Brown, Mr V.J.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (15:46): It is a pleasure today to place on the public record, Hansard of the South Australian parliament Legislative Council, my personal appreciation, and that of hundreds of South Australians and Australians, for the work, life and commitment to South Australia, and, broader than that, to certain aspects of Australian sport, of Victor John Brown, OAM, from Ardrossan, born 24 March 1936 and sadly passed away on 28 May 2016. He was a cherished and much-loved husband of Meg Brown, also rightly an OAM, and father of four beautiful children—Stephen, Nick, Linda and Joanna—their partners and, importantly, 13 grandchildren (12 granddaughters and one grandson, Benn).

Vic Brown started from humble beginnings as a farmer doing it tough, with little capital and having to support his father and family at a very young age. He soon developed into being one of South Australia's most proactive farmers in the Ardrossan region, and grew that farm to a significant farming enterprise. He was a very good businessman: he knew that you should not go out and borrow more money than you could afford to repay, and he was always focused on repayment of capital.

He could see the opportunities at Rogue's Point and James Well down from their farm, at Rogue's Gully, for development, and made a bold decision with his family to buy land on the beachfront, and eventually was able to rightly be rewarded for his family's efforts and his vision in the development of a subdivision that gives pleasure today and into the generations of the future with holiday homes and tourism in the Ardrossan area.

The Brown family, of which Vic was integral part, had been in Ardrossan since 1880. He loved Ardrossan, and never forgot where he came from. He was very committed not only to agriculture and farming but also to community, spending 20 years on the Yorke Peninsula council and being one of the activists to look at amalgamation of councils. At the same time, he spent 40 years with Lions, with three terms as president.

He was the state president of South Australian Bowls, and during that time spent 300 days of that period absolutely committed to the development of SA Bowls. He was the facilitator for bringing men and women into equality and opportunities within the development of bowling. He was an absolute top sporting shooter and life member of not only the South Australian Bowls Association but also a life member of the shooting fraternity within our state, with his commitment to Ardrossan in particular.

On top of that, he looked at the minor things that were still very important for the long term, like recycled water, and today when you go into Ardrossan you see a very vibrant and lush golf course and surrounds, and he was the instigator of that. There is the Ardrossan Progress Association, the foreshore, and the caravan park where he was president for 10 years and turned that from an annual profit of $76,000 to $400,000.

Few people, other than your parents, make a significant impact on your life. If you think about it, there is generally only a handful of people who have a direct positive and proactive input into the development of other people around them. I am proud to say that Vic Brown was immensely supportive of me and, not by words but by actions, taught me the importance of supporting family, of loving family, of community development, of what you can do with agriculture and the importance of agriculture, the return in opportunity that you get if you work hard in agriculture, and the rewards for caring for animals and crops.

Clearly, he also led a lot of others to develop their leadership opportunities and helped to fulfil the development of one as an individual and what an individual can do, simply by working with and watching, and having the pleasure of being one of those associated with Vic Brown. At his celebration of life, the bowls club at Ardrossan was absolutely packed—and rightfully so. People could not speak highly enough about not only Vic and the great work he did, but the family and community commitment he had. Vic Brown was an absolute role model for anybody who had the opportunity to be involved with him. His efforts live on.

The challenge for the rest of us who are left is to see whether we can be proactive and leave our mark on society as Vic Brown has left for future generations. His family and friends are all very proud of him, and we thank Vic for being able to be part of his life on earth.