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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-06-22 Daily Xml
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Condolence

RODDA, HON. W.A.

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:09): I rise to second the motion in relation to William Allan Rodda, often described as 'the gentleman of politics'. William Allan Rodda, known always as Allan Rodda, represented the South-East electorate of Victoria, which is now known as MacKillop, for 21 years and served as a minister in two Liberal governments. As the Premier said, he was born in 1917 in Tumby Bay and passed away on 27 May 2010 aged 92. Mr Rodda was educated at Wharminda School and, upon leaving school, became a farmer, but he realised his civic obligations early and became secretary of the Port Neill branch of the Wheatgrowers Association while still a teenager.

Allan Rodda went on to train as a pilot in the RAAF air crew training corps and, on completing his training in 1944, spent the rest of the Second World War serving as an RAAF bomber pilot operating out of RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire. In 1947 Mr Rodda moved to Penola to take up a position with the Land Development Executive helping returned servicemen settle on farms through the War Service Land Settlement Scheme. Allan Rodda travelled extensively throughout the South-East in this capacity and felt it a privilege to have been a part of such a successful scheme; it was a position he held until 1954 after having moved his family to a farm near Naracoorte in 1952. It was here that Allan Rodda and his wife, Madge, raised their three children.

Allan involved himself in many local organisations and, in March 1965, was elected to represent the electorate then known as Victoria and went on to be re-elected seven times—quite an extensive career and incredible feat. Mr Rodda came into parliament in the same year that Thomas Playford lost office and he was often described as 'the last of the Playford-era politicians'. In his maiden speech, Allan Rodda highlighted how important he felt agricultural issues were. He spoke about the eradication of rabbits and footrot being made a notifiable disease as important advances for the state's agricultural industries.

Mr Rodda noted in his valedictory speech that, while he had spent most of his time in the parliament in opposition, he was nevertheless proud of the many things he had achieved for his electorate of Victoria. He served as a minister in the Hall government as well as the government whip. Most of his achievements were achieved during his three years as chief secretary and minister of fisheries and marine in the Tonkin government. On being promoted to minister of works and minister of marine in March 1970, Allan Rodda made schools and hospitals his priorities. A highlight of his ministerial career was the restoration of direct shipping links to Port Adelaide, which is quite a considerable achievement.

Interestingly, as a minister, he wanted to ensure South Australia received sufficient water to aid its development. Forty years after Mr Rodda was appointed South Australian minister of marine, it seems we are still struggling with this issue. In his capacity as chief secretary, Mr Rodda introduced many reforms to the state's correctional services, including legal representation from prisoners and changes to the censorship of prisoners' correspondence—all part of restructuring and modernising the state's prison system.

Allan Rodda was made a Commander of the British Empire in 1982 in recognition of his parliamentary service. He retired at the election of 1985 but promised he would not be slowing down, saying 'The Roddas don't retire, they die in harness.' On retiring, Mr Rodda said he was looking forward to looking after his 450 hectare sheep and beef cattle property at Struan near Naracoorte with his wife, Madge. The current member for MacKillop, Mitch Williams, has said that Mr Rodda is still fondly thought of around the electorate, and this is a testament to the high esteem in which he was held in the community.

Allan Rodda is survived by his son, Bruce, daughter, Pauline, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. I had the great privilege of attending his funeral on 2 June. Although I did not know Allan Rodda during his life, what became apparent during his funeral service was how much he was valued by his family, his friends and his community and how much they in turn valued him. On behalf of the Liberal opposition, I extend our sincere sympathies to his family.

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton—Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water) (14:14): I rise to join the Premier and the leader in offering my condolences in speaking to this motion. I first met Allan Rodda when I became a firefighter; in fact, it was some years after being a firefighter when I became the secretary of the United Firefighters Union. As the Premier pointed out, the job of chief secretary, which was a fine position, had within its responsibility what was then the South Australian Fire Brigade (SAFB).

I endorse the comments that were made previously. Allan Rodda was a gentleman, he was a decent human being and he was much loved by all those who came into contact with him. Again, I make the point that some 10 years after he left his role in parliament he still met with firefighters and socialised with them through the union, and it was because of the respect that firefighters and Allan Rodda had for each other that that relationship continued.

