Hurn, Mr B.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (16:56): I move:

That this council—

1. Expresses its deep regret at the passing of Mr Brian Hurn OAM, former mayor of the Barossa Council and former president of the Local Government Association; and

2. Places on record its appreciation of his distinguished service to local government and to the broader community.

It was with much sadness to many South Australians that unfortunately we learnt of the passing of Brian Morgan Hurn OAM on 18 October 2015. Brian Morgan Hurn was the loving husband of Gillian Hurn, now sadly deceased; the loved father and father-in-law of William and Sandi Hurn, Stephen and Jenny Hurn, and Joanne, his daughter now, sadly, deceased, and Graeme. He was the loving grandad of Shannon and Ashton, Jessica, Hannah and Laura, Harry and Mary, and the loved brother of Malcolm, Richard, Geoffrey and Lynette.

A number of members of parliament, as well as a cross-section of the community from right across the state, were there to celebrate and pay respects at Brian Hurn's funeral in Angaston, at his beloved church. It would be no surprise to anyone to know that Brian had a very strong faith and a strong belief in our Lord Jesus Christ. He actually not only had the belief but he carried out his life based on the teachings.

There were a couple of really significant eulogies for the 700 or 800 people who attended the service. As was said by Ashton Hurn, his granddaughter, a bright young lady with a huge future, 'It is a chance for all of us to reflect on the enormous contribution he made to many people from many walks of life.' Because Brian, sadly, knew that his days were numbered because of a terminal illness, he requested that Ashton read his eulogy; In fact, he organised his funeral.

He said, 'Ashton, I don't want you to waffle on about everything I've done in my life, but maybe you could talk about what a good bloke I was.' That is the sort of character he was—he was always there for a joke. He did not want any pomp and ceremony, but he would have been absolutely proud and honoured that Ashton, as one of his grandchildren, was to do the eulogy. Ashton said in the eulogy that:

Grandad was a standard bearer. He was a man who taught me—

namely, Ashton—

that regardless of your surroundings, regardless of your background—you have to stand for something, and whatever you do in life, do it with integrity.

He was a true gentleman, who proved that success in your career is a lot about how you hold yourself in life.

It was this conviction and moral fortitude that made him such a dedicated (and at times formidable) member of the Barossa Valley Council.

Grandad would say that his involvement in local government didn't necessarily come with natural ease, and that he simply listened to the issues and used what he called 'farmer's logic' to solve them.

Ashton goes on to say that:

I think that one of the things that always fascinated me about Grandad, was that in a world of bureaucracy, he managed to navigate through it with such precision.

I will talk more about that in a while. It continues:

He was a man who genuinely believed that you should listen more than you speak.

Not because he didn't have anything to say—let's be honest, he always did—but because he genuinely valued the perspective of others.

He had strong opinions, and liked to be right, but he used to say, '…for god's sake, just make sure your ears aren't painted on, you've got to listen in life.'

As Ashton says:

Ultimately, he was a man who simply loved the Barossa—

He also loved South Australia and Australia—

he loved everything about the place that he, and many of us call home, which is why he executed his role of Chairman of the Angaston Council for 10 years, and [the inaugural] Mayor of the Barossa Council for 17, with such compassion and a deep sense of conviction.

In fact, Brian remained in that job until almost 12 months before his very early and sad passing. He did not like to just be involved in things, he actually got involved because he wanted things done, and he always backed someone who was willing to give something a go. Ashton says:

Despite his profile, and maybe in spite of it, Grandad [in his own way] was a private man, who enjoyed the simple life—he valued his friends and family, enjoyed good conversation, Barossa wine—

Occasionally, if we could convince him over the times I spent with him, we could even get non-Barossa wine into him at a dinner, but he was very parochial and rightly so about the Barossa Valley. He worked hard. He worked hard in council. He worked hard to ensure that he supported his family. He worked hard for his passion as a farmer and he particularly worked very hard for the commitment and passion he had for community.

Brian Hurn had the same approach to sport as he did to local government: work hard, be a team player and always do your best, fairly good basics for achieving in sport. In fact, I know that Brian was very proud of all of his grandchildren and loved them immensely, but when it came to sport he was particularly proud of Ashton, who plays in the highest netball league in South Australia and is very accomplished at that sport.

