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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
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JOHNSTON, MR E.F.

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:03): I move:

That the House of Assembly expresses its regret at the death of the late Elliott Johnston, the former Supreme Court justice and royal commissioner, and places on record its appreciation of his meritorious service to South Australia's legal profession and justice system and that, as a mark of respect to his memory, the sitting of the house be suspended until the ringing of the bells.

I was saddened to learn, late last month, of the death, at the age of 93, of Elliott Johnston, a man who devoted his life not only to the law but to the belief that everyone, regardless of race and circumstance, was entitled to equal justice.

Despite the resistance of others and the obstacles put in his path because of his public and often outspoken devotion to the philosophies of communism, Elliott Johnston rose to become one of South Australia's most renowned Queen's Counsel and to become the first communist to be appointed to the Supreme Court bench anywhere in Australia.

Elliott also served his country during World War II and spent the final years of the war stationed in New Guinea, where he was promoted to lieutenant. Following his retirement from the bench, he was appointed to the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody and was appointed lead commissioner after Jim Muirhead stepped down from the role in 1989. It was there that I first had an opportunity to spend time with Elliott Johnston, when I was in my role as minister for Aboriginal Affairs from 1989 through to 1992.

As Mary Gaudron, the first female justice appointed to the High Court of Australia, notes in her introduction to Penelope Debelle's excellent biography of Elliott, Red Silk, Elliott Johnston was 'a lifetime Communist, but not an ideologue.' 'Above all, he believed in equal justice.' Mary Gaudron writes. That belief sustained his professional life and perhaps goes some way to explaining his political beliefs.

Elliott Frank Johnston was born on 26 February 1918 at the Gover nursing home in North Adelaide. He attended Highgate and Unley primary schools and was barely 11 years old when the world was plunged into the Great Depression. By 1933 Adelaide's unemployment level was the highest anywhere in the nation, with more than one in three men unable to find work. It was this period of his life that instilled in Elliott Johnston a drive to make the world a better place for working people. That underpinned his entire life.

He began his secondary education at Unley High School and at the completion of the second year he successfully applied for an Elder entrance scholarship to Prince Alfred College. It was around this time that Elliott also forged his lifelong allegiance to the Sturt Football Club. On completing secondary school Elliott won a bursary scholarship to study law at the University of Adelaide. He was a contemporary of some of South Australia's leading literary figures of the time, including Colin Thiele, Max Harris, Mary Martin, and Rex Ingamell, and he soon established a reputation as a student radical.

He played an influential role, along with the future political scientist Finn Crisp, in the establishment of Australia's first student-only representative body, the National Union of Australian University Students. Through his role on the university newspaper On Dit, andas an outspoken debater on and outside the campus, Elliott clashed regularly with conservative academics, most notably the then professor of geology and mineralogy, Sir Douglas Mawson. Elliott was also a member of the university's debating team and it was during an inter-varsity debating competition in Brisbane that he met Elizabeth Teesdale Smith, the love of his life, who was to become his wife.

In the late 1930s Elliott's already strong political beliefs were galvanised by the Spanish Civil War. Despite becoming an active campaigner for peace, Elliott enlisted in the Australian Army in 1940 because his opposition to Nazism and fascism outweighed his opposition to war.

In 1941 he joined the Communist Party of Australia and later that year, soon after marrying Elizabeth and just weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he was called up to active army service. In 1943 he was posted to New Guinea, where amongst his other duties he ran literary classes in a makeshift army tent to help soldiers write letters home. After he was demobbed he established his own legal practice here in Adelaide and quickly earned a reputation for agreeing to represent people who would otherwise not have been able to afford his lawyer's fee.

In 1950 Elliott made his first visit behind the Iron Curtain, when he attended the World Peace Conference in Warsaw in Poland and then went on to visit Moscow. Several years later he stood as a Communist Party candidate in the seat of Stuart, which of course takes in regional centres such as Burra and Port Augusta and he won 20 per cent of the vote.

As former Supreme Court Justice Kevin Duggan recounted at Elliott's memorial service last Friday, that total apparently included 20 or so votes from the Woomera booth—which, of course, was a military base. This in turn, as legend has it, sent security services into a lather as they attempted to track down the apparent communist sympathisers ensconced in this top secret, sensitive military precinct.

