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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-04-09 Daily Xml
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Condolence

Webster, Mr F.R.

The Hon. P.B. MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Premier) (14:02): By leave, I move:

That the House of Assembly expresses its deep regret at the death of Mr Frank Raymond Webster, former member of the House of Assembly, and places on record its appreciation of his service, and that as a mark of respect to his memory the sitting of the house be suspended until the ringing of the bells.

I rise to offer the condolences of the house to the family and friends of former MP Frank Webster, who passed away on 1 March this year. Mr Webster made history as the first Liberal Party candidate to win what was then the seat of Norwood—now, essentially, the seat of Dunstan—since the Liberal and Country League's hold on the seat ended in 1953.

Mr Webster first stood for Norwood at the March 1979 by-election following the resignation of its sitting member, the then Premier Don Dunstan. He was beaten by the Labor candidate, Greg Crafter, but successfully wrested the seat from him at the state election that September. It was a hard-won victory, decided by a wafer-thin margin of 33 votes.

Mr Webster's Italian-speaking mother had reportedly made the translation for her son's advertisement; one imagines that family dinners were a little considered when it came to the discussion of politics. His maiden speech to parliament was delivered on 16 October. By the time parliament sat in mid-February 1980, Norwood was represented by Greg Crafter once again.

Mr Webster, following his defeat, returned full time to his career in law, founding his law firm, which has thrived and grown to the present day under the banner of Websters Lawyers. He was also a founding board member of the South Australian Foundation of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, having had lived experience with throat cancer. It was a position he held until his passing, to his great credit.

His was a very private life after his brief time as the member for Norwood, and the end of that life was similarly private. He chose to forgo a funeral or memorial celebration, and his family have instead requested that his passing be honoured simply by opening a bottle of red wine. We recognise Frank Webster's service to the parliament, and may he rest in peace.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (14:06): On behalf of the opposition, the Liberal Party of South Australia, I rise to speak on this condolence motion for Mr Frank Raymond Webster, a former member of the House of Assembly in South Australia and the member for Norwood from 1979 until 1980.

As the Premier described, although brief in terms of the period of time Mr Webster spent in our state's parliament, it was a notable time given the narrowness of his initial win and the perhaps quirkiness of his exit from parliament following a determination by the Court of Disputed Returns around the translation of the Italian language, which may have been made slightly incorrectly by his dear mother. As the Premier said, it could have caused some family difficulties into the future from that point in time.

Although Mr Webster's time as a member of parliament was brief, his service to the South Australian community was a lifelong commitment. When he was elected for the first time in 1979, he was 33 years old and practising as a barrister as well as serving as a member of the board of the Queen Victoria Hospital. He won the seat of Norwood by an extremely narrow margin of only 33 votes on his second attempt. At the time, that was the middle of three elections he contested against Mr Greg Crafter. I note that Mr Crafter is in the gallery today. That narrow election win, the first of a number of narrow election wins by various candidates in the seat of Dunstan, ultimately assisted David Tonkin to form government and become the 38th Premier of South Australia.

Mr Webster's legal career spanned more than three decades, from when he was admitted to practice in 1972 until his retirement in 2004. Mr Webster was involved in several legal practices, including Martin, Webster & Lovell from 1979 until 1983; Webster, Braes & Co. between 1983 and 1986; and later Frank Webster & Associates from 1993 until 2004, when he left the profession. At the time, the firm was rebranded Websters Lawyers, an organisation that continues to endure today.

On a more personal note, Mr Webster suffered from throat cancer, and as a result of his experience with this disease, he helped to establish the South Australian Foundation of Otorhinolaryngology (yes, it is written phonetically). The foundation is focused on world-leading research and peer-to-peer education to improve outcomes relating to head and neck cancer and other disorders of the ears, nose and throat. Mr Webster continued as a board member of the foundation until he passed in March this year, just shy of his 78th birthday.

On behalf of the Liberal Party in South Australia, I want to extend my thanks to Mr Webster for his service to our community and recognise his broader contributions to the legal profession and to the charitable sector beyond his parliamentary career. To his friends and family, I provide the Liberal Party's sympathies, remember Mr Webster, and commend this motion to the house. Vale Frank Webster.

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 14:11 to 14:21.

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