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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-09-10 Daily Xml
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Condolence

Heron, Mr V.G.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (14:30): With the leave of the council, I move:

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

In speaking on behalf of government members, Vic Heron, as he was known, was the Labor member for Peake for a relatively brief period from 1989 to 1993. Mr Heron entered parliament at the age of 50. Prior to that he was president of the ALP State Executive and he was an organiser and secretary of the old Missos union, the Miscellaneous Workers' Union. I think he had some 15 years or so serving in various positions with the Miscellaneous Workers' Union. He was also a president and executive member of the United Trades and Labor Council (UTLC).

He had been a Senate candidate in 1987 and then was duly elected to what was then the safe seat of Peake in the western suburbs—it broadly corresponds with the current electorate of West Torrens, not exactly but broadly.

The interests and the passions of Vic Heron were made evident in his maiden speech. They were issues relating to the promotion of award restructuring, as he saw it, occurring at that particular time. He certainly opposed what was, at that stage, the new trend of enterprise agreements, and the variation of that which occurred in Queensland at that particular time called voluntary employment agreements. He warned against the use of enterprise bargaining and enterprise agreements and much preferred the model of award restructuring as being the preferred course of pursuing the interests of working-class South Australians.

In his maiden speech he supported the greater provision of child care, which remained an interest of his, and he spoke at length about the important issues of occupational health and safety as they appertained at that particular time. There have been significant changes in that area, of course, since then but it was, nevertheless, an important part of his maiden speech contribution.

My career briefly traversed the same time as Mr Heron's from 1989 to 1993. As I said, his electorate seemed to be a safe Labor electorate but the electoral tsunami of 1993 swept Mr Heron and a number of other members of parliament out of the House of Assembly. During the 1993 post-State Bank election the vote for the Labor Party in that electorate dropped by 17 per cent. It was no particular criticism of Mr Heron, it was just reflective of the across-the-board swing against Labor Party members and candidates post the State Bank disaster. There was a two-party preferred vote swing of 10 per cent and the seat was lost for a brief period of four years.

I recall because the member who was successful in the Liberal Party was Heini Becker. Heini Becker had legendary status in the Liberal Party as the member for the marginal seat of Hanson, which broadly covered the West Beach area, which traverses bits of Colton and, I suspect, bits of Mr Patterson's electorate of Morphett.

Heini Becker, as I said, had legendary status as a marginal seat campaigner, a bit like the former and current lions of Hartley in terms of winning marginal seats for the Liberal Party. He decided to retire at that particular election and was sort of prevailed upon to stand in a safe Labor seat at the election. I recall a conversation with him when he said that he believed he could win the seat. No-one else actually believed him, including myself, but nevertheless he was proved right and constantly reminded us that he had been proved right.

As I said, the electoral circumstances of 1993 swept away a lot of members of parliament and it is no particular criticism of Mr Heron that he was unable to stand against what was an electoral tidal wave of support away from one party towards another party.

In his short career, he also served on the Social Development Committee. He pursued a number of interests with his work on the Social Development Committee. In the period of time that I knew him as a member of parliament, somewhat like Mr Keneally he was always very easy to get along with, not only, I am sure, with his own colleagues but also members of the opposition or government parties on the opposing side. He was ever open to discussions with people about a whole variety of political issues, never forgetting his roots within the trade union movement and continuing to prosecute the very strong views that he held on behalf of trade unions and members of trade unions at that particular time.

On behalf of government members in this chamber, can I acknowledge his contribution to his political party but also his long-serving contribution to the trade unions he represented and the trade union movement more generally in South Australia, and his contribution, albeit brief, to the parliament and the broader community. On behalf of government members, we pass on our condolences to his family, former colleagues, friends and acquaintances.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Leader of the Opposition) (14:37): I join with the Leader of the Government on behalf of the Legislative Council to express sorrow at the passing of the former member of the House of Assembly, Mr Victor Heron, or Vic as he was more commonly known, in September of this year. We place on record our appreciation of his esteemed public service and commitment to the trade union movement across South Australia. Vic leaves behind his partner, Maxine, and siblings, Patricia and Ros. We pass on our sincere condolences to them and all of their families.

As the Treasurer outlined, Vic was a representative of the seat of Peake from 25 November 1989 until 10 December 1993. A Hilton resident in the western suburbs during this term, Vic understood the needs of his electorate, representing and assisting his electorate as needed. A staunch unionist, we commend his great achievements and contributions in the parliament and to the trade union movement.

A former president of the Labor Party, Vic joined the Labor Party in 1980 and in his earlier days was an organiser and a secretary of the then Miscellaneous Workers' Union. He also served as an executive member of the United Trades and Labor Council. In his years before parliament, he worked tirelessly to protect industrial workers and their rights. He worked for 15 years at the Missos (now known as the United Workers Union). The Treasurer is occasionally wont to talk about union bosses and I suspect Vic, being a union boss, would have worn what is supposed to be an insult as a badge of honour.