Following a visit to China in 1955, part of a six-year odyssey through the communist world while working as a full-time party member, Elliott returned to legal work and again devoted himself to the causes of working people. By the late 1960s he had established a reputation as one of Adelaide's foremost legal practitioners, championing causes such as the rights of Vietnam War protesters, the rights of women, sex discrimination, opposition to apartheid in South Africa, native title, and legal rights for Aboriginal people.

Despite being recommended for elevation to Queen's Counsel by the then Chief Justice John Bray, his appointment was refused by former premier Steele Hall, who famously said that he would rather be voted out of office than change his mind on that issue. Then, two weeks after Don Dunstan was elected premier in 1970, Elliott Johnston was installed as a Queen's Counsel, becoming Australia's first and only known communist QC. He was also installed, in 1971, as the inaugural chair of the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement.

In 1980, he once again stood for election, this time as the Communist Party's candidate in Mick Young's federal seat of Port Adelaide. In 1983, at the age of 65, he finally won appointment to the bench as a Supreme Court judge.

Following his compulsory retirement from the bench at age 70, Elliott was offered a position with the Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Royal Commission established by the federal government. Two years later, when commissioner Jim Muirhead unexpectedly stepped down from his role, Elliott was appointed as lead commissioner, and handed down the final report in 1991. Of course, that report is regarded as a benchmark nationally in terms of Aboriginal justice and Aboriginal rights.

In 1994 Elliott Johnston's contribution to the law and to social justice, particularly his commitment to the legal rights of Aboriginal people, was recognised when he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia. Several years later Flinders University—where he had worked as an associate professor—also honoured his legacy, when it inaugurated the annual Elliott Johnston Tribute Lecture relating to Indigenous affairs, to be held every year during South Australian Law Week. In 2006 Elliott was awarded an honorary doctorate by his alma mater, the University of Adelaide, following the same honour bestowed on him by Flinders some years earlier, and in 2007 our Adelaide Festival of Ideas was dedicated to him.

As a lawyer, as a judge, as an activist and as a humanitarian, Elliott Johnston deservedly won widespread acclaim and admiration. That was evident from the large number of people who gathered to honour his memory at last Friday's memorial service at Elder Hall, including many members of this parliament. It was during that service that retired Justice Duggan recalled how, as a child, in the company of his father, he had first encountered Elliott Johnston as a passionate and eloquent orator in Botanic Park's Speakers' Corner. Justice Duggan noted that Elliott was not only the most inspiring and the most persuasive of the regular Sunday morning speakers but he was also the most heckled.

Elliott's legacy is also reflected in the diversity of the heartfelt tributes published in the wake of his death, from Johnston Withers, the law firm he founded with his beloved wife Elizabeth, to the Aboriginal Prisoners and Offenders Support Service, to the State Council of the United Firefighters—and it is great to see in this chamber today Mick Doyle, who was for years both the state and federal secretary. He is remembered by all who knew him, personally and professionally, as a man of deep principle, of enormous intellect, of great compassion, kindness and dignity, and of a tireless commitment to the causes that defined his life.

On behalf of all members on this side of the house, I extend my condolences to Elliott's son, Stuart, to other family members, and to his many friends, colleagues and admirers.

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:15): I rise to second the motion. Justice Elliott Johnston QC was a champion of quality for all under the law. He died at age 93 after an illustrious career in the law. A local boy born in 1918, Elliott was first a student at Highgate and Unley Primary schools, and then Unley High School, before winning a scholarship to Prince Alfred College and subsequently studying law at Adelaide University.

As the Premier indicated, he was appointed to the Supreme Court bench in 1983 and retired when he turned 70 in 1988. Justice Elliott Johnston had among his many achievements heading the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. He became the lead commissioner after Jim Muirhead resigned. Indeed, it was Elliott Johnston who delivered the inquiry's report in 1991, detailing more than 300 recommendations to improve the lives of Aboriginal Australians. It was an issue dear to his heart, and I am sure he would be appalled and saddened at the crisis currently unfolding on the APY lands.

Justice Johnston was also the founder of a well-known law firm, Johnston Withers, and guided the business from 1946 through to the 1970s. Even today the firm continues to go from strength to strength guided by his legacy, and, as a former practitioner, I know it is a firm that is still held in high regard in this town.

