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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-05-25 Daily Xml
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NEW, MR G.

Mr PICCOLO (Light) (15:26): In the High Court case of Neal v R, His Honour the late Justice Murphy remarked that Mr Neal is entitled to be an agitator. Without diminishing the importance of those comments in that case, His Honour could have been speaking about the late Geoff New, an environmental and heritage activist, who spent a good part of his life promoting the natural and built environment around Gawler.

Although Geoff passed away recently, he left a legacy that will inspire others to take up the crusade to make the world a better place. I say 'the world' because Geoff was not only interested in the environment, he also cared deeply about the people around him. As his son Daniel said at the memorial service, Geoff hated injustice, whether it be shonky council dealings or stupidity towards our environment.

Geoff's dad was a Presbyterian minister, which meant the family moved around a lot, not only in Australia but the world. Geoff left school at 14, and after a time worked in Cheshire's Bookshop where he cemented his love of books and rekindled his interest in study. He obtained leaving and matriculation certificates and went on to study art at university.

Geoff arrived in Gawler about 40 years ago with a young family in tow. They ended up living in what was then described as a remote, barren and windswept hillside, but it was a great place to raise the kids, who had the space to do whatever they wanted.

Geoff was not only an art teacher in the formal sense. He instilled in his children the ability to see beyond the everyday and mundane and to capture the possibilities. Geoff had a vision—some would say he would had many visions—of how the world could be. As his son Justin said at the service, Geoff had a passion for saving and preserving Gawler's history, whether it be its old buildings, the river system or the massive gum tree in the middle of the town. While I did not always agree with Geoff, we did join together on that particular campaign to save the river red gum in Commercial Lane, a campaign we won.

In some ways, the tree reflects Geoff's journey through life: despite some trying to chop it down over the many years it still stands today, proud and majestic. Geoff would do battle with what he saw as the injustices of Gawler's little corporate machine, often upsetting and falling out with people along the way. Despite this drive, I never found Geoff to be nasty or vindictive; he was a little sarcastic at times but always in good humour. Geoff was an inaugural member of the Gawler historical society, which was the forerunner of the Gawler Environment and Heritage Association, in which he was active until his death.

He served two terms on the Gawler council prior to my joining. Geoff had a rather earthy approach to local politics, and was once caught campaigning while wearing his gumboots. Geoff dreamt of becoming a self-employed artist when he bought the Eagle Foundry in Gawler, where he spent many hours on his artworks and teaching others. While he was not to achieve this particular goal, the foundry has been given a new lease of life by subsequent owners. Geoff had the gift to enthuse others in his battles and art. The Reverend Esmond New ensured that his son had a quite formal religious upbringing, but he let this go for some time, returning later in life to a more natural or spiritual view of the world.

Geoff got older but never old. He maintained a childlike enthusiasm and awe about the world around him. His story telling and his laughter will be sorely missed around the town. I pass on my condolences to his wife Liz, children Josef, Justin and Daniel, his brothers John and David, and sister Julie. In Neal v R his Honour went on to say:

[If Mr Neal] is an agitator, he is in good company. Many of the great religious and political figures of history have been agitators and human progress owes much to the efforts of these and the many who are unknown.

Oscar Wilde aptly pointed out:

Agitators are a set of interfering, meddling people, who come down to some perfectly contented class of the community and sow the seeds of discontent amongst them. That is the reason why agitators are so absolutely necessary. Without them, in our incomplete state, there would be no advance towards civilisation.

Mr New was entitled to be an agitator and Gawler is a better place for his being so.

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