Most of us would know of Shannon Hurn, Brian's grandson, who is probably one of the best kicks in the AFL competition. He went over when he was drafted to the West Coast Eagles at a very young age. He managed to wear all that and excel in the AFL, even though he came from the farm, missed his family and was initially boarded when he went to play for the West Coast Eagles. Now, he has become captain of the West Coast Eagles and played in the grand final this year against Hawthorn. I know for a fact, from the times that I spent with Brian, that he was incredibly proud of their sporting achievements.

In his early years, Brian travelled from Angaston to Adelaide to play cricket for what is described as, and rightly so, his beloved Kensington Browns. He played that standard of cricket well into his 40s. He was a member of the winning South Australian 1963-64 Sheffield Shield side, an achievement that we all know was a source of personal pride, although, as was always the way with Brian, he never bragged about it, in fact you had to drag out just what he did achieve in his magnificent cricket career.

Ultimately, sport as well as community life to Brian Hurn was about teamwork. In a sense, Brian Hurn was the ultimate sportsman. I might add that he was also an exceptionally good footballer in his own right, something that was genetically bred in through the family. He was captain of Angaston and I think he played in quite a few premierships and grand finals, as I understand. His son William went on to play for Central Districts. We know the great strength of the Central Districts South Australian National Football League side. I understand that Shannon, his grandson, went there before being drafted to the West Coast Eagles.

In recent weeks, just before Brian passed away, he often spoke about the camaraderie that would come from Shannon, his grandson, being able to captain the West Coast Eagles into an AFL grand final. In fact, I spoke to him the week before the grand final, and he was immensely proud, and rightly so, of Shannon being able to lead an AFL team into a grand final. Unfortunately, they did not win that grand final. At that point Brain was too unwell to travel, but I know he listened intently to the game.

I know that he was not a supporter of the Adelaide Crows, unlike many of us in this house, but I understand why he supported the West Coast Eagles. He said, 'Win it or lose it, you'll never forget it; the hard work and the blokes. I just hope they kick the thing, none of this handball stuff.' He was as proud as punch.

Brian Hurn's dry and often cheeky sense of humour sometimes got him into trouble and, despite being a man who took his various responsibilities seriously, he also recognised the importance of having a good laugh in life. My wife Mandy, myself, former mayor Kym McHugh, and former president of the LGA and his wife Heather had the privilege, with Ashton Hurn, of travelling through Europe privately in August last year. We certainly had lots of good laughs during that three weeks period in Europe.

Brian was the man who every morning (and I can tell you factually that I did not indulge in this, but the rest of them were led by Brian) enjoyed not only having a laugh at breakfast time but, as you can do on those scenic cruises, you can drink Moët with your breakfast. Brian Hurn loved that glass or two of Moët with his breakfast on that cruise. As Ashton rightly said:

Each of us here today at the funeral will have their own special memories of their relationships with Brian.

A story that springs to mind for Ashton was when we visited Lords together last year. I remember that very well. We parted in Amsterdam and said goodbye to Brian and Ashton and they went on to visit Lords. Brian was very keen to go to that famous cricket ground. It was on his bucket list, and I congratulate Ashton, his granddaughter, for accompanying and organising that most memorable and special occasion.

During that occasion Brian Hurn was smiling from ear to ear. The tour guide kept reiterating that under no circumstances could anyone walk on the ground. Sometimes apparently you are able to, but at other times, I guess depending on the preparation of Lords as a cricket ground, they prohibited that. As they were walking down the steps to the fence of Lords, Ashton saw a little gate open and, as you would expect, Brian Hurn could not help himself—he just waltzed straight out on to the ground. When security asked him to remove himself from the oval, several times in fact, he shot back, 'But I've just got to measure out my run up.' He winked at Ashton and pretended to bowl at Lords.

Perhaps this was his final chance of remembering his cricket days, remembering that in his cricket days he had his best on field effort against England on Boxing Day at Adelaide Oval in 1958. He had a five wicket haul when he was just 19 years of age, playing first-class cricket for South Australia, not a bad effort for a bloke who was a farmer born and bred in Angaston in the Barossa Valley, South Australia.