A tribute to Justice Johnston would not be complete without recognising his marriage of more than 60 years to his wife Elizabeth, who died about nine years ago, and his surviving son, Stuart. On behalf of the Liberal opposition, I offer my sincere condolences to Elliott's family and friends and commend the motion to the house.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice, Minister for Urban Development, Planning and the City of Adelaide, Minister for Tourism, Minister for Food Marketing) (14:16): I also want to add a few words today in relation to the great life of Elliott Johnston who—I am speaking largely from the perspective of the legal profession—was an inspirational person. He was a person who, as we have heard, commenced his practice in the law with his wife, Elizabeth, in a fashion that he intended to continue, and, in fact, he did continue it.

They took up unpopular and difficult clauses. They acted for people who would otherwise probably not have been legally represented. They worked for people with neither the hope nor expectation of payment. They did great work for a great many people, for which they have had the enduring gratitude and support of many people in the community, not least the various ethnic communities which came to this country in the wake of the Second World War.

Many of those people were unable to read or write English, confused by our system, and many times found themselves in difficulty, whether that be a problem with criminal law or a problem with an accident at work. Whatever it might have been, Elliott and Elizabeth Johnston and their firm were one group—and there were a handful of people around Adelaide at that time—to whom these people would routinely turn and never be turned away. In return for that support, that firm (now Johnston Withers) has enjoyed many years of loyal support from that group of people who were looked after in their time of need.

Personally, Elliott was a very quiet person, a person of great calm. A sense of calm was always around when Elliott was there. I do not recall him ever being an angry person in any circumstance in which I observed him. He was always patient and, as has been remarked before, a very kind, gentle person but with a razor-sharp mind and a formidable reputation as a barrister in the courts of South Australia.

Elliott's firm, Johnston and Johnston (later Johnston Withers McCusker, later Johnston Withers), was a firm which attracted (along with Stanley and Partners and Duncan Groom as it was back in those days) a lot of idealistic young people wishing to be involved in the legal profession on the basis that they would be doing something in the line of community service by acting as lawyers.

To give an idea of some of the people who passed through Elliott Johnston's firm who have since gone on to become prominent people in the law, and in no particular order—and I apologise for any I have left out—they include: Justice Chris Kourakis (who did his articles, I believe, if I recall correctly, with Johnston Withers; Judge Peter McCusker; Paul Heywood-Smith QC; Master Brian Withers of the Supreme Court; Justice Robyn Layton QC; Lindy Powell QC; and I am sure there are a number of others. A fair way down that list, between 1988 and 1997, is me, but I do not fit into the other list.

Can I say that the atmosphere of that firm, which was created largely by Elliott and his philosophy in life, has been maintained and permeates everyone who works there. Elliott was a great and well-respected judge, a person who commanded the respect of his peers and of the bench. He was also, as we have heard, a person who, after his career in the law (which was brought, I think to a premature end by the compulsory retirement age, because I am sure that, had he wished to go on, he would have been able to do so very well for many years) was not a person to be idle. As we have heard, he was involved in relation to the Aboriginal deaths in custody inquiry and countless other good works.

The remarkable thing, I think, is that this man who had such an interesting life continued to be interested until, literally, virtually the day he passed away. In fact, I recall, both since I have occupied the office of Attorney-General and for years before, every time an event turned up—whether it was the swearing in of a judge, some public lecture, or something else—there would be Elliott. I saw him as recently as a couple of weeks ago, which would have been a few days before he passed away. He attended, as he always did, the swearing in of the most recent Supreme Court judge, Justice Stanley, and he was there to observe that, as he had been for the last several I have observed. He was a man of tremendous dedication to the law, enormously respected by the community and actually a very interesting man.

On the last point, many years after he retired he used to come into our offices at Johnston Withers and work on law reports, reading them and doing head notes. He used to sit in a room near to me and when I had a break I would go in and chat to him and we would talk about whatever he wanted to talk about. Some of the stories he told me about his life, particularly his life in politics, if you did not believe him—and I do—and if you were a sceptical person, you would think, 'Somebody is making this up; it cannot possibly be right.'

To give an example, as it turned out, he happened to be ill in Moscow at the time Nikita Khrushchev made his famous 13th Party Congress denunciation of the benevolent Georgian. In the course of that, he let out a few home truths, obviously, about what comrade Stalin had been up to. This was reported to Elliott in his hospital bed in Moscow, so he knew it was not something that The New York Times had made up.

