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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-08-31 Daily Xml
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Rowe, Mr R.

Ms HUTCHESSON (Waite) (15:36): I would like to take the time today to talk about an important member of my community, Robert Rowe. Robert was born in 1943. War was still raging in Europe and Darwin had been bombed only a year earlier. It was a very tough time here in Australia and, indeed, South Australia, with extreme rationing of everything to aid the war effort. His family had little money. They did not have a car, and in those days people walked everywhere or caught the tram.

In 1947, the total family income was £7 a week. Robert's father was a big, strong man. He was even asked to play cricket for South Australia by Sir Victor Richardson, but declined due to the need to support his family. His health failed him, and in 1948 he was bedridden and passed in 1950. As such, Robert and his brother were raised by their mother. Life became even tougher for the family.

Robert remembered that they had no money for school uniforms, textbooks or other school needs, but this did not stop Robert from taking every opportunity he had to make the most of his education. He graduated early from school, as he had an incredible intellect, and attended university as a 16 year old. He studied engineering, becoming an electrical engineer. Robert went on to meet and marry his wife, Mildred, and they had three children of their own.

Robert's career led him all over the world, as he specialised in Grands Prix. He worked on all but one of Adelaide's Grands Prix from 1987 to 1994. As a senior electrical engineer, it could be said that on multiple occasions the race may not have gone ahead without his work. He worked on the race in Melbourne, Indonesia and China. He even did the full lighting design for the Singapore Night Race. It was his passion, and he was good at it. He was the founding engineer of the Clipsal 500, and was chuffed when our government brought it back. Even after he retired, he was still asked to consult on The Bend Motorsport Park. His commitment to motorsport is to be commended. He also worked on the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games.

Robert always worked hard for his family. He and his wife, Millie, as I said, had three children of their own, and the three have flourished, having children of their own. Robert and his wife now have six grandchildren. Their eldest is also an engineer, designing the future rockets of our country, and the youngest is just 10 years old.

Robert cared about his community, running for local council in 2014, often keeping abreast of local issues and raising them with his local member when required. His passion for making things better, for helping others, may have rubbed off onto his children. Robert's health, sadly, deteriorated after years of smoking as a young person. He worked not only around the racetrack but previously in a car repair and spray-painting lot, in mines and in other places. He spent his twilight years building a boat but did not wear appropriate PPE. His lungs had decreased to only 30 per cent capacity when he was diagnosed with COPD.

Robert fought hard to stay—hard for his wife, hard for his kids and his grandkids. When given a diagnosis of one, three or five years he hung on for all five years. Sadly, on Sunday 18 June, Robert lost his battle. He slipped away in the arms of his wife. I know he was very thankful to the ambulance officers, to the Country Fire Service, who were called in to assist on several occasions to help SAAS, and to the nurses and doctors at the Flinders Medical Centre who helped bring him back to health on numerous occasions.

On 13 August, we said our farewells to Robert in a way he would have appreciated. Not wanting any fuss or a funeral, we celebrated his life at the Adelaide Oval watching his favourite team, Port Adelaide, take on Greater Western Sydney and win with a convincing victory. It was a fitting tribute. Yesterday, Robert's grandson, Finn Hutchesson, turned 20. Robert was a great influence in Finn's life, who ironically also lost his father when he was four.

Robert and Finn spent many hours talking, doing woodwork, watching football and Grands Prix together. He helped raised Finn, he helped guide him and Finn is now an upstanding CFS volunteer, he is an apprentice carpenter and he is my son. Happy birthday to Finn, we are all proud of you, and thanks to dad—thanks for always being there, for teaching us about our work ethic, about never giving up and about family. We miss you every minute. I thank all the members who are here supporting me today for the opportunity to have his name recorded in the history books for all time.

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