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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
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Condolence

Millhouse, Hon. R.R.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (14:01): I move:

That this house express its deep regret at the death of the Hon. Robin Rhodes Millhouse QC, a former member of this house, minister of the Crown and justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia, and places on record its appreciation of his long and meritorious service and that, as a mark of respect to his memory, the sitting of the house be suspended until the ringing of the bells.

On 28 April 2017, South Australia lost one of its most colourful, accomplished and resilient public figures with the passing of Robin Millhouse at the age of 87 years. He possessed a sharp and brilliant mind. He excelled in both law and politics. He was sometimes prickly, often eccentric and controversial, but always his own man. He had a passion for social justice and progressive ideas and he was an extraordinarily popular and electorally successful MP. Most of all, Robin Millhouse loved his parents, his wife, his children, his grandchildren and his God. All these traits were obvious to those who attended, as I did, his funeral at St Columba's Anglican Church at Hawthorn on Saturday 6 May.

On behalf of members on this side of the house, I extend my sympathies to his children, Issy, Jenny, Libby, Christopher and Penny, and the wider Millhouse family. I am very pleased that some family members are in the public gallery here this afternoon.

The son of a Supreme Court judge, Robin Rhodes Millhouse was born in North Adelaide on 9 December 1929 and educated at St Peter's College and the University of Adelaide. He was admitted to legal practice in 1953. Four years later, he married Ann Radford, who was sadly to pass away in 1992. In May 1955, at the remarkably young age of 25, he became the member for Mitcham following a by-election. He began as a representative of what was then called the Liberal and Country League, but this turned out to be just the first of many parties and groupings with which Robin Millhouse would associate his often turbulent 27-year parliamentary career.

We see perhaps a hint of his analytical independent frame of mind in his first speech he made in this chamber. He said in the speech, after generally commending the work of the then Playford government, that he did not want to be thought of as blindly eulogistic of the government. That was a warning! No person or group of human beings was perfect, he noted, and although we were bound to seek perfection, none of us could attain it. He was reported in Hansard as then telling the house:

It follows that no government, however good it is, can be entirely without blame and we delude ourselves if we think otherwise. When considering problems, political or not, we must do so on their merits, bringing to bear both our own background of knowledge and belief, but also our consciousness, our sense of what is right, just and fair, if you like to put it that way.

This is a philosophy he adhered to throughout his time in this place and throughout his life. After rising through the parliamentary ranks, Robin became among other things Attorney-General in the Steele Hall government of 1968 to 1970. As such, he was a central figure in the reforms that made the state electoral system much fairer and, as a result, profoundly changed the political landscape.

When we look at it now with the benefit of hindsight, this period between the first and second Dunstan governments is characterised more by continuity than interruption. It is clear that the Hall government's agenda, with its support for the building of the Adelaide Festival Centre, its progressive social legislation and changes to the electoral system was very much of a piece with the general opening up of the state in the post-Playford era. In particular, the removal of the notorious gerrymander, which was brought about by the courage and leadership of Robin Millhouse and Steele Hall, was a bold and admirable act that changed our state for the better.

As the 1970s progressed, Mr Millhouse's prominence in public life grew. He became well known for his quirky behaviour and views. He once outed himself as the Parliament House streaker, after being caught naked or half-naked, no-one will ever really know, walking between the second-floor men's showers and his office. He gained publicity by visiting an Adelaide massage parlour on a purely research basis—see whether you can get away with that these days—to work out whether it was indeed a brothel.

For a 1981 picture opportunity in the old afternoon newspaper The News, he once dressed up as a kind of caveman and cavorted around Botanic Park. He loved to jog, once running from Adelaide to Gawler in a marathon. Although sometimes called a bible-basher for his devout Christian beliefs, he was rather progressive in his social attitudes for the time. For example, he was a fan and active member of nudist clubs, having officially opened the first one established in this state and was a frequenter of Maslin Beach.