He subsequently came home to Australia and was at a meeting of the party here in Adelaide where some of the comrades were denouncing The New York Times and the capitalist press for telling such terrible lies about comrade Stalin, and comrade Khrushchev for saying such things about comrade Stalin. He said to them, somewhat surprisingly and unwelcome as far as they were concerned, 'Actually, it is all true.' I think there was a disturbance in the force that followed that, I think you could say.

As history will show, that particular organisation became two organisations, or perhaps more, and that might have had something to do with it. In any event, what a place to be and at what a time, particularly with the interests that he had. He was an outstanding South Australian, an outstanding judge and an outstanding human being.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Minister for Education, Minister for Early Childhood Development, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (14:24): Elliott Frank Johnston led an extraordinary life. He committed himself to humanity, and he made a choice about that. He could have been a very rich and powerful man, but he chose to commit himself to the concerns and interests of ordinary South Australians, of ordinary people, and he did this in a way that inspired generations of Labor lawyers, myself included. I think that Elliott's name and his reputation created a sense of dignity, purpose and worth in that profession, which, I think, attracted many of us to it.

He was an enormously compassionate man, and that much emerged simply by speaking to him. What is perhaps not well known is that he was a Kokoda veteran, because he did not speak often of that horrible conflict. A friend of his and mine tells of a story that Elliott would tell of him fighting in that conflict and of him teaching a young Aboriginal soldier—who was really no more than a child—to read and write. This young man wrote a letter home to his mother, and that was the last letter he wrote because he died in the fighting. Elliott would tell that story with tears in his eyes. He was an enormously compassionate man, but he rarely shared the depth of his suffering about that awful conflict.

He also, though, was a man of enormous personal charm, and it was celebrated that he was a victim of pretty appalling discrimination. By being a communist he was, despite his prodigious legal talent, excluded for many years, in much the same way as many catholic jurists were excluded over the years from our system from being elevated to the ranks of judges. He had to endure that discrimination, but he saw that rather as a challenge than a burden.

I am told that, when those who came to meet him after he had been elevated to Queen's Counsel, or, indeed, to the bench, and he knew that they were horrified with the notion of him being a communist, it just made him all the more charming, all the more measured, all the more engaging, and people went away bewildered and beguiled by his charms.

Of course, while he was resisted for many years for his elevation (which was his natural right because of his talent), he had many supporters on the other side of the house and even within the cabinet that made that decision to resist his elevation, and he continued to maintain very strong friendships on both sides of the house. He was truly a man who was respected by the whole of the community.

I want to say a word about his prodigious legal intellect and just share with you a few stories that some of his friends have shared with me about his advocacy. It was, of course, thoughtful, measured, incredibly intelligent and incredibly powerful. I am told that Elliott's advocacy was outstanding in a celebrated case which involved a challenge by Richie Gun (a former federal member) which, I think, went all the way to the Court of Disputed Returns.

There was a stellar line-up: New South Wales represented by George Masterson QC; for the Liberal Party, Tom Hughes, Murray Gleeson and Malcolm Turnbull (a young Malcolm Turnbull); and, of course, Elliott for Richie. Richie, of course, lost that case, but at the conclusion George Masterson took the step of writing to Elliott to say that his advocacy on that occasion had bested anyone in the room and he was astounded by its eloquence and its strength.

Another case that needs to be drawn to the attention of the house is the Amadio case that went all the way, I think, to the High Court. The Attorney mentioned the firm's strong commitment to the ethnic community. That case concerned some Italian migrants who were forced to guarantee a debt on behalf of their son. That case overturned the guarantee that was provided. It was a major change in the law in relation to the duty of banks in relation to ordinary citizens. His Honour Murray Gleeson (who became the Chief Justice of the High Court) said that it was one of the great Australian contributions to the common law.

Elliott Johnston was, as I said, a man of enormous personal charm. I can remember on many occasions having discussions with him about particular issues that I will not necessarily go into, but I always left those discussions feeling incredibly inspired, and I had that same feeling again listening to the memorial service. When I was at the memorial service, you could not help going away feeling that you wanted to be a better person.

