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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-05-14 Daily Xml
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TREVORROW, MR TOM

The Hon. P. CAICA (Colton) (15:52): On Thursday 2 May, I along with many hundreds and perhaps thousands of people gathered at the Uniting Church at Meningie to pay our respects to Tom Trevorrow who had passed away earlier. We paid our respects to a proud, strong and greatly respected Ngarrindjeri elder and to his family on his passing, but also the passing of Tom is a great loss to the Ngarrindjeri nation, South Australia and, indeed, Aboriginal Australia.

Tom was born in 1954 in Meningie. He grew up in the fringe camps of the Coorong. Through the very good eulogy that was provided by Steve, we learned that Tom had met his wife, Ellen, when she was 11 and he was 12. They married some time later in 1981, but they loved each other from the very beginning. They produced and raised a family that meant everything to them, and raised this family in a loving, supportive environment that was underpinned by the principles embraced by Tom for all his life.

Those principles had trust, honesty, respect and culture at their core—respect for stories, for family, for country, for the old people and, of course, for the inextricable link that Tom always advocated between the land, the waters, its creatures and the Ngarrindjeri people. Tom Trevorrow was respected by all who knew him. He was loved by thousands and all those who he touched. He was quite simply—and simply is not the right word—a wise, gently spoken man, a man of great caring, a man who helped so many.

He held a number of leadership roles within the Ngarrindjeri nation and helped to establish these groups. He was chair of the Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority, the Ngarrindjeri Heritage Committee, the Ngarrindjeri Land and Progress Association and was also on numerous Ngarrindjeri Indigenous and joint Ngarrindjeri-government committees. From the 1980s, the Ngarrindjeri Land and Progress Association looked after cultural heritage for the Ngarrindjeri people and the Camp Coorong Race Relations and Cultural Education Centre was at the heart of this contribution.

He was a fantastic listener, learner and teacher. When he spoke, as the Premier mentioned today, people listened. Everything that he said was worth hearing and it was always delivered in such a considered way. I was fortunate enough to sit alongside young Thomas (his grandson) at the funeral and I said to Thomas after the service, 'Don't you ever forget what your grandfather's told you', and his eyes were expressing the most profound grief that he has ever experienced in his whole life, but you could see the steely look in his eyes when he said, 'I won't ever forget.' There will be many people within the Ngarrindjeri nation who will never forget Tom's contribution.

It was a few years ago that his brother George died, followed by Matt Rigney. The three of them, Tom, George and Matt, provided the triumvirate of leadership for the Ngarrindjeri nation. I think the Premier mentioned at the funeral that they were formidable negotiators. Matt would come in and punch you right between the eyes, Tom would then take over and deliver a most considered, reconciliatory submission on what it was that was being discussed and lull you into a false sense of security and then George would cut the deal. They were a formidable negotiating team.

If you look at the legacy that Tom has left behind, along with George and Matt, one part of that is the establishment of the regional authority, the most outstanding organisational and government structure that exists in any Aboriginal nation. There are so many things that I could say about Tom today: his relationship with the land, his investment in younger people and the Letters Patent, which the Premier mentioned today, which is something that this government needs to enter into discussions on to find just settlement.

Just to finish off on this: at the end of the funeral there was a flock of about 50 or 60 pelicans doing a majestic flyover of the church. For a lot of us there it was quite astounding. For the Ngarrindjeri people and the man I was standing with, it was fellow creatures showing their respect to the passing of a great man. My condolences to Ellen and her family.

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