Also, as Attorney-General, he sanctioned the performance in Adelaide of a risqué piece of off-Broadway theatre called The Boys in the Band. He railed against salary increases and expanded the benefits for MPs. He advocated for the decriminalisation of prostitution and held a more progressive view on abortion laws than many of his colleagues. He also introduced legislation making compulsory the use of seatbelts in cars. As many members are aware, Robin Millhouse was a key figure in the schisms that occurred in the 1970s in the conservative side of state politics. There were fights about electoral reform and other matters, and the result was a series of dramatic resignations and party splinterings.

Described in the papers as a maverick, showman and gadfly, Mr Millhouse at various times represented the LCL, the Liberal Movement and the New Liberal Movement. At one stage during a particularly complex period, he somehow managed to hold the position of deputy leader of both the mainstream LCL and Steele Hall's breakaway Liberal Movement. Congratulations! After further manoeuvrings in the 1970s, he eventually became a member of the Australian Democrats and successfully contested the seat of Mitcham under that banner—quite an achievement, given the Democrats were still an emerging party. Extraordinary!

Having become Queen's Counsel in 1979, he spent a lot of time representing clients in the courts and was happy to describe himself as a part-time parliamentarian. He was criticised for this by colleagues of both ends of the political spectrum, but he insisted that it made him a better MP. Robin was quite open about his desire to take up a position on the judicial benches, and that came to pass when he was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1982. Following a long and well-respected judicial career here in Adelaide that ended in 1999, he became the Chief Justice of the High Court of Kiribati and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nauru. Later, he served as a locum judge in the Pacific nation of Tuvalu. Most recently, he lived in Sydney and, despite failing health, he tried to remain as physically active as he could.

Robin Millhouse had a stellar career and, by his own assessment, a happy life. Sharing characteristics with leaders at the time, such as Don Dunstan, he demonstrated flair, theatricality and idealism. Like so many who founded South Australia in the 1800s, he was a mixture of both conservative and progressive. As the former Adelaide journalist, Peter Ward, wrote in 1982, at the time of Robin's move to the bench, 'They don't make them like Millhouse anymore.'

Today, we celebrate the life of this great South Australian. It was easy to see the depth of the love and sadness of his family at the service on the weekend. We express our deep condolences to his family and friends.

Mr MARSHALL (Dunstan—Leader of the Opposition) (14:10): I rise to support this motion and commend the Premier for his comments to the house.

Robin Rhodes Millhouse entered this house at a by-election in 1955. His departure in 1982 triggered a by-election. In between, little he did was conventional either. He was a stirrer, he was an activist and he was often controversial—if sometimes unintended. He was a reformer. For almost 20 years, he was a member of the Liberal Party, then he managed to sit as a member of four parties in just four years. His differences with the Liberal Party during the last decade of his service to this house are well known. Today, however, we lay aside those differences to remember a remarkable man.

Even before entering parliament, while studying law at Adelaide University he had challenged the prevailing orthodoxy within the Liberal Party about electoral reform. He continued to do that as a member of this place until electoral laws for both houses were changed in the 1970s. He sought the leadership of our party in 1966 when Sir Thomas Playford stood down. He was not successful, but gave steadfast support to Steele Hall as Playford's successor.

Playford had served at Gallipoli. Millhouse and Hall had been too young to serve in the Second World War. The transition in Liberal leadership marked generational political change. The Hall government introduced many reforms between 1968 and 1970, building on the economic legacy of Playford. Indeed, while Dunstan may be remembered as a social reformer, the Hall government set the design with more courageous and enduring reforms in just two years than Dunstan had achieved in a decade. They included:

extensive law reform;

abortion law reform;

fundamental reform of House of Assembly electoral boundaries;

fluoridation of the metropolitan water supply to improve child dental health in South Australia;

the metropolitan Adelaide transportation plan;

the initiation of West Lakes as pathfinding urban development;

construction of the Dartmouth dam to shore up the state's water supply;

the establishment of the Festival Centre at a better location than had previously been selected;

the introduction of seatbelts in cars;

lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18; and

searching reviews of social education and environmental policies.