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton—Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water) (14:30): I rise to pay my respects to Elliott Johnston and offer my condolences to not only Stewart and his family but also to the thousands of others touched by this remarkable man. I first met Elliott through my relationship that led to a friendship with Elliott and Elizabeth's son Stewart. In 1974, I was attending Henley High School and Stewart was a teacher at Henley High School; in fact, one of the number of very progressive teachers at the school at that time. I acknowledge that among the many beneficiaries of those teachers, my colleagues the Attorney-General and Jay Weatherill, were also at school at that time. He was also our cricket coach, and of course I was one of his failures in that regard.

The Hon. K.O. Foley: Failures or favourites?

The Hon. P. CAICA: Failures. In saying that he was a progressive teacher at that school, you would not expect anything less than that from the son of Elliott and Elizabeth Johnston. It was a couple of years later that I first met Elliott. Stewart was going overseas, I think to Massachusetts, if I recall, and he wanted someone to look after his home at Birks Street in Parkside, which was in a state of—some might say disrepair, but it was in a state of renovation with the back half of the house off, so someone had to stay there whilst he was away. I was instructed by Stewart to go around to Elliott's place and pick up the keys.

I was ushered into Elliott's office, where he proceeded to pose many questions to me and ask many questions of me on a variety of topics. What struck me during that first meeting was that I had met not only a very decent man but also a very special man of great intellect. I was not as comfortable as I might have been at that stage to tell him what I thought on one of the subjects that we spoke about, and that of course would have been, 'Sturt, Sturt, rub them in the dirt.' I would have said that to him if I had the courage, and did say that to him some time later, because he was a very passionate Sturt supporter, as was mentioned earlier.

It was not until many years later that I again had the privilege to meet Elliott, and from that time more frequently. Elliott Johnston was a great friend of the firefighters through their union. Indeed, he was a friend of many of the unions and many of the working people in South Australia. During my time as the secretary of the UFU, I recall many occasions—particularly barbecues at Mick Doyle's place, and other more formal functions—when Elliott was the guest of honour at those barbecues and functions.

Elliott played a significant role during a most tumultuous time internally within the union. It was through this role and the contribution made by Elliott that the firefighters union was to become and continues to be the very significant organisation that it is in the trade union movement. In no small part, that is due to the contribution that Elliott made at that time.

Many others have spoken today about Elliott's achievements and the contribution made to our state and nation by Elliott Johnston, and far more eloquently than I am able to. With Elliott, we had a committed communist, a peace activist, a legal mind without peer, a judge of the highest standing, a royal commissioner, a friend of the unions, a friend and advocate for working people and other marginalised people and groups within our community, a friend and advocate of and for Aboriginal people, a teacher and mentor to many, of course a committed husband and father, and a passionate Sturt supporter.

With the passing of Elliott Johnston, we have lost a great South Australian who achieved so much for so many. His legacy will continue to survive in so many ways and through so many people here in South Australia and beyond. To Stewart and his family, my condolences. To Elliott's many, many friends, my condolences. Vale Elliott Johnston.

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (14:35): The last time I saw Elliott was at the Art Gallery of South Australia a couple of months ago. It was typical to see him there because he liked to keep up with the different exhibitions that were happening around town, particularly at the Art Gallery. I know that he shared with his late wife, Elizabeth Johnston, a real love of the visual arts. In fact, Elizabeth and I audited a course at Flinders University as adult students, looking at the visual arts area. When Elizabeth passed away, Elliott gave me a number of her books of South Australian artists, and they are very treasured possessions of mine.

Elliott was there in the cafe with people like Don Jarrett, Jack Humphries and a number of others, and I know that when some of his friends from interstate, such as Chris White, Don Sutherland, and Eleanor Ramsay, visited Adelaide they always made sure that they had an opportunity to speak to Elliott Johnston.

Many, many people have connected with Elliott and Elizabeth and, as other speakers have said, the list would go into the thousands because they were very much interconnected people. Some lawyers I can think of include Robyn Layton, Paul Heywood-Smith, Andrew Collett, Ann McClean, Lindy Powell, Peter McCusker, Brian Withers, Tim Woolley, Graham Harbord and Richard Bradshaw, and they are just some of the people, as the Attorney said, who are connected with Johnston and Johnston or Johnston Withers, the law firm that was set up in 1959.

