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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-05-12 Daily Xml
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CHIVERTON, MR J. AND MRS A.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (15:54): It gives me great pleasure to put on the public record in Hansard my appreciation of a wonderful job done by Jim and Ann Chiverton. The day before ANZAC Day I was invited to a couple of functions, both of which were very enjoyable. One particular function was at the Port Elliot RSL hall, which was fitting for the day before ANZAC Day.

I have had the privilege of knowing Jim and Ann Chiverton for many years; in fact, they were very active in the McLaren Vale/Seaford area when I was in the House of Assembly representing the seat of Mawson, and since coming into the Legislative Council I have met with them on a couple of occasions. They have relocated further down the Fleurieu Peninsula to Encounter Bay, and Jim is now heavily involved in the Port Elliot RSL.

Importantly, both Jim and Ann (who have just celebrated 60 years of marriage, a magnificent achievement in itself) were involved in war service. As a result of that they travelled to many countries in Europe and other parts of the globe, finally settling here in South Australia and benefitting our community enormously, being very active in both the Anglican Church and the RSL, as well as a number of other organisations.

Jim and Ann asked me to launch a book they wrote, entitled The World Book of Stories and Poems. It is a great book and at the outset I must say, given the debate on whether or not we will see books published and printed any more in Australia, I was also pleased to see that it was published and printed right here in Adelaide, at Norwood. So we still have splendid book publishers and printers in this state, as well as in this nation, and it is important that we ensure that continues into the future and that we do not fall into the trap of seeing all our publications being printed and published offshore.

The World Book of Stories and Poems, given the experience and world travels of both Jim and Ann, is an inspiring book that has been well put together. It is a series of short stories and poems, but the important thing about the book is that it focuses on a lot of the tragedies, also the successes, the camaraderie, and the support that people gave each other during the tough years of World War II and some of the other conflicts around the globe. Together with that are some well written poems, which have a very good message in them. It is a book that someone can pick up at any time and read a few stories or poems and then put down, and it would be ideal on the coffee table.

The key to this is that Jim and Ann took the trouble to actually record close to, in Jim's case, 80 years of experience. It is not quite that in Ann's case, but it is still a lot of years of experience. They put it into a published format so that it is there for history and for the future. Not many people—myself included—will ever write a book that is printed and published. I have often thought about writing one about certain parts of my time in the parliament thus far, but it probably will not occur. Jim and Ann took the time to do this and it is a credit to them. The book was widely received at the launch, which was well attended, and I understand they are doing well with their sales—and I have to ensure that one of these books is given to the parliamentary library.

The point is that Jim has told me that they have ideas to write other books, and I think it is fantastic that someone with that experience is prepared, in their senior years, to record part of history and their experiences for the betterment of future generations. I commend the book to anyone interested in picking up a book in which they do not have to get heavily involved but a book which they can read and from which they can get some good messages. I congratulate Jim and Ann on their wonderful achievement.

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