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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-09-25 Daily Xml
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Langham, Mr. T.

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (15:51): Today, I rise to speak on the passing of Terry Langham. Terry was a long-time friend of my family; he knew my father and I am privileged to say that I also got to know him well. My father had a saying, which seems apt when it comes to Terry, and that is, 'It's the quiet ones you have to watch.' Terry was quiet. Behind his quite large bushy beard, it was often easy to miss the sparkling intelligence and dry humour of a man who was in so many ways remarkable.

Terry did not have the easiest upbringing—something he did not talk about very much and often kept to himself. Terry was born in New South Wales and for much of his childhood bounced around between foster homes—it was not an easy life. It is probably a time that might have left most of us with a very different mindset and approach to the world, but not Terry. In spite of his upbringing, Terry flourished into an accomplished craft master and signwriter. Many of his artworks still remain on the shopfronts and facades of Bathurst.

At the same time as many were living by the creed of 'greed is good', Terry transcended this and instead quickly came to be a central part of his local craft guilds where he was in New South Wales. As the universe decided to repay his creative interest, while he was there Terry met the love of his life in Sylvia, while also becoming an integral part of the history of creatives in that state.

In an era where people knew the cost of everything, Terry quickly became known as someone who knew the value of everybody. Terry eventually made his way into South Australia and I for one am glad that he did, and that is where many of us came to know him. Terry took work at what was then the Glenelg council. Terry's quiet, helpful and friendly demeanour meant that he made fast friends and quickly become an integral part of the workforce there. As there was not a large call for signwriting at the council, Terry worked as a general hand, but all the while taking his time to invest in defending the rights and safety of his fellow workers in the workplace.

While the times would become dominated by Howard era values of the individual, in what was a defining characteristic Terry fought quietly but with a very firm resolve to further the collective over the individual. Terry joined the Labor Party and was part of the furniture at many of its small and large gatherings alike. Once I remember him somewhat famously remarking that the Labor Treasurer at the time should stop reading his paper and pay attention to the speakers. The Treasurer put down his paper and, job done, Terry went back to being quiet.

It was only a workplace injury that eventually led Terry off the tools and to work with the Australian Workers' Union as an official, a union he eventually rose to be president of, with his name proudly on the plaque to open its headquarters, Jack Wright House in Mawson Lakes. While many workers spend their injury time getting rest, Terry built a back garden in which he could effectively stargaze, staring back at the universe as it watched over him.

It was this approach of taking the longest of views to any situation while having a firm resolve to make sure it could be best enjoyed by all that sums up how I came to know Terry when I joined the union to work alongside him. Terry worked hard during his time at the union but always with an eye to retire early so as to spend time with his true loves of family, craft and nature. Upon retiring at age 59, Terry did just that. He returned to craft, he toured the world with Sylvia, and he took up with both the Waite Arboretum and the Adelaide Botanic Gardens.

Here, once again, Terry quietly became everyone's friend, integral to the operations and functions but also to the wellbeing of his fellow volunteers, always there to lend a hand or a drill and to share a cup of coffee and a story. I toured the Waite Arboretum with my son and Terry on more than one occasion. Like many lovers of the natural world, my son had come to love the bee hotel that Terry had built there. A picture of it sits next to his bed at home.

When the universe came for Terry, it was all quite sudden. Only days occurred between when he did not feel well and when he left us. But when he did leave, he was surrounded by his family, he was smiling and he was blowing kisses to Sylvia. Quiet he might have been, but Terry is remembered fondly and vividly by all his friends, his fellow volunteers, the Labor Party, his colleagues, his union and his family. His lasting legacy of caring not just for the natural world but also for those in it is one that speaks louder than words ever will. Vale Terry Langham.

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