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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-09-10 Daily Xml
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Heron, Mr V.S.

The Hon. S.S. MARSHALL (Dunstan—Premier) (14:32): I move:

That the House of Assembly expresses its deep regret at the death of Mr Victor Stanley Heron, former member of the House of Assembly, and places on record its appreciation of his 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.

Vic Heron was a member of this house for four years, having been elected in 1989 as the member for Peake. During his service to the house he was also a member of the Social Development Committee.

In his maiden speech in February 1990, Mr Heron spoke at length about industrial relations, expressing his very strong support for a centralised wage fixation system. This reflected his experience as an official of the Federated Miscellaneous Workers' Union for the 15 years prior to his election to this house. Mr Heron also spoke passionately about the need to upskill the workforce to meet the changing nature of industry and advances in technology, a challenge that continues to face us all today. He also took a strong interest in the extension of childcare services.

During his parliamentary service, Mr Heron was as committed a representative of the electors of Peake as he had been of his union members. At the 1993 election, he faced Heini Becker as his Liberal Party opponent. While Peake was regarded as a seat requiring a 5 per cent swing to change hands, Heini was a formidable opponent, already having been a member of this house since 1970. While Heini prevailed, the contest in Peake was considered one of the most spirited at the 1993 poll.

On behalf of all members of my government, we acknowledge the service of Mr Heron to this parliament and his electors, and express our condolences at his passing to his family. Vale, Mr Vic Heron.

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:34): I rise to second the Premier's motion. Vic Heron was the Labor member for Peake in South Australia, as the Premier mentioned, from 1989 to 1993. Vic entered parliament at the age of 50, having already achieved a great deal in the Australian Labor movement. Prior to his election, Mr Heron was the president of the ALP state executive and an organiser and secretary for the Missos for some 15 years—no mean feat. He was also a president and executive member of the United Trades and Labour Council—again, a very robust organisation, particularly during that era.

Mr Heron, who had previously been a Senate candidate in the 1987 federal election, delivered his maiden speech in the House of Assembly on 13 February 1990. In that speech, he reflected upon the need for training to update the skills of workers, particularly those in the state manufacturing base as it continued to evolve. He also reflected upon the challenges of wage indexation, occupational health and safety, and the challenges faced by single working women—challenges that, indeed, exist still today.

He entered the parliament along with other new Labor MPs, including the former Speaker the Hon. Michael Atkinson and the former minister the Hon. Paul Holloway. During his term in parliament, Mr Heron was a member of the Social Development Committee, as mentioned by the Premier. He is survived by his partner, Maxine, and his sisters, Patricia and Ros, and was preceded in death by his brother Bill.

We take this time to reflect and thank him for his extraordinary contribution to the parliament but also, again, to the labour movement, particularly the union movement, in the state of South Australia. Vale, Vic Heron.

Ms HILDYARD (Reynell) (14:35): I, too, rise to make a few brief remarks about the life and achievements of Victor Stanley Heron. A stalwart of the South Australian Labor movement, Vic—as he was widely and affectionately known—was a compassionate, committed representative of his community and for working people. As has been said, Vic, who was the Labor member for Peake from 1989 to 1993, sadly passed away on 1 September in New South Wales.

Vic entered parliament at the age of 50 after a long career supporting and empowering workers as an organiser and, later, state secretary of the Miscellaneous Workers' Union—now the United Workers Union. I had the pleasure of spending time with Vic in my very, very early days of being a Labor Party member. I was struck by a number of his qualities. For someone new to the Labor movement and to the party at that time, Vic was kind and generous with his time and with sharing stories that helped deepen my understanding of what it mattered to fight for and how collectively we could win.

When I think about Vic, what most comes to mind is his lovely combination of simultaneously being strong and gentle, steadfast in his values, and funny. When I first met him, he was busy campaigning, but he always took the time to ask for my opinion and the opinion of others, to share a joke and, importantly, he took the time to listen. I know that he also always took the time to listen to workers in his role in his union, the Miscellaneous Workers' Union—the Missos, as it was called at the time, and now the United Workers Union—which represented workers from diverse industries who were often in low-paid jobs. Vic was passionate about them being afforded fairness and equality of opportunity.

Vic spoke up, including in his inaugural speech, about the need to recognise in a formal way the many skills that people learned on the job, whether that be on the factory floor, cleaning or as a security guard. Vic knew that skills recognition and wages linked to skills enabled workers to have better mobility of employment and a strengthened career path. He knew the difference that these opportunities could make in people's lives.

Vic was passionate about retaining a strong safety net of wages and conditions for those who most relied on it, and he was a fierce advocate for health and safety at work, for access to the training that enabled health and safety, and for accessible, affordable child care. He recognised the barriers to women's equal participation in the economy and he was generous in his contribution to the fight for change for gender equality.

Vic had a deep understanding of how changes in the labour market, which increased casualisation and part-time work, would affect the future of our economy and young people's ability to access apprenticeships, decent jobs and career pathways. As a South Australian Labor Senate candidate in 1987, president of the ALP state executive and an executive member of the United Trades and Labour Council, Vic was very well liked and always appreciated for his values, integrity and desire to ensure that others were treated fairly.

Vic is survived by his partner, Maxine, and his sisters Patricia and Ros. He was preceded in death by his brother Bill. My heartfelt condolences to his family members and friends. Vale, Vic, and thank you very much for your generous and wise contribution.

