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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-10-16 Daily Xml
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FATCHEN, MR MAX

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts) (14:18): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: Today I want to pay tribute to Max Fatchen, a beloved South Australian writer who, as members would know, died on Sunday at the Gawler Health Service. He was aged 92. Max Fatchen was born in Adelaide on 3 August 1920—I note three years to the day after my mother was born—and grew up on a farm at Angle Vale on the Adelaide Plains which, I am told, inspired his first recorded poem at the age of 12.

Far from following his father onto the land, young Max turned instead to words. His curiosity and genuine interest in everything around him led him to become the state's most cherished columnist, journalist, novelist and poet. He was also the columnist with the most staying power, producing columns in The News from 1948 and The Advertiser from 1955, right up until, at age 92, he retired his typewriter. His final column was published in The Advertiser on 6 October, just one week before he passed away.

Like everything we have read from Max Fatchen over the many years, his final column was clever, without pretension; self-effacing but on point. The size of the sandwiches at annual general meetings, he opined, are a great barometer for a company's fiscal state. I have found myself eyeing the sandwiches a lot more closely ever since.

Remembered well by all who knew him, Max was a witty and erudite wordsmith churning out clear, concise sentences that anyone could appreciate. He was always a true gentleman with a kind word, a gentle touch and an upbeat manner—happy to guide an anxious cadet journalist or novice writer. His mother taught him to 'always remember where you came from, remember the land'. And that he did. The sense of being a farm boy seems to have imbued in Max an everyman connection and a pathos with the everyday family.

He won a string of awards over the years, including an Order of Australia for literature in 1980, an Advance Australia Award for literature in 1991, and a Walkley Award for journalism in 1996. He was recognised, too, for his children's books and poems, including the SA Great Award for literature and a Centenary of Federation medal. There were three Children's Book Of The Year Award commendations and, for his mentorship and support of other writers, he was made an inaugural life member of SA Writers' Centre. Max Fatchen was a patron of the South Australian branch of the Children's Book Council of Australia and he dedicated a poem each year to the winning title. He was also patron of the Adelaide Male Voice Choir.

Max is survived by his three children, Winsome, Michael and Tim, as well as six grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. In recognising this great South Australian, and his contribution to the literary education of many of us over the years, I would like to suggest that it would be fitting to name an award at the next Adelaide Festival awards for literature in 2014 after Max Fatchen.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

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