The circumstances in which the Liberal Party lost the 1970 election and subsequent divisions within our party have overshadowed these historic achievements and denied the party the credit it deserves for what it has done for South Australia—but they should not, nor should we overlook the vital role of Robin Millhouse in pushing the reform envelope as Steele Hall's Attorney-General and the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Social Welfare.

Robin left our party in 1973. He subsequently sat as a member of the Liberal Movement, the New Liberal Movement and, finally, as a founding member of the Australian Democrats. Even as a lone member, he made many waves as he continued his bare-chested running on the coldest of winter mornings, drove his purple Mini Moke around the leafy streets of Mitcham and even sometimes bared it all at Maslin.

As an Australian Democrat, he campaigned against uranium mining and the establishment of the Olympic Dam mine. He asked parliamentary questions that led to the dismissal of a police commissioner. He inquired publicly about whether the governor at the time was a fit person to remain in office. He remained fearless and unrepentant, earning the reflection from Sir Walter Crocker, in his biography of Playford, that Robin was 'a somewhat erratic, if courageous lawyer'.

While on some important issues in his closing parliamentary years Robin may have been on the wrong side of history, for much of his service he had helped to create that history. In 1982, the Tonkin Liberal government was prepared to put aside its differences with him and elevate him to the Supreme Court. In that role, he followed his father, as he had committed to his mother that he would do. For the following 17 years, it was a fitting climax to a life of meritorious public service to the people of this state. It is for that we honour Robin Millhouse in this parliament today. On behalf of our side of this parliament, I would like to express our sincere condolences to his surviving family members: his children, who are here today, and his many grandchildren.

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Child Protection Reform, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for Consumer and Business Services, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (14:15): I rise today to express my sincere condolences with respect to the passing of the Hon. Robin Millhouse QC. The Hon. Mr Millhouse had an astonishing career, serving as a parliamentarian for the better part of 30 years as a minister, including, and most well remembered for, as Attorney-General for five years, and as a Justice of the Supreme Court for 17 years and Chief Justice of both Nauru and Kiribati.

As a parliamentarian, Mr Millhouse was well known for being passionate and outspoken on his ideological views, with what has been described already as a maverick tendency. His commitment to liberal democratic principles guided his actions as a key player in the politics of the 1970s. The previous two speakers have canvassed the detail of that, so I will not repeat it. As a minister, he was by any measure a reformist. His achievements included, from my point of view very significantly, the reformation of the electoral system, as well as several important social reforms.

His bold and, I would suggest, courageous commitment to 'one vote, one value' is a lasting testament to his progressive inclinations. As a Justice of the Supreme Court, he served with distinction, dedication and good humour. Although his time and mine did overlap, I did not have the privilege of appearing before him. However, he was reputed amongst the profession to have a practice of airing the judicial running kit near the Grote Street windows from time to time. He remained very keen on those physical activities.

By the time he retired from his various judicial roles, he was aged over 80, which clearly demonstrates a lifelong commitment to public service. The Hon. Mr Millhouse continued a long-honoured South Australian tradition of parliamentary eccentricity, noted for his inclination to wear shorts in professional environments and occasionally much less than that as a regular at Maslin Beach. My thoughts are with his family and friends at what must be a very difficult time. He was a man who left a significant and lasting legacy to the benefit of all South Australians.

Ms CHAPMAN (Bragg—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:18): I rise to support the Premier's motion to recognise and pay tribute to Robin Rhodes Millhouse QC in the presence of his family and some of his former colleagues. As we know, Mr Millhouse entered this parliament in 1955, at a time before almost all of us were born. Once the 1960s and even the 1970s came around, there was a major period of legal, electoral, social and political reform. It was a great time, I think, for him to have served in his public office in a political life, culminating at that time as Attorney-General in the Hall government.

