eloquent debate. Doug died of cancer at the age of 62. In the company of the Deputy Leader of the Opposition I had the honour of the visiting him in hospital two weeks ago. All of us already knew of Doug Moppett's courage, maturity and strength. That was no more evident than in an interview he gave to ABC radio last week, only days before his death. A news item from the Parliamentary Library contains the following:
He spoke to the ABC last week, where he said his long fight with cancer forced him to retire.
"It was undifferentiated at first, but about five weeks ago, a CT scan showed a shadow on my liver, and that's had a profound effect on my capacity to work," he said.
"The doctors I have been consulting with have told me not to look too far ahead, so I'm sort of straightening things out."
That is a very courageous statement to make in a radio broadcast. Doug was a member of the Legislative Council of New South Wales between 1976 and 1978 and again from 1991 to 2002. His more recent term included a period as the Deputy Opposition Whip and both his terms included many years of service on parliamentary committees. He was a member of the National Party from 1971 and was State Chairman of the New South Wales branch of the National Party from 1986 to 1991.
Doug Moppett also served for 13 years on the Coonamble Shire Council, including one year as its deputy-president. He had an interest in all matters sporting. In fact, several members of this Parliament enjoyed the occasional Wednesday early morning game of tennis that was played when Parliament was sitting. He was active in Anglican Church affairs and he had other community interests. During the period of Doug Moppet's chairmanship, the National Party was faced with perhaps the greatest challenge in its history, the Joh for Canberra campaign, which was akin to civil war within the party. I would like to quote a couple of paragraphs from the book written by Paul Kelly, The End of Certainty—Power, Politics and Business in Australia. He said:
The Joh-for-Canberra push split the Nationals at their base. The Joh war was conducted state-by-state. Joh's real opposition was the NSW National Party, which had no intention of falling for Joh-power and was appalled by his tactics. The NSW party was (Ian) Sinclair's power base, the home of a successful state level coalition which aspired to win the next state election and had a firm and competent state chairman, Doug Moppett.
From the start Moppett spoke for the NSW party in saying that coalition unity was essential, that outside pressure on the party would be resisted, that proper constitutional process would be followed in preselection, and that NSW would not tolerate Queensland disruption of the federal coalition. In the war that would engulf the National Party, the attack of the Queenslanders would be met with an equally determined defence in NSW. This would prove fundamental in breaking the Joh push. Moppett was backed by National Party federal president then Shirley McKerrow.
The NSW National Party central executive supported Sinclair's leadership, the federal coalition, and the independence of the federal National Party. It was the NSW party which would eventually smash Joh.
... Joh's weakness was induced partly by a secret deal struck in Howard's office between the NSW National and Liberal Parties, and formally embodied in a two-page signed document. Its effect was to lock Joh out of the biggest state.
Those of us who were around at the time remember the ferocity of the debate and the way in which it shook the National Party to its foundations. I will take a moment to reflect on a nice side of Doug Moppett, that is, his legendary command of the lexicon. I have the opportunity of offering just one or two quotes that have come from parliamentary debates in the State's Legislative Council. This quote is from a debate on the Agricultural Tenancies Amendment Bill:
So often the Hon. R. S. L. Jones presents himself to his House like a nineteenth-century dilettante, convening a society to talk about secret arguments, about gnostic matters that he is aware of. He often quotes the search engine that he has suddenly discovered that brings up obscure quotations that bedizen his otherwise vacuous speeches. But when it comes to the full force of logic, I find that his arguments fall to the ground more quickly than the proverbial bride's nightie.
Mr Brogden: Michael Egan is more direct.
Mr SOURIS: I will quote later from what the Hon. Michael Egan had to say. In a debate relating to the retirement of Johno Johnson, Doug Moppett said:
I thought it was my bounden duty as a member of the National Party organisation not to subscribe money that I knew was certainly going to the coffers of the ALP. Nevertheless, I guess I compromised my principles because among the merchandise that he had for sale, which no-one has mentioned, he also had a brand of tea—Fortnum and Mason's royal blend—which came in beautiful big containers. I would have to say that the Moppett household survived on that wonderful supply of tea, no doubt to the benefit of the ALP but thanks to Johno Johnson and his skills in the retail industry.
This is another exchange:
The Hon. DOUG MOPPETT: Country Labor's interest has been facetious at best, simply designed to gain some evanescent favour.
The Hon Michael Egan: "Evanescent"—what does that mean?
The Hon. Doug Moppett replied straightaway:
Fading away, ephemeral. It has proved to be such.
Doug had the following thoughts on the proposal for a State Bill of Rights:
From time to time there are proposals in relation to vapid and evanescent notions of a bill of rights and a new order of things, almost like meteors or shooting stars in the sky. They generally fade away through lack of resonance in society. The proposal for a bill of rights has been more a enduring one and is, of course, considered to be a glib and beguiling argument by the inexperienced and those who simply are attracted to the euphonious nature of such a proposal.
Doug made the following statement in relation to the composition of the Public Accounts Committee:
It was obvious that was the case because, after one of those fatal meetings and during the development of the debate, a trickle of tatterdemalion-like Government members—some slinking, some strident, kicking tins and blowing whistles—came down to the Chamber bearing a gallimaufry of false arguments with which they wanted to regale the House as some sort of weak excuse as to why they would subsequently vote against the proposal.
On behalf of his many friends in parliamentary life, and especially his best friend in Macquarie Street, the Hon. Jennifer Gardiner, I would like to pay tribute to Doug's lifetime commitment to country New South Wales, the National Party and parliamentary democracy. All of us in public life know of the sacrifices involved on the part of our families. We all express our sympathy to Helen, Warwick and Peter, and offer them our support in the days ahead. I would like to conclude with one final Doug Moppett quote. In his farewell speech to Johno Johnson, Doug said:
Johno has a philosophy that has been distilled out of unfathomable faith and unshakeable beliefs which were combined with the experience of life in a wide range of circumstances. He sits there now, his silver hair gilded with nobility, distinguished among his peers and revered by all who knew him. I can only sum up my thoughts, as I am wont to do, in Shakespearean terms and say of—
and I substitute the word "Doug"—
His life was gentle, and the elements, So mix'd in him that Nature might stand up, And say to all the world, "This was a man!"