I also inform the parliament that when he was the chief secretary it was a very important stage in the evolution of the then SAFB into the Metropolitan Fire Service; the process that took it from being what it was into a world-class firefighting service that became the equivalent of anything that exists in Australia and hence the world. It was a tumultuous time and, whilst Allan Rodda was not there at the time of that final transition, it was the foundation that he put in place during his time as chief secretary that made that process successful.

I take the liberty, on behalf of the firefighters of South Australia and, in particular, those members of the South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service, of providing our condolences to the family and friends of Mr Rodda.

Mr WILLIAMS (MacKillop—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:16): I thank the Premier for moving this condolence motion, which I support. I first met Allan Rodda when I joined the Liberal Party in the early 1980s. Even then he was known as the gentleman of the parliament. When I first met Allan—I was a relatively young man in those days and Allan was a relatively old man—I understood immediately why he was referred to as the gentleman of the parliament. In the times that I met him he was always the perfect gentleman.

His memory for people always fascinated me. A lot of us struggle with remembering people's names and, being a country member, it is always difficult when you move from one community to another, particularly if you come across a member of one community in a different country town—they are out of place and out of context. I really struggle putting the name to the person under those circumstances. Allan Rodda, in my experience, never struggled to put the name to the person. He had a fantastic memory and a most engaging manner.

I remember him going to Liberal Party functions. In those days, Liberal Party functions probably had considerably more members at them than today, but Allan would never miss anybody in the room. He would spend a few minutes with everybody, knowing not just their name but probably the name of their spouse and their children and what their children were doing. He took a great interest in everybody involved—a very endearing quality.

As others have said, Allan was born in Tumby Bay, but when I rang Graham Gunn recently, following the news of Allan's death, Graham told me that Allan grew up in Wharminda on the West Coast (Eyre Peninsula) where Graham's father grew up. He said that his father and the Roddas were friendly. Graham obviously spent considerable time (I think 15 years) of his career in this place with Allan, and he concurred with the sentiments and the memories that I have of Allan.

Allan involved himself in farming on the West Coast and joined the Air Force in 1943. He trained, I believe, in the first instance at Victor Harbor, then at Point Cook, and then was stationed in Britain flying, as a bomber pilot, Lancaster bombers. I never spoke to Allan about his war service, but I have spoken to a number of people who were bomber pilots and anybody who—

Mrs Redmond: Survived.

Mr WILLIAMS: As my leader says, survived—

Mrs Redmond: Their life expectancy was 40 hours.

Mr WILLIAMS: Yes, their life expectancy was not very long at all. It was a pretty amazing career path. It did not lead, as the leader says, to a long life expectancy—sitting in a bomber in freezing conditions for eight, 10, or 12 hours at a time, flying across Europe and back, and then limping home after being under heavy fire. At the end of the war, Allan continued in Europe in the Air Force for a time, ferrying prisoners of war back to Britain.

Following that, when he was repatriated back to Australia he moved to the South-East. With the lands department he worked for a number of years, from 1947 to 1954, on the work that the lands department was doing establishing returned soldiers on soldier settler farms, and eventually in 1955 Allan was allotted a farm of his own. He took up farming Struan in the South-East, just south of Naracoorte.

One of the interesting things that came out of the speeches and eulogies given at the funeral service was the relationship that Allan had with his wife, Madge. Through what were tough times, particularly for returned servicemen, and in the ensuing years when they were establishing themselves on the farms and raising a family, the support that Madge gave him was obvious from what was said by family and friends.

Of course, being a country member coming from the town of Naracoorte in the days when transport was so much more difficult than it is today, it was a considerable task to get from Naracoorte to Adelaide for the sittings of parliament. It would have been a lonely existence and a lonely family life, being a parliamentarian during those times.