Much has already been said about his reformist agenda and his preparedness to speak up in respect of issues that were popular at the time, remembering that this was a fairly volatile period for Australian politics, when the Prime Minister had gone missing on a Victorian beach, presumed to have been either eaten by a shark or taken in a Russian submarine. It was a very volatile time. His advocacy is well known, as is his ultimate, second and most impressive career as a Justice of the Supreme Court and then in a justice role on behalf of the national government in the islands surrounding Australia. I thought the most effective phrase to capture the personality of Robin Millhouse was one of his good friends Rex Jory's, who described him as being 'unfailingly courteous, generous and instructive'. He was referring to their continued relationship and friendship post his residency in New South Wales.

As some would say, it was a gentle era for politicians, but I think that it was highly revolutionary. The issues that I think need to be recorded are relevant to his push to have a nudist beach in South Australia, which ultimately was declared at Maslin Beach on our southern beaches. It was very controversial at the time (it was, in fact, in my father's electorate at the time) and there were extensive petitions for and against it. However, Mr Millhouse took the view that it was important that there be a private area, where there was not a high level of residency, for people to be in their state of undress and for all of the attributes that went with that.

He invited the then Jennifer Adamson—later Jennifer Cashmore, a minister in the Tonkin government—to attend with him to skinny dip at Maslin Beach. She relied on the wonderful Oscar Wilde response: 'I have only one thing to decline, and that's your invitation.' Notwithstanding what was quite significant public outrage at the time, he continued and decided that, in his era on the bench in the Supreme Court, he would delight and surprise young practitioners who would go to his chambers when hearing an application out of court. The Speaker smiles and reminisces. I am not quite sure whether you were one of those practitioners. It would have been a long time ago, of course.

It was quite common for people to come into his chambers and be seated to hear the applications. The judge would already be seated, but you would have to walk past his mantelpiece to actually sit down. Of course, if you took some poor, young, hapless junior with you, they would almost drop the brief as they walked past the mantelpiece after seeing the judge in a large framed photograph in a complete state of undress. It was quite a challenge for some of our young practitioners, but it was an initiation that indicated to them the level of fun and eccentricity, to some degree, displayed by His Honour. He was obviously out to shock in other areas. He insisted on riding a bicycle to court rather than taking a publicly funded car, etc.

Perhaps a reflection of the era in which he served during the 1970s was his insistence on continuing his practice at the bar. He would be known, according to the Hon. Graham Gunn, to ask a question at 2 o'clock at question time and then immediately hop in his car and be driven down to the Supreme Court to resume a trial as senior counsel at 2.15. Those were the days.

Unsurprisingly, his passion for physical activity meant that he was an extremely fit man and enjoyed a long life. My earliest memories of him in this capacity include his service to the Army. It is not well known, but he would take patrols out to regional South Australia. On one occasion, it was to the cliffs of Western River, where he was asked to take a patrol for them to do what was the early version of parasailing and climbing up and down cliffs for fitness for the Australian Army. As I said, there is not much mention of Mr Millhouse's contribution in that regard, but he did hold quite a senior rank in the Army.

Finally, I would not say that Mr Millhouse was instrumental in my taking up a career in the law. However, in 1970 I attended as a witness in a case in the Supreme Court. Mr Jim Crammond (now deceased) appeared for the applicant, Mr Robin Millhouse appeared for the respondent and the judge was Justice Sangster—not something that you would rush to—he has also since passed. I was a witness at the age of 13 and had the pleasure of being cross-examined by Robin Millhouse for 2½ hours. I would have to say that, on balance, it was a character-building exercise. It was my first introduction to court procedure and the opportunity for another life post-education.

I thank Mr Millhouse for his service to public office. To his family, and the sacrifice they inevitably make during a time when a parent undertakes decades of public service to us in South Australia, to the nation and, of course, to our neighbouring colonies, thank you very much.