While in parliament, Vic continued his advocacy for workers' rights and empowered all workers with continued education, new skills training, as well as supporting working women and young people through social equality measures.

As the Treasurer mentioned, during his parliamentary career Vic was a member of the Social Development Committee from 1992 until 1994. There, he contributed to a number of inquiries about improving the quality of life for South Australian communities and families. In Vic's time on the committee, they led a pivotal inquiry in the health space in 1993, covering one of the most significant challenges of the era, the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The committee report, tabled in 1993, was entitled 'AIDS: Risks, rights and myths', and focused on the need for government-led education programs to dispel myths about HIV transmission. The committee championed a more progressive educational approach to combat public health risks, recognising the need to provide factually correct education programs and to stop prejudice and discrimination against the gay and bisexual community and against people engaged in intravenous drug use.

We bid Vic Heron a farewell and honour him for his dedicated contributions to this parliament, the union movement, the state and his community. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (14:41): I would like to also pay my respects to Vic Heron, who, as other members have said today, served this state as the member for Peake. I worked on Vic's campaign. I worked closely with Chris in his office for many years, and I knew Vic as a passionate defender of the rights of working people. He fought for their rights to receive fair pay and safe working conditions in the workplace. He built a reputation as someone who is committed to improving the lives of working people in this state and for those particularly who he felt were left behind in an increasingly deregulated industrial environment.

On his election to the other place in 1989, he spoke at length about the importance of ensuring that our laws protected the most vulnerable workers in our community. He talked about the importance of ensuring that workplaces were safe for everyone but with a particular focus on women, young people and low income workers. He made particular reference to ensuring that childcare workers had their skills and responsibilities recognised and rewarded and given a fair pay rate. As already noted, prior to his election, he spent 15 years working for the Missos as an organiser and rising to be its secretary.

I remember, when I was quite a young man, Vic very kindly gave me an interview for a position within the union when perhaps he should not have done. I was certainly the youngest applicant for the job and certainly the least qualified of all those who were given an interview that day, but he kindly gave me one. He also broke the bad news to me personally, somewhat later. In his sort of gruff but kindly way he said, 'Buck up, lad. You really had no chance, but I suspect your future lies elsewhere in the movement. Don't take it too hard.' Of course, I did take it very hard, but with the virtue of hindsight I will always be grateful to Vic for giving me the opportunity to interview and to learn some skills but also to point me in a different direction.

I would like to say thank you to Vic for the valuable work that he has provided the movement, the parliament and our state. He made our country and our state a better place for his efforts for working people. I would like to pay our condolences in particular to his partner Maxine and his sisters Patricia and Ros.

The Hon. I. PNEVMATIKOS (14:43): Vic has made a great contribution to our state through both the union movement and his work in this parliament. The hardships that he faced growing up with limited education and opportunities from a poor working-class family background shaped his outlook on life and motivated him to improve the lives of others. He was a blue-collar worker who understood worker issues and spoke for and on behalf of workers in this state.

I was fortunate enough to work with Vic for several years while working in the Federated Miscellaneous Workers' Union. He was my boss at the Missos. For two and half years, I worked under his leadership as a migrant workers' rights officer. We devised programs and strategies for inclusion of people of non-English-speaking background within union structures. At the time, non-English-speaking background workers in low-paid jobs were a significant proportion of the workforce within the sphere of union membership for the Missos. They were not visible, however, within the union structures.

Vic recognised the value of migrant workers and through his leadership encouraged workplaces to embrace the diversity of our state and to support migrant workers. Subsequently, my role was primarily to encourage and equip non-English-speaking background workers to have a more active role in the workplace and in the union structures. Education served as a gateway for migrant workers. We set up English language classes in work time for workers in public and private enterprises. These programs gave workers the opportunity not only to learn a skill but to change their lives for the better, including increasing their participation rates.

Even after leaving the Missos I continued to work with Vic in my role as a union educator at the Trade Union Training Authority. I would liaise with the unions and employers in terms of industry-specific training union and other courses. Vic strongly supported union structures that grew workers' ability to participate in the workplace and organisational structures. I coordinated and established a union-specific training program for their delegates and representative leadership training for future organisers.

Vic was a traditionalist when it came to running the union but a true progressive with worker equality in mind, ensuring that workers' rights and a decent standard of living were at the forefront. Prior to his leadership, all union officials in the Missos were men. However, during his leadership four women officials were appointed. Decisions like these show the true quality of leadership Vic had. Though a traditionalist, he was responsive to and supportive of change in the union and the workplace.

He was very much a unionist through and through. His work within the union and the labour movement was his primary focus and took precedence over all else. It is not surprising that his maiden speech in parliament also reflected his life goals. There was also very little commentary on his personal life but a focus on labour and industrial issues, which were core issues for him. As the member for Peake he was my local member. I want to farewell Vic and offer my condolences to his family.

Motion carried by members standing in their places in silence.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: With the leave of the council, I move:

That as a mark of respect to their memory the sitting of the council be suspended until the ringing of the bells.

Motion carried.

Sitting suspended from 14:48 to 14:59.

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