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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2017-02-14 Daily Xml
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Condolence

Hetzel, Dr. B.S.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (15:47): By leave, I move:

That the House of Assembly expresses its deep regret at the death of the Hon. Dr Basil Stuart Hetzel AC and places on record its appreciation of his long and meritorious service to the South Australian community in the fields of medical research and education and as a Lieutenant Governor of the state.

Dr Basil Hetzel was a great South Australian and a world-renowned medical researcher. He passed away earlier this month at the age of 94. Dr Hetzel was one of the state's most distinguished and accomplished citizens. He was loved and respected for his intelligence, his compassion, his vision and his exceptional record of service. Given the breadth of Dr Hetzel's work and the scale of his achievements, it is not easy to fairly summarise his extraordinary career, but I will seek to give the house a sense today of the life of this true son of South Australia.

Basil Stuart Hetzel was born in London on 13 June 1922. His parents, Elinor and Kenneth, were South Australians, but they were living in London at the time because Kenneth, an anaesthetist, was working at University College Hospital. Young Basil was schooled at King's College and St Peter's College. Very much his father's son, he studied medicine at the University of Adelaide in the 1940s, and in the 1950s he carried out research in, amongst other places, New York and London.

Dr Hetzel established a virtually lifelong relationship with our Queen Elizabeth Hospital as part of his becoming Adelaide University's first Mitchell Professor of Medicine in 1959. Soon after, he embarked on what in time would be recognised as his great achievement, and that would have an immeasurably large and positive impact on our world.

Through research partly conducted at The QEH and through fieldwork carried out in Papua New Guinea, Dr Hetzel made a discovery that was to profoundly change the lives of generations of people, especially the poor, the disadvantaged and those living in the Third World. He found that certain forms of endemic brain damage in babies and children, including cretinism, were caused by iodine deficiency in the mother. He demonstrated that the taking of iodised salt during pregnancy could eliminate the risk of such damage.

Not content to have simply made this breakthrough, Basil became an energetic international advocate for iodine supplementation. His campaigning lives on today, including in the form of an international NGO called the Iodine Global Network, which he established in the 1980s. As some observers have suggested since Dr Hetzel's passing, his efforts in relation to iodine alone were probably worthy of a Nobel Prize.

In Australia, Dr Hetzel's work was highly influential and often went beyond the field of medicine. In 1968, he was appointed Foundation Professor of Social and Preventive Medicine at Monash University. In 1971, he delivered the annual ABC Boyer Lecture, entitled 'Life and health in Australia', and in the process helped make modern health discoveries more understandable to everyday people. Subsequently, he became the inaugural chief of the CSIRO's Division of Human Nutrition.

In South Australia, Dr Hetzel was prominent, active and always constructive. For example, he sought to improve the lives of Aboriginal people. He helped establish a 24-hour telephone crisis support service known as Lifeline. He raised money for the treatment of poor people in India. He was of course Lieutenant-Governor of our state for eight years from 1992. He was Chancellor of the University of South Australia during its early formative period. He was a leading advocate for the establishment of the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre at the University of South Australia and was the centre's chair from 1998 until 2007.

It is no surprise that one of the University of South Australia's nicest buildings, located at its City East campus and fronting Frome Road opposite the RAH, is named after Basil Hetzel. There is one major medical institution in Adelaide that bears his name, and it is one with which I have the connection. It is the Basil Hetzel Institute for Translational Health Research. The institute is on the main street of The Queen Elizabeth Hospital at Woodville and is therefore within my electorate of Cheltenham.

I remember taking part in the official ceremony on 1 March 2009 at The QEH research building, of which the Hetzel Institute is a part. Dr Hetzel spoke powerfully and inspiringly on that day. I was conscious, while listening to him, of being in the presence of one of South Australia's finest researchers and scientists, someone very much in the calibre of Howard Florey, Helen Mayo and the Braggs.

From my experience, Basil Hetzel was always gracious, considerate and wise, always an old-fashioned gentleman. Time does not permit me to list all the local, national and international awards and honours that have been bestowed upon him, but it is worth noting that in June 1990 he was accorded our country's highest honour by being made a Companion of the Order of Australia for 'service to Australian and world health, particularly in the field of human nutrition'.

Professor Ian Olver, the Director of the Sansom Institute for Health Research at the University of South Australia, wrote an excellent piece in The Australian this past week about Dr Hetzel's many achievements. He ended that article with the following words:

I will remember him...as a gentle, charming man who set a towering example to young researchers of achieving stellar success with humility, and to those of us who crossed his path of selfless service to communities throughout the world.

Our state has lost a man of compassion, determination, curiosity and global influence and standing with the passing of Basil Stuart Hetzel. We South Australians are indeed privileged to be able to call him one of our own. On behalf of members on this side of the house, I today honour this great man and extend my condolences to his family, friends and colleagues around the world. I look forward to attending a public memorial service for Dr Hetzel at the University of Adelaide's Bonython Building on the afternoon of Monday 24 February 2017.

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (15:54): I rise to join the Premier in marking the passing of Dr Basil Hetzel and to acknowledge the great contribution that he has made to the people of South Australia and, indeed, much further.

South Australia has punched well above its weight in the scientific world—the names of Florey, Bragg and Oliphant come readily to mind. Just like them, Basil Hetzel's contribution in his own field has had global significance. He is remembered around the world for his pioneering work on iodine deficiencies and thyroid disease. As a result of that work, he transformed the health of hundreds of thousands of children in many countries.

In his earlier years, he had won a Fulbright Scholarship. He studied in New York. He returned to start his medical career at the Royal Adelaide and Queen Elizabeth hospitals. It was after visiting the highland villages of Papua New Guinea in 1964 that he became in international advocate for iodine supplementation. He embarked on a global campaign to establish international health programs in developing countries to spread the word about iodine deficiency.

His influence continues today through the Iodine Global Network. In his name it will be maintained here in his home state through the Basil Hetzel Institute for Transitional Health Research at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Basil Hetzel also made significant contributions to the community and the intellectual life of our state. He served as the lieutenant-governor. He was the Chancellor of the University of South Australia during its formative years.

On behalf the opposition, I express our deep appreciation for his lifetime contribution to our state and to world health, and I also extend our most sincere condolences to his friends and to his family.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The honourable Dr Basil Hetzel was indeed an amazing man. I ask members to rise in their place in silence for one minute as a mark of respect.

Motion carried by members standing in their places in silence.

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