The Hon. T.R. KENYON (Newland) (14:25): I also rise to offer my condolences to the family and to thank Mr Millhouse for his service to this state. I would like to reflect on the contribution of the Hon. Robin Millhouse from the perspective of the current member for Waite, who has written to me. I will read his letter to me:

Dear Mr Kenyon,

As the current member for Waite, representing most of the old electorate of Mitcham which the Honourable Robin Millhouse served so well from 1955 to 1982, I would like to offer some thoughts on his contribution to public life.

He was well known in Mitcham as a young MP and remained well known to the community for the several decades after his 27 years' service as their local representative. When I started door-knocking in the electorate, people often spoke about his contribution and his sense of community.

As Rex Jory noted in his obituary to Robin, the Millhouse way was never the easy way. He was a member of a political party dominated by regional MPs and when he was elected as the MP for Mitcham he was one of the few Liberal Country League members with an urban middle class constituency. As political academic Dean Jaensch wrote in 1997, Millhouse was a 'vocal advocate of his broader constituency, championing their cause in a party dominated by rural conservatives'.

There was a sign of things to come when he wrote a paper on the 'Liberal Case for Electoral Reform', arguing for a fairer electoral system than the one he said was biased against voters resident in metropolitan Adelaide, whether they be progressive or conservative, Liberal or Labor. In that paper, Robin argued that unless the Liberal Country League did more to embrace young urban voters, the trend of young voters shifting to Labor would continue.

This wasn't the only area where the savvy political brain of Robin Millhouse was able to see where our society was heading. In 1975, as State Parliamentary Leader of the Liberal Movement, in his election policy speech at Adelaide Town Hall, he urged that government embrace the emerging concept of solar power. In the same speech he slammed Premier Dunstan's policy for a City of Monarto.

I wonder how he would view today's achievement of 50 per cent renewable energy; and also how he would view the latest political thought bubble for an airport at Monarto.

I imagine that in today's political environment, Robin Millhouse would have been just as he was in this House from 1955 to 1982. He didn't seek applause; he sought fair and intelligent debate. He didn't criticise for the sake of political opportunity.

As he wisely told this House in his first speech in May 1955, and I quote; 'Although we are bound to seek perfection, none of us can attain it. It follows that no Government, however good it is, can be entirely without blame and we delude ourselves if we think otherwise.'

He added, 'When considering problems, political or not, we must do so on their merits…In every problem there are conflicting facets. Our task is to reconcile them as best we can. The answer, even then, will not be perfect, but it will be an honest attempt to do the best of which we are capable.'

Some 20 years after he made that contribution to the House, when the political organisation of which he was a member strayed from what he saw as core principles, he remained loyal to the principles, not the party.

The breakaway formation of the Liberal Movement required some tough personal decisions and when some of those who broke away returned to the party, it was Millhouse who resolved to stand his ground and form the New Liberal Movement, then the Australia Party and eventually the Australian Democrats.

Despite an extraordinary career as a Minister, Attorney-General, reformer and advocate of advancement, it seems that the headline writers of the time were more focused on his decision to leave the Liberal Country League, rather than noting his reasons why.

The voters had a different view: After leaving the Liberal Country League he increased his margin in the seat of Mitcham by three per cent to make it one of the safest in the State, with a 58.8 to 41.2 two party preferred vote.

I also place on the record today the community's appreciation of Robin Millhouse's contribution to the Army Reserve, known in his time as the Citizen Military Forces or CMF. He served as a major and in 1967 while an MP, went to Vietnam in November of 1967 as an observer, which enabled him to have a greater understanding of the challenges faced by those serving in Vietnam.

I will leave it to others to reflect on his judicial career but I close my letter by thanking the former member for Mitcham for his 27 year service to that community and to this house. He stands tall in South Australian politics for his strength of character and commitment to social principles, and I offer my condolences to his family.

Yours sincerely,

The Hon. Martin Hamilton-Smith

Member for Waite

I also add my thanks to Mr Millhouse for his work on behalf of this state, and I acknowledge that it is quite substantial. Many of us can only dream of undertaking such significant reform in our political careers. He should certainly be very satisfied with his contribution to the state both here in the parliament and also in the judiciary, and once again I offer my condolences to the family.