Allan Rodda, as others have said, served as a minister in two governments. In the Steele Hall government, he was minister for works and minister of marine in 1970. He then became, in the Tonkin government from 1979 to 1982, the chief secretary, minister of fisheries and, again, minister for marine. He had a very good career in politics. He survived 21 years and eight elections. The seat of Victoria was considerably smaller than the current seat of MacKillop. In those days the country seats were considerably smaller, and I think the change of name from Victoria to MacKillop probably occurred at the 1989 election. Allan Rodda retired in 1985 and the seat was been won by Dale Baker, who became the member.

He had a great interest in agriculture and for most of his time in parliament was a champion of the farming community, not just in the South-East but right across South Australia. Having come from the Eyre Peninsula and worked for much of his life in the South-East he had a good understanding of the needs of agriculturalists right across South Australia. He never forgot his roots in agriculture and always advocated for the farmers across the state.

He talked of the incredibly good work that was done by the department of agriculture through the extension program, making scientific breakthroughs available to those pursuing farming across the state. Bear in mind that, in those times, a lot of those farmers, people like himself, were returned servicemen. A lot of those returned servicemen were not necessarily from a farming background. One of the things that he advocated for many years, as was mentioned in his valedictory speech, was the upgrading of the road from Keith to Mount Gambier. That would have been very important to him, enabling him to drive from Naracoorte through to Adelaide on a modern, sealed road.

In 1982, Allan was awarded the CBE, the Commander of the British Empire for his services, not only to his country but also to his state, his community and his family. I have known Allan's son Bruce for many years and I offer my condolences to Bruce, his wife Jeanette, his sister Pauline and their respective families. As I was quoted in the local press in Naracoorte, Allan Rodda is fondly remembered around Naracoorte. Quite often, as I am talking to people about politics in the South-East, Allan's name comes up. I know that he has been very fondly remembered and will be sadly missed.

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg) (14:25): I consider it a privilege to support this motion and express my condolences to the Rodda family for the sad passing of Mr Rodda. It is evident from previous speakers of the outstanding contribution that Mr Rodda made to government in South Australia, to this parliament and, of course, to his state and country, and, very importantly, his lifelong advocacy for agriculture and the significance of that in the development, advancement and survival of the state's economy.

I also wish to place on record what may seem to be a sort of third-party, posthumous, retrospective apology. My late father used to occupy an office in parliament—now occupied by the member for Kavel—and Mr Rodda had the misfortune to share that office with him. It was a little like Oscar and Felix; they were certainly men of different proportions and character.

I can always remember one example when my father brought a flour bag into the parliament which he said had his lunch in it, and I was not sure whether it was dead or alive. Mr Rodda had a very neat, what we used to call the old Bessemer ware, lunch box, which I am sure had trimmed sandwiches and the like in it. This is some indication of the difference between the two men.

The reason I wish to record my apology to his family is that if he ever had a hearing problem, I am sure it was entirely due to the fact that Mr Rodda would answer his calls in a gentlemanly gentle manner, where he would succinctly outline his correspondence through that medium but, on the other hand, my father had a capacity to make a lot of noise. Most of the corridor thought he did not need the telephone to speak to whoever he was speaking to in the country.

They were very different men, but they were in the parliament together in a very different time. My memories of Mr and Mrs Rodda bring a smile to my face. I will say that Mrs Rodda must have been the very smart one in the family because, if she came to visit, she would just wait on a seat in the passage outside and not have to cope with all the noise.

One interesting occasion that I recall is my father telling me that Mr Rodda and he had been called up to the premier's office who, in this instance, was premier Tonkin (the late David Tonkin). At the time, Mr Rodda had been the chief secretary, as has been indicated, and one of his duties, of course, was to deal with prisons. It is a very difficult portfolio, as I am sure the current minister would appreciate. From time to time, people escape from prison and, during the short period of Mr Rodda's watch, there seemed to be quite a few. Not surprisingly, the media of the day were on to this and came to interview him.

Mr Rodda said to my father something to the effect of, 'What am I going to say?' My father said, 'You need to tell them that you're going to keep the people of South Australia safe, or something. Get out there and just tell them, look, sure, there's plenty of them escaping. They're just like frogs jumping off a log.' Of course, that is exactly what he did and, suffice to say, it was all across the televisions that night.