He did not brag about this, but Sir Donald Bradman came to visit him at his home in Angaston a couple of times: the first was to convince him not to retire from cricket, and another to see if he would be interested in going on a tour of England—not bad for just a country bloke, as Ashton said in the eulogy.

Brian Hurn said he could not go because he was too busy on the farm, and this was of course largely reflective of the times, but I think more so reflective of the sense of responsibility that Brian Hurn had. He had a young family to provide for and, to him, that sense of providing for his family was more important. It was those values that have been such a strength to his own family and future generations, and a strength to the community of the Barossa Valley and also the broader community of South Australia where he still showed those values, which I will talk about a little later in this condolence motion, for all South Australians through local government.

Brian Hurn was a very proud family man who encouraged both his children and his grandchildren to give life a go and live it in your own right. He did not always say much when he spoke, but what he did say you took in. He left not only his family and extended family with many lessons reflective of his remarkable approach to life, but also his friends and his professional colleagues.

Brian Hurn once entertained the Queen when she visited the Barossa a number of years back but, in private moments, he would say to his family, 'I might have met the Queen of England, Ashton', but his wife was his true queen—again, just showing the strength of his love and passion for his wife. He was a man who cared about all members of his extended family and rejoiced in their achievements, no matter what they were.

As Ashton said in the eulogy, he had devotion for her father, William, and her uncle, Stephen. It was unwavering until the very end. Whilst he never overtly showed it, he often told Ashton Hurn how proud he was of them and that he hoped they enjoyed a good life. He was a grandfather to seven, and he was proud of each and every one of his grandchildren. He was a big brother to four, and he was thrilled that the family legacy was continuing and looked forward to it continuing for generations to come. As Ashton said in the completion of her eulogy, there were still a number of questions that she would like to have asked her granddad:

…but, I never really got the chance in the end. I know that the answers would have been 'live without pretending, stand for something and enjoy yourself'.

There is no doubt, as Ashton indicated in the eulogy, Brian Hurn lived a wonderful, proud life and inspired many of us to be better people. He was a man of character with a mighty heart. It was a privilege to know Brian, and we can all learn from his teachings by actions rather than words.

There was a second eulogy delivered that day, by Brian's best friend, and that integrated well with Ashton's eulogy. I just want to touch on a few points in there, because this could take up many pages of Hansard. Again, listening to that friend, he talked about the fact that they were both involved in sport and in community service. He said that, if you had a look at Brian's life, he was indeed a great bloke and was very proud of all his family.

Brian's best mate met him when they were only 18 years old. He said Brian was a bit difficult to get to know in that he was always in a bit of a hurry, and that is because he had so much to offer the community. Already by then, he was a class cricketer and was developing into an excellent footballer, and it was through their football that they became good mates.

Brian Hurn joined the committee of the Angaston Football Club at a young age and served on it for many years. It was during this period that Angaston was very successful on and off the field, and this gave them the impetus to build the outstanding clubrooms that look out over the beautiful Angaston Oval and surrounds. They were both heavily involved in that project, and it was a proud day when another very great South Australian, Mr Max Basheer, opened what was then the new building for the sports club at the Angaston Oval in 1979.

Brian Hurn was also very actively involved in the CFS, and he knew the importance of a strong Country Fire Service. With several other farmers in his area, he formed and then ran what was known as the Tarrawatta Fire Organisation. These gentlemen knew that any outbreak of fire could be controlled reasonably well if you could get it at an early stage, so they set up a number of specifically-fitted small trucks. They carried a water tank, pumps and hoses and were on standby all through the fire season. They were responsible for saving thousands of acres and countless stock over many years. Brian and the other members were very proud of their record over these many years and it is a real credit to him and his colleagues in the CFS that they never lost a man on any job fighting fires.

I think about the tragedy in the Pinery fires and the threat to the Barossa Valley and surrounds and I think about Brian and how he would have strategically looked at trying to combat that fire. Whilst it was strategically combated and everyone involved did a good job, it was people like Brian Hurn, previously involved in the Country Fire Service, who were building that knowledge and that ethos that our magnificent men and women of the CFS offer to protect life and property in this state.