The SPEAKER (14:30): I think I may be the only member to have voted for Robin Millhouse. My primary vote was cast for him, for tactical reasons, at the 1977 general election and the 1979 general election. Indeed, I did some folding and stuffing for his campaign in his Belair Road electorate office and some letterboxing. In the 1975 general election, there had been posters around our neighbourhood with the slogan, 'Millhouse for Premier'.

Robin Millhouse, the son of a judge, studied at St Peter's College, St Mark's College (University of Adelaide) and served as a major with the Citizen Military Forces and with the Universities of Adelaide Regiment. He was a most effective opposition to the Dunstan government in the 1970s, and Bruce Muirden wrote of him in The Nation Review:

He knows better than any other MP the best methods of getting others saying what they shouldn't and usually in a rage.

So, I was well pleased when in my first term in the house Heini Becker, Robin Millhouse's principal detractor, interjected on me, 'You're as bad as Millhouse.' Millhouse infuriated his fellow MPs by opposing pay increases and then ostentatiously proposing donating half the increase to charity for a period of six months. Robin Millhouse certainly taught me the electoral value of riding a bike and travelling on public transport.

Robin Millhouse was elected in 1955 to the safe Liberal state district of Mitcham in a by-election necessitated by the death of the sitting member. Millhouse was 25 years of age. His maiden speech is evocative of the era. He talks about the building of the new Unley High School, the recently completed Mannum-Adelaide pipeline, his opposition to controls on prices and rents, and state government grants to municipalities to create libraries, of which he remarked, 'Incidentally I should think that few moves would be less welcome to our communistic enemies than this one.' In his maiden speech, he said:

As a lawyer I have sometimes wished that the legislature would stop tinkering so much with acts of parliament.

He went on to say:

I believe that there is only one perfect being in this universe and to Him all of us, whoever we may be, must look for all our strength and guidance.

I found it hard to persuade my parents to switch from a Labor vote in the state district of Mitcham to a tactical vote for Robin Millhouse. For one thing, my mother loathed his arranging for the media to cover his reading the Bible on a red hen travelling on the Belair line, but eventually they came around. In 1979, his opposition to the state Labor government and criticism of the then state governor prompted the ALP state council to pass a resolution denying ALP second preferences to Robin Millhouse. He still won, despite expensive Liberal Party campaigns against him, starting with the slogan, Callister Can (he could not), and finishing with a couple of Robert Worth challenges.

Millhouse infuriated the government and the Speaker in question time. He was often named and actively sought naming. After being named, he would pack up his attaché case and stride out of the chamber, shouting that he would be at his chambers for the remainder of the day doing legal work.

Indeed, he embraced his status as a part-time MP, argued its merits and sought out a Supreme Court appointment from the Tonkin Liberal government. Attorney-General Trevor Griffin tried in vain to resist the appointment. I recall, as a cadet at The Advertiser in 1982, the editor and day editor, and I think perhaps Rex Jory, taking him out for a long lunch the day after his appointment was announced. They were losing a great source of news and stunts.

The Tonkin Liberal government appointed Robin Millhouse to the Supreme Court to create a by-election in Mitcham, which they expected, on good grounds, to win and then lost to the Australian Democrats' Heather Southcott. However, the appointment was not entirely in vain because, at the general election in 1982, the Liberal Party regained the seat of Mitcham with Stephen Baker as its candidate.

When my best man went to work as an associate to a Supreme Court judge, he took me into Justice Millhouse's chambers for the illicit purpose of viewing the photographs on the walls. Robin Millhouse was a devoted Christian who lived the latter part of his life moving freely between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church. Judging by his published obituary, he had what the church calls a good death. Rest eternal grant unto him, O Lord, and may light perpetual shine upon him.

Motion carried by members standing in their places in silence.

Sitting suspended from 14:37 to 14:46.

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