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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-06-03 Daily Xml
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Cook, Mr J.

Mr ELLIS (Narungga) (15:35): It is with great sadness that I rise today to mark the passing of an outstanding community member and local identity within the Narungga electorate, Mr Jeff Cook of Minlaton. Jeff served the Yorke Peninsula community for 37 consecutive years as a local councillor, from 1983 until his passing on 13 May 2020. In a tribute from Mayor Darren Braund at a council meeting held on the same day, he was described as an outstanding contributor, colleague and friend to many in the community, who will be sorely and sadly missed.

Jeff was first elected to the District Council of Minlaton in 1983. He was a former chairperson of that council and led the district through the amalgamation process back in 1997, when the Yorke Peninsula Council was formed. Jeff served on multiple committees within the council, including the Dog and Cat Management Board from 1998 to 2011, the CFS Board and various finance and development committees. Former mayor of the YP Council, Ray Agnew OAM, in an ABC tribute by journalist Luke Radford described Jeff as a gifted communicator. The former mayor reflected on attending the same primary and high schools as Jeff, before going on to serve on the council together for some 25 years.

Outside local government, Jeff is remembered for outstanding service to the Southern Yorke Peninsula Community Housing Association, where he served on the board of management for 42 years, commencing with the building of the Centenary Cottage Homes, completed in 1976, and serving continuously on that board until 2018, completing his service as the council representative. He is remembered as a fearless advocate and a long-time member of the Southern Yorke Peninsula Landcare Group and also for his outstanding contribution and commitment as a valued CFS volunteer of the Minlaton brigade, spanning some 47 years of dedicated service.

Jeff was also a long-time school bus driver in the district and, in this role, an advocate for improvements to local roads, particularly the Maitland to Minlaton road he regularly travelled on. I will continue to take up that cause on his behalf throughout my time in this place because I acknowledge, as he did, that it is a road in desperate need of repair. One can only imagine the tribulations he went through driving a full school bus along it. I will continue to advocate for works on this road, and plenty of others across the electorate, which he brought to my attention.

Jeff cared about his community and was a voice for so many causes. His was a voice that was backed by action and service over his entire life. While his community work is outstanding, Jeff will be remembered far and wide for his talents as a bush poet, a self-taught musician and a singer and for his love of sharing these gifts with so many. Jeff could entertain, sing and, as former mayor Agnew stated in the ABC tribute, he had a gift for putting words together in poems. Jeff delivered his poems locally, interstate and across radio airwaves as far-flung as the US.

His poems became legendary at marking countless special occasions across the electorate and state. They were spoken at ANZAC Day dawn services, anniversaries, Father's Day, Mother's Day and Remembrance Day. Indeed, it is my understanding that the current member for Adelaide has read out Jeff's work during ANZAC Day dawn services, including at the Prospect RSL in 2019, so his talents will be remembered far and wide. The Yorke Peninsula Country Times has already published an obituary for Jeff, and I see that in the latest Port Vincent town newsletter, AFocal Point, there is another local tribute, including the reproduction, in full, of one of his most fondly remembered works, entitled Grandpa, what did you do in the war?

Due to the COVID-19 social restrictions, the family conducted a private funeral service; however, Jeff was suitably honoured with a funeral procession along Fourth and Main streets in Minlaton on 22 May. It really was moving to see the turnout of people, lining the streets of Minlaton, who paid tribute to Jeff and the wonderful life he led. It was a wonderful crowd. An estimated 500 people were there to pay their respects to Jeff and his wonderful life.

I was honoured to attend and help form a guard of honour, having personally known Jeff as a long-time Liberal Party member. Despite the wintry weather, the large turnout of people who lined the Minlaton streets was a true testament to the level of respect and gratitude towards Jeff and the life he had led. He had been so dedicated to the Yorke Peninsula community he cared about. He was a regular fixture at many a local show, often acting as the MC, and he was carrying out that duty right until the end, covering more ground than a man in his condition should have been.

He was a man who, by his actions, was driven to make a difference, and I believe that he will be satisfied he did. Vale, Jeff Cook.

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