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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-05-07 Daily Xml
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Thurnwald, Mrs L.G.

Mr GARDNER (Morialta) (15:24): Thank you, Deputy Speaker, and I congratulate you on your new position. Today I rise to celebrate the life of Lois Geraldine Thurnwald (nee Liddocat). It is funny that this part of the debate in the chamber is called the grievance debate, and today I give this speech with a real sense of grief. I have known Lois for about 13 or 14 years. She lived from 6 June 1931 to 24 April 2014. I was deeply sorry that I could not be at her funeral on Monday because of parliamentary business. These things happen. I was very glad that the member for Adelaide, the Hon. Michelle Lensink, the Hon. Simon Birmingham and a great many Liberal Party members were amongst the great number of mourners on Monday. It has been good to talk to some of those people this week.

Lois Thurnwald was born at the Yorketown Hospital and grew up on a farming property at Warooka on the Yorke Peninsula. She was a tough, no-nonsense lady; she had an attitude similar to many women in particular that I know who grew up on a farm. She was the youngest of four children. All three elder siblings served during the war, leaving her alone on the farm for a number of her formative years. Her family moved to Adelaide during Lois's teenage years, and she was a student at Adelaide High.

Like many of her generation, Lois left school at 14, going on to work in a number of roles, including for the Postmaster-General. She fell for a young Czech migrant, Josef. They married and set up home and a jewellery business in Kintore Avenue, Kilburn. In helping Josef with the business, they discovered Lois had a magnificent knack for sales—she was a great talker. Many women in Adelaide owe their engagement rings and other gifts to Lois's sense of style and the guidance that she gave to the men in their lives.

While the business kept them busy, having four boys added a real sense of activity to the house, which Lois took in her stride, ensuring the boys not only had the opportunity to play footy but also learnt to cook. Footy was a big part of life for Lois and the Thurnwalds, supporting North Adelaide, where Lois was known to have something of a thing for the legendary Barrie Robran. I am told that at the funeral on Monday it was identified that a photo of him would light up her face, even in her final years. One of her family's last precious moments that was recalled was to watch with her the telecast showing the return of footy to Adelaide Oval, although the result of the game with the Crows losing brought her no more pleasure than it brought all good people in this house.

In addition to the boys, the business and the footy, the other great passion of Lois's family life was the German shepherds. Those who visited her at her house would remember fondly some of those beautiful dogs. One of those stayed with her right to her final day at home.

When the boys were older, Lois threw herself into the Liberal Party. For 50 years, she was a member of the Liberal Party. She was a true supporter of policies both supporting business growth and the disadvantaged. She had a strong passion for that. The Hon. Trish Worth sent an email that was read at the funeral which identified 'she was very dedicated to the whole idea of good government for her fellow Australians'. The member for Unley recalls working with Lois on his first political campaign for the Hon. Michael Armitage, of which Lois was a great supporter.

Lois was the president of the Prospect branch and held all of the positions available on the Adelaide SEC and FEC over the years. As the president of the Prospect branch, it was on that occasion that I met her when I was working for Trish Worth in about 2000 or 2001. Lois invited me to speak at the Christmas show, and it was in fact the first time (I was president of the Young Liberals at the time) I had been invited to a meeting as guest speaker on my own behalf. She was a great supporter of young people.

I remember working with her on Michael Harbison's campaign in 2002, and after she lost she told me she had three great hopes for the Liberal Party in the future. She hoped that we would regain the seat of Adelaide, and she was thrilled with the member for Adelaide's elevation. She helped her a great deal. She hoped that the Hon. Michelle Lensink and the Hon. Simon Birmingham would be elected to parliament. Those were her three wishes in 2002, and I am very pleased that she was able to see them all come to pass. She was in fact a massive help in making all those three come to light.

She supported many young people in the Liberal Party and I know that all members have people such as Lois in their lives. Without people such as Lois, none of us would be here. I will miss her. I extend my condolence to her family, her children and grandchildren. On behalf of the Liberal Party, we wish them all well. Vale Lois Thurnwald.

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