As I said earlier, Brian Hurn had a long career in cricket and was extremely successful. I mentioned that he played for Kensington into his 40s. He played a number of premierships during that time and twice won the Don Bradman Medal for the district cricketer of the year. He was also the Kensington club captain. Much is known about his cricketing career and I was pleased to see the Hon. Ian McLachlan and others, representing the South Australian Cricket Association, attending his funeral with pride and in recognition of Brian's outstanding commitment to cricket in South Australia.

He was an extremely proud member of the Sheffield Shield team and, as I said, he won with his mates in 1963-64. Brian Hurn never made much fuss about the fact that he played with some incredible cricketers, and I would like to put them on the record. One, who I always thought was arguably one of (and will be one of) the best cricketers ever in the history of cricket and knighted for it was Sir Garfield Sobers, known as Garry Sobers. Also, Les Favell, Ian Chappell, Neil Hawke, Rex Sellers, Barry Jarman and Ken Cunningham. But he was particularly immensely proud that he had been given and taken the chance to play with such great team members.

I think this is where the real focus of Brian the family man comes in again, and the fact that, above and beyond all of his incredible achievements, this was mentioned by his best mate in the eulogy. I think the other important thing was that he could not have played cricket without the total and dedicated support of Gillian, his much-loved wife, because Brian was away from home a lot, as you would expect if you are playing cricket and practising in Adelaide and you are farming in the Barossa Valley.

He much appreciated the support given by Gillian because she kept the whole family outfit running looking after children, orphaned lambs, pregnant ewes and cutting apricots because, as we all know, they not only had sheep and cattle—wool, prime lambs and cattle—but they were involved and still are in horticulture and particularly viticulture today. She worked for the church, the school, the welfare club and various other organisations that needed her skills and dedication, and he could leave his family ably knowing that they were in the best of hands and care and love.

Once he retired from district cricket, he did not turn his back on cricket; he returned to the Angaston Cricket Club and played a role in supporting the club on and off the field. I know as the mayor of the Barossa Valley, not only the Angaston Cricket Club, but sport in general through his position as the mayor, was very much a focus of the Barossa Valley Council and I trust that that will continue into the future. He knew the importance of a healthy, active and vibrant community lifestyle and he nurtured it; and with Angaston Cricket Club he nurtured on and off the field.

In fact, only a few months ago, as I was travelling back through a little town on the edge of the Barossa Valley, I was talking to him on Bluetooth and said, 'Gee, there's a magnificent oval and facilities here.' He prattled off the name of that town immediately; he knew exactly what the council had done when it came to improving the grounds, the lighting, the water, the whole bit. He was a man who paid attention to detail.

Before Brian passed away he was still a member of the Angaston Football Club and, at this time, he still continued to play lawn bowls. It was a sad occasion that we had booked in on a Sunday—sad for me because we knew Brian's time was not going to be much longer on planet Earth and that he was to go to a better eternal life—and I had organised with my wife, Mandy, to catch up (as you do when you are friends and when you get a chance) at Lyndoch at a beautiful restaurant.

Unfortunately, they lost at bowls on the Saturday and Brian had to make a decision between having that lunch that he really wanted to have with us and going back in again to try to win the bowls game. Of course, there was really no question about it; the fact remained that he had to put his sport first. We knew that and, whilst he was not well, he still played his bowls, and was certainly a formidable bowler. In fact, he became a first division bowler and eventually the successful captain of the Angaston Bowling Club. He played in some 10 first division premierships—not a bad effort by any standards. He enjoyed not only the opportunities that bowls directly brings with it as a sport, and particularly being the captain (or the skipper as they are called), but he loved the social side of it as well.

They did not always do it easy and they probably still don't, like most farmers and their families. Brian Hurn's father, Morgan, was trying to develop their property and create opportunities for his boys in agriculture. When Brian was a young lad his father, Morgan Hurn, sent him up north for a time before he returned home to work on the family farm. This practice is useful because many young farmers think the old man is past it and out of touch. Brian was a good learner and his father Morgan was a great teacher so Brian became a first-class sheep farmer with excellent expertise in sheep husbandry. I might say he also had very good expertise in beef cattle husbandry. He could see a secure future in sheep and, therefore, as a very young man, he got stuck into the farm once he came back from the Far North. In fact, in the mid-1960s Morgan Hurn stepped back a little and Brian began to take on more responsibility for the day-to-day running of the farm.