They were good friends and Mr Rodda was a wonderful man. As I said, when I think of Mr and Mrs Rodda, it brings a smile to my face. If current members of this parliament in any way espouse to reflect the gentleman that Mr Rodda was, they will do a great service to this parliament. My condolences to the family.

Mr VENNING (Schubert) (14:29): I rise to support this motion of the Premier, which has been ably supported by my leader. William Allan Rodda CBE was the member for Victoria from March 1965 until December 1985. He gave 20 years of wonderful service to this parliament. As has been said, in 1970, he was the minister for marine and works and in 1982 chief secretary and minister for fisheries and marine. He was admired by all, including Sir Thomas Playford, even though he often tested him. Yes, he was the last of the Playford era.

Allan Rodda was a close friend of my father and, as the member for Bragg has just said, they had many an exploit together and, with the member for Kavel's father, they often used to hunt in packs around this place. He was a close friend of dad's, and both he and his lovely wife Madge, who passed away 12 months ago next month, were friends of the Venning family and were often house guests at Montrose. As a younger person, he left a lasting impression on me. He was one of those people who, by example, made you feel proud of being a politician and wanting to join this profession. That was probably when I first had the first inkling that it may be that I might leave the farm one day and do this.

Allan always referred to his electorate as 'my people', and he always put them first and served them extremely well. I note and support the words of the Premier and my leader, so I will not repeat the long list of achievements that he made in this place. Allan loved to chat, laugh and tell jokes, and I can recall several, which I will not repeat, but there was one about the gastro attack which his cattle were afflicted with—you can imagine the stories. I will not go there, but he had a wonderful way of putting it.

When dad had problems with the Rocky River electorate, and we did have a few—these were the LM days, remember—dad would call in the cavalry, and it was usually Roger Goldsworthy and Allan Rodda first over the horizon to come and save the day. He had a very admirable ability to always see good in people; he was a very optimistic person, a gentleman and a thoroughly good bloke. Allan and dad had so much in common. He was brought up on a farm at Wharminda, on the West Coast, and had a very good grounding. The same age as my father, Howard, Allan was born on 8 September 1917, and had the same political objectives.

Allan married Madge on 8 April 1943, during wartime. On 9 April (the day after) he started pilot training with the RAAF. He graduated as a bomber pilot and in 1944 went off to the United Kingdom to fly the four-engined Lancaster bomber. As we said earlier, it is a very perilous job, particularly if you are the tail-end Charlie. I remember that he went to Canberra to see the tail-end Charlie that is in the museum there, and he could recall everything. He had a very distinguished flying career and returned home in 1945.

Allan engrossed himself in things in his community and industry, and we have heard about that. In 1947, he served on the Land Development Executive, assisting the settlement of returned servicemen on farms. Allan and Madge moved to their new farm at Struan, near Naracoorte, in 1952. He was very proud of it and really enjoyed working on his farm. He loved his sheep and his cattle. He and Madge had three children: Bruce, Beverly and Pauline. Bruce is a mate of ours and, as the member for MacKillop said, he has been active in politics and the community.

My last meeting with 'Rodds' was on the bowling green at the last interstate carnival here at Adelaide Oval. Yes, he had slowed down, but he was still the same: extremely positive and friendly and he recalled the distant past. He and my dad had the same affliction, and I could relate to him well.

In retirement he loved to travel and he followed horseracing. I have fond memories of this very fine man and his family. He was a great bloke, a model citizen, an excellent MP and a top family man. Allan died on 27 May 2010. I was pleased to be able to attend his funeral—there was a very good crowd at it. Did he make a difference? He sure did, and we will remember him. Vale Allan Rodda MP CBE.

The SPEAKER (14:34): I thank members for their contributions today. I did not know Mr Rodda personally, but I have heard nothing but good news and good stories about this man. He must have been a gentleman, and certainly someone who we can all look to as an example in this place. My sincere sympathy to the family. I ask that the motion now be carried in silence.

Motion carried by members standing in their places in silence.


[Sitting suspended from 14:35 to 14:45]


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