The list would include hundreds of union people, such as Mick Doyle (who spoke at the memorial), the late Harry Kranz, Ralph Clarke, Senator Anne McEwen, John Gazzola, John Lesses, Andy Dennard, Katrine Hildyard, Janet Giles, Darryl Foster, Mick Tumbers, Jimmy Doyle, Clare McCarty, the late Graham Smith, Leonie Ebert, David Tonkin, Bryan Mowbray, and Andy Alcock. Anybody who knows the union movement will know that, while all the people I have named are all progressive—and they are just a few—they did not all have the same left politics, but somehow Elizabeth and Elliott managed to have a very close relationship with all of them.

There have also been community activists, the as varied as people like Ralph Bleechmore, who is also a lawyer; Frances Magill; Tony Elmers; the late David Fisher; Betty Fisher; Kym Davey; Frances Bedford (who is also obviously in the 'members of parliament' category); and Gregg Ryan. Then, of course, there are all the people who are associated with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights and the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement. In particular, I mention Lowitja O'Donoghue, who spoke at the memorial, but there are many other leaders and elders of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander campaigns.

I remember proudly walking across the bridge, albeit a very small bridge, as many in this chamber would have done, across the Torrens to celebrate and show our support for Reconciliation. I remember that day distinctly because there were actually thousands of South Australians who felt that it was important to make that statement. I am very pleased to say that I walked across with Elliott and Elizabeth Johnston and also my husband, Kevin Purse.

When Adelaide City Council started to talk about introducing a dry zone in Victoria Square, Elliott and Elizabeth wanted to meet with many of us, including the late Terry Roberts and I as shadow ministers, and Kym Davey, who was at that time working at ATSIC. They wanted to talk about the tactics they thought we should look at, after they had had many discussions with different Aboriginal leaders, elders and activists about the proposal for a dry zone. Similarly, as Adelaide residents, they had great concern about the future of the Parklands and particularly Pinky Flat in the Torrens area, being a place of significance to Kaurna people.

There have been so many issues that the Johnstons have been involved with, particularly to do with social justice, Indigenous rights, and union and worker rights. Elliott and Elizabeth were always available and eager to discuss these issues and think about not only the legal tactics but how we could have success in campaigning. I am very proud to say, as an Australian Services Union member, that their association with the Federated Clerks Union, now called the Australian Services Union, has spanned many decades. It is reported that Elliott joined the FCU in 1944 when Elizabeth Johnston was the secretary, the first woman secretary, and carried his union card from then on. Many other unions, particularly the firefighters, could rely on legal support from Johnston and Johnston, and then Johnston Withers, and I know there has been a close association with many unions.

A number of my colleagues will not have the opportunity to speak today, but there were a number of people who could get to the memorial service, such as Gay Thomson and Frances Bedford. I noticed that Pat Conlon was there, and some of the speakers from our side whom we have already heard from. But there was also Jane Lomax-Smith, Anne Levy, Carolyn Pickles and Frank Blevins. They were just the ones that I saw, but I know there are probably more. I apologise to anybody that I have left off the list.

The last conversation that I had with Elliott was with regard to the upcoming Edward Said Memorial Lecture that has been sponsored by the local Australian Friends of Palestine Association, to be given by no other than Noam Chomsky. This is coming up shortly so I hope that people will get to that seminar. Elliott was particularly keen to talk about the politics that are very concerning in that area, and also talk about the importance that Edward Said has made to our community and to human rights.

Again, not only did he want to discuss the exhibition that he had just seen at the Art Gallery but also to get straight into political issues and what was happening, particularly for the Friends of Palestine Association. My condolences, along with a number of members on this side, to his son Stewart and family, and Elliott and Elizabeth's many thousands of friends. He will be sadly missed but I believe that he and Elizabeth's influence will also be with the left and progressive people in South Australia and Australia forever.

The Hon. G. PORTOLESI (Hartley—Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers, Minister Assisting the Premier in Social Inclusion) (14:42): Thank you, Madam Speaker. I, too, rise to express my sincere condolences for a much celebrated and great South Australian, a man committed to improving the lives of working people, passionate about helping those less fortunate than him, who worked tirelessly to address inequalities in our community.

Amongst his many achievements, Dr Johnston was perhaps best known for his leadership on the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody as lead commissioner. The commission was comprehensive providing some 339 recommendations. He summarised the commission's approach by saying:

...the principal thrust of the recommendations...is directed towards the prime objectives...the elimination of disadvantage and the growth of empowerment and self-determination of Aboriginal Society.