Brian Hurn, I think, has left an incredible legacy for those of us who had anything to do with him and the privilege of associating with him. One that I want to put on the public record in this condolence motion is his understanding of looking after Mother Earth and his particular interest in planting trees. I understand that he planted several thousand trees even leading up into his last few years on his farm property in Flaxman Valley, not far out of Angaston. The improvement to this area is excellent. As those trees grow, they will still continue to provide enormous benefit to not only the stock on Brian's family farm but also, obviously, to the general environment. Brian Hurn knew that you had to put something back onto the land which would last for many decades. It was a great investment and, as I say, legacy.

Brian Hurn was approached by Colin Angas, a man who I know well, a magnificent South Australian. We all know the great work the Angas family has done for South Australia. However, the fact that a man of the calibre of Colin Angas approached Brian Hurn to stand for the district council of Angaston in early 1978 says it all. He was elected to council and started his civic career on 1 July 1978.

Brian Hurn probably never thought early on that he would be involved for the next 35 plus years as a councillor. In his time, he was a councillor, a deputy chairman and then the last chairman of the district council of Angaston before the creation of the Barossa Council in 1996, during what were probably the first significant amalgamations of local government in the history of the state.

He was the inaugural mayor of the Barossa Council and his long service has rightly been recognised over and over. There was an enormous amount of goodwill and hard work necessary for the creation of this new council and Brian Hurn specifically acknowledged Robert Homburg—another well-known Barossa Valley name—for help and cooperation in bringing the project to fruition.

Not content with his leadership roles in Angaston and then Barossa, Brian was also involved in the LGA, rising to become its vice-president for four years and president for two years. His total involvement with the Local Government Association in South Australia and the Australian Local Government Association covered 21 years out of the 35 that he was in local government.

Twenty-one years is an enormous amount of 'over and above' time for the broader importance of the third tier of government—namely, local government—at the same time as keeping absolutely committed to his responsibilities and passion for the Barossa Valley and the Barossa Council. Rightly, in 1999, he was awarded the OAM and the Local Government Association's John Legoe Award in 2010, both of which acknowledged Brian Hurn's huge contribution in time and effort.

It is appropriate for me to mention here that I am advised that Brian Hurn actually read all the papers—stacks of papers. He did not just walk in and chair a committee meeting. He read the papers; he was blessed with a sharp mind and a very good memory and he often, I am advised, won an argument in discussions on what had been presented to council many months before.

As I mentioned, in Ashton's eulogy, his best mate says that one of the proudest moments of Brian's life was when he had to look after Queen Elizabeth at a civic reception provided by the Barossa Council. Of course, protocol prevented him from telling anything of that day, but he did say that Her Majesty was one of the most delightful people he ever met. She asked Brian the date when she was signing an attendance book. Brian told her the day and month and added the year for good measure, upon which Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II advised him rather sharply that she was aware of the year.

Brian would sometimes cop a bit of flak about council decisions, as you do, but he would always take the time to listen to his constituents and try to explain why a decision had been made in a particular way. He realised, as he showed leadership in the Barossa Valley, that he had to balance growth and new opportunities with protecting and enhancing existing agriculture and tourism opportunities.

I knew about Brian Hurn for quite a while as a young MP, but I first met him officially soon after I became minister for emergency services, because at that point in time, Brian Hurn OAM was president of the Local Government Association and the CEO of the LGA was John Comrie, and they were a formidable team.

One of the challenges I had—and there were a few when we were bringing the emergency services levy through—was how we were going to negotiate the transfer of assets, because the assets belonged to the councils. Very few assets were actually owned by the state government back then. The assets were owned by the particular councils and the net worth depended on the wealth of the councils and also to a secondary extent on the actual commitment of those councils to the CFS and SES, but at the end of the day, we had to negotiate the transfer of all the emergency services assets from local government to state government. At that point in time, after the State Bank, the fact was that councils had been hit pretty hard, because state budgets had to be tightened and they also had the issues of amalgamation before them from 1996.