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (14:39): The sad news of the death of Vic Heron, who died on 1 September in New South Wales, travelled far and wide among those who knew him before and after his time in this place. Victor Stanley 'Vic' Heron became the member for Peake in the South Australian House of Assembly at the age of 50 after an already long career defending the rights of working people to continue to serve them here in this place from 1989 to 1993.

He delivered his maiden speech on 13 February 1990, when he highlighted the circumstances of the childcare and security sectors and spoke about the need for better national standards for occupational health and safety. His former colleague and former state premier Lynn Arnold remembers Vic from his MWU days and as the member for Peake, and I quote:

I greatly appreciated his sterling work as a local MP who served his electorate well in the mould of those great local MPs who came from good membership service in the unions.

I will break off here and say the tidal wave of the State Bank election certainly swept many good members away, and of course redistributions, as we all know, do not always help to retain your seat in parliament. Lynn concluded his remarks by saying:

The great sadness is that people like Vic who were stalwart servants of a fair go are often forgotten to the collective memory, yet so much is owed to the likes of such unsung, loyal workers for the cause. Vale Vic

Another tribute came from his friend Gay Walsh, and I quote Gay:

I have so many memories of Vic…I remember teasing him endlessly about his confirmed bachelorhood, including on one occasion when I rushed into his office before the Monday morning staff meeting and excitedly congratulated him on his announcement—telling him I saw the marriage bans posted on the Port Adelaide church.

Then, another time:

As the first woman appointed in the Branch, I remember when I went into his office dressed in a pin stripe suit on my way to the Commission, with all my papers/exhibits in a beer box and watched his face go pale as he nervously asked me if I [intended to take that stuff] into the Commission! I was really fond of him and he was awfully good to me as a new mum and he was supportive of me as a lesbian activist. I share my respect for him with all who knew and loved him. Vale dear Victor Stanley Heron.

Another former parliamentary colleague Peter Duncan remembered Vic well, and I quote:

I hadn't been in touch with Vic for maybe 25…years. The fact that we were out of touch is no reflection on the high regard in which I held him. He had been a union organiser and it was in that capacity that we met. Vic was always a dedicated servant of the members and always showed the qualities of honesty and loyalty.

Vic was involved in all of the great issues of the time—whether of direct interest to his members welfare or more broadly to the community at large. He was opposed to the war in Vietnam—and to my knowledge, when he took a stand he was always on the right side of history.

Vale Vic Heron a true servant and leader of the working class.

Along with everyone here, I am sure, I add my condolences and pass them on to his partner, Maxine, his sisters, Patricia and Ros, and all his wider circle of family and friends. He will certainly not be forgotten.

Ms WORTLEY (Torrens) (14:42): Vic Heron: member for Peake, trade unionist, workers' representative, man of the people, proudly of the western suburbs. I had the good fortune of getting to know Vic when I joined the Labor Party as a 20 year old. He welcomed and encouraged us young ones to be actively involved in the broader Labor movement. In his role as president of the Trades and Labor Council, as the South Australian secretary of the Miscellaneous Workers' Union and as an MP, Vic was dedicated to serving his members and those in the community he represented.

He was loyal and he held dear Labor values, which he would confidently speak of in any forum, and he was committed to many of the significant issues of the day. A dedicated representative of the working class, Vic was always looking to secure the future. He truly believed in equality. My deepest condolences to his partner, Maxine, and his family. Vale, Vic Heron.

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens) (14:44): There are five members of this house who had the honour of being the member for Peake; Vic Heron was one of them—as was I, the last of the members for Peake. Vic unfortunately did not get to have a long parliamentary career. Circumstances were taken out of his hands with the justifiable backlash against the State Bank disaster of the 1990s. We saw a tidal wave of support taken away from the Labor Party and given to our opponents to form a new government, and Vic was one of those casualties.

It is fair to say that Vic's first calling was the trade union movement, not necessarily politics here. He believed passionately that people here are the political wing of the trade union movement. That has evolved over time, but he was passionate about the people he served. He sought to serve people on the factory floor, in their workplace and then here on the parliamentary floor.

I do not know what kind of career he would have had had he been able to withstand that tidal wave. The Liberal Party put up against him someone who I think is the best campaigner the western suburbs has ever seen: Heini Becker. Heini Becker was a remarkable campaigner, and I know he is also very sad at the passing of Vic.

I think it is fair to say that Heini had had enough of being in parliament in 1993 and was probably doing the Liberal Party a favour by running in Peake, which had always been a traditional Labor seat. Of course, the tidal wave was a lot larger than anyone imagined, and Vic was defeated. It is also fair to say that Vic was a champion of the left wing of the Labor Party, so he was not exactly enamoured by my candidacy for the seat of Peake in 1997. He would have preferred someone more pure.

But, to be fair, he was generous, he was warm, he was funny and he was helpful. Never once did he not offer to help retake the seat in 1997. Indeed, even in 1993, when John Rau was running for the seat of Hindmarsh and Bob Catley was defending the seat of Adelaide—we were unsuccessful in both those campaigns—Vic again was at the tip of the spear doing all he could to try to mobilise people to support Labor in a cause that was ultimately futile here in South Australia but successful nationally. It was a great night. Seeing Vic celebrate that night was very nice.

I am sorry that he has passed and I am sorry that he did not have a longer political career. God rest him and comfort those who loved him. He will always be one of the five members for Peake, and no-one can ever take that away from him.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

Motion carried by members standing in their places in silence.

The SPEAKER: The house will stand suspended until the ringing of the bells.

Sitting suspended from 14:48 to 14:57.

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