One of the most important impacts of the commission's work was to improve the relationship and re-establish trust between the police, government and Aboriginal people. Since the royal commission, governments, including this one, have continued to work hard to rectify what Elliott Johnston called the most significant contributing factor, namely:

...the disadvantaged and unequal position in which Aboriginal people find themselves in society—socially, economically and culturally.

There are many other aspects to Dr Johnston's colourful and at times controversial life that are worthy of reflection. When the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement was formed in 1971, Dr Johnston was elected its first chair. With few resources at his disposal, Dr Johnston led this organisation that made a significant impact on, and improved the awareness of, the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement and helped Aboriginal people begin to reclaim their rights and freedoms.

Elliott Johnston's commitment to the movement is in keeping with his passionate convictions as a defender of social justice and human rights. Alongside his soon-to-be wife Elizabeth, an amazing individual in her own right, Elliott Johnston became a communist in 1941. Upon his appointment to Queen's Counsel by the Dunstan government in 1970, Elliott Johnston had achieved the highest office ever attained by a communist in Australia.

Elliott Johnston was, of course, a member of my union, the Australian Services Union. His contribution to the Federated Clerks Union, as it was then known, is legendary. He was one of the architects of the Clerks Award. This work led to the improvement of wages and working conditions for men and, most importantly, to an increase in the number of women entering the workforce during the Second World War and later.

It was Elliott Johnston's wife, Elizabeth, who, as a 21-year-old third-year law student, deferred her studies to lead the Federated Clerks Union as the first female secretary of a trade union in South Australia, when the FCU secretary, Harry Krantz, and Elliott were called up to fight in the Second World War.

There is no question that Elliott Johnston was a champion for working men and women. As a legal practitioner, he will be remembered for improving the rights of injured workers and for pursuing compensation through the courts. As a unionist, he will be remembered for arguing for equal pay for women and advocating for workers' rights in the workplace. In the area of Aboriginal affairs and reconciliation, he will be remembered for his tireless work in addressing Aboriginal disadvantage.

As the Attorney mentioned, there was a very great affinity with ethnic communities in particular. In fact, I was one of the indirect beneficiaries of his advocacy work. In the 1970s, Elliott Johnston assisted an organisation by the name of the Federation of Italian Workers and Families (FILEF) when it encountered planning problems for the establishment of a multicultural preschool centre in Mile End. I think His Honour Peter McCusker, who he is here with us today, was also involved in that case.

I do not remember it clearly, but I do remember the childcare centre, and I remember speaking to Frank Barbaro, who was then and is still now very heavily involved in establishing FILEF and that centre. I am reminded of Frank's words when he said:

Elliott Johnston had great respect for ordinary people, for whom he displayed enormous compassion, and he was generous with his time to community, workers and progressive organisations.

I express my most sincere condolences to his family, particularly his son Stewart. I remain inspired by his lifetime's work.

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (14:47): As a late arrival on the political scene in South Australia, I cannot claim a close personal friendship with Elliott Johnston QC; rather, like so many, I had an awe-inspired acquaintanceship with his deeds in so many spheres, which were legendary. Since my election, over the years my staff and I always held him in high esteem for the good works we knew of and now for the many more we know so much more about. I have actually quoted him in speeches in this place as we, too, at the Florey electorate office are often thought of as a hope of last resort for lost causes, but I fear with fewer successful outcomes.

I have driven Elliott home on many occasions, mostly from events honouring Aboriginal people or from significant events relating to Aboriginal culture. A few weeks ago, it was my privilege to drive Elliott home from a Reconciliation SA meeting, held at the ALRM rooms in King William Street. I wish I had taken up Elliott's offer that night to go in and to spend a little time with him in his home, particularly now that he has gone.

His many friends have spoken about many of the achievements of this great man of substance, true to his beliefs always and always kind and respectful; a shining example to all. If each of us could be a little like him even in a small way, it would be a fitting tribute to this humble man, who touched thousands of people and who lived an extraordinary and very long life. I offer my sincere condolences to his family and many friends, by whom he will be greatly missed and always remembered.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

The SPEAKER (14:49): Thank you, members. I will pass on to his family your very warm words today. Members, I ask that the motion be carried in silence.

Motion carried by members standing in their places in silence.


[Sitting suspended from 14:50 to 15:00]


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