Some of my colleagues—one in particular, whom I will not name—said to me, 'You'll be fine with Brian Hurn; he's one of us,' because I had said, if not just to the cabinet but to the party room, 'Please understand that this will not be an easy exercise, when you're wanting to have literally hundreds of million dollars worth of assets transferred from one tier of government to the other.' By that, what was meant was that Brian believed in the ideology of the Liberal Party and he would not give us too hard a time, he would be able to negotiate it through.

I will never forget that, because we started to negotiate, but what that person forgot was that over and above the fact that Brian had strong beliefs in conservative political parties and government, over and above that was his integrity, above that was his responsibility, and above that was the fact that he knew he was representing tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, of people across the state with these negotiations.

As a young minister that was a great lesson for me, because as we started to negotiate through I thought I was actually gaining, and was about to go back to cabinet and report the progress and sign off fairly soon. However that was not to be, for the reasons I have just said. He had to put his party politics aside; in fact, I can tell you that he was of such integrity that he did not talk about party politics. He worked with whatever was the colour of the government of the day, because it was nothing to do with party politics for him. What he did not put aside, and rightly so, were his obligations to the people he represented.

So it was not an easy road for me, even though we were professionally friends. In fact, Brian Hurn achieved $11 million more out of the state government at that time than I ever dreamt he would achieve, and way above what my instructions were. I can remember saying to the premier at the time, 'We've got a problem here, because we have the legislation through and everything is committed now and there are expectations of delivery and rollout, but we can't get tenure of the assets. He is not going to just roll over and he now wants $11 million to do projects for local government that he felt were under threat.'

He won, and that did not surprise me, because he was such a professional. He was not a state Sheffield Shield premiership cricketer for nothing, he was not a great sportsman for nothing, he was not excelling in farming and in the community for nothing. So when I reflected on it I thought, 'Of course he's going to win, because he has me where he needs me.' We often had a chuckle over that in the years to follow. He was also a man who could not only work professionally but could also still work alongside you and respect you. Whilst he had a job to do, he would not do you over while he was doing that job. That was the man, Brian Hurn.

I want to finish this condolence motion on some of the final privileges I had with Brian. It is not very often that you get a chance to go overseas with a friend, with your own wife and other friends, and learn a lot more—in an integral sense—about someone you thought you knew a fair bit about. However, when you spend three weeks travelling in Europe, when you are together (apart from sleeping) for 24/7—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting:

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE: We did sleep a little, not a lot. Hurnie never used to sleep that much, although he used to say to me, 'Robert, knock on my door in the morning so I can have a shower and I'll be there and I'll get the breakfast table for you,' because he also got the Moët every morning as well, which my wife loved.

The fact was that I had some special times with Brian then. When Ashton and my wife Mandy and Kym and Heather McHugh were going on a bike ride through Europe, we would go on the river cruise, because Brian was not that well at the time. In fact he was suffering immensely—and I knew that—and I was recovering from a hip replacement, so we used to do our own special little walks in the villages and just spend a bit of time together. That is when you really do learn about a friend and about the quality of an individual.

I had a most special and final joyous occasion with Brian, and that was his birthday, just a few months before he passed away. Thanks to Miriam Smith, another really close friend of Brian Hurn, and Kym McHugh, we decided for old times' sake that we would go to the Cork and Cleaver for an afternoon. I will put on the public record, because Brian would love this, that by the end of that afternoon Brian was a little worse for wear. Notwithstanding that his health was not all that good at that time, we were there to celebrate his birthday, and he was not any worse for wear than the rest of us. He still had the capacity to front up at the crease and hit some pretty good sixes that afternoon.

To Brian's family, be very proud of Brian Hurn. He has been a magnificent contributor to South Australia. It is a privilege and an honour to be able to put part of a very incredible and packed condolence motion onto the public record in the South Australian Parliament for Mr Brian Morgan Hurn OAM, a man who absolutely loved South Australia and who was dedicated and committed to South Australia, and particularly the Barossa Valley. I commend the condolence motion to the house.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins.