He lived in Sunbury, in my electorate, and was a very active member of the Sunbury ALP branch. I must say that, like the member for Gorton, I sought his counsel often, but more importantly I was very lucky to have his support, particularly through the rough and tumble of politics that we are all familiar with. Freddie was always there to provide support and encouragement to me. He was a seasoned operator who knew the electorate of Calwell and understood politics very well.
He was born in Ceylon in 1936 and later immigrated to Australia where he worked as a printer. He became a member of the Printing and Kindred Industries Union and the Railways Union. He was a proud member of the Australian Labor Party and was awarded life membership of the party in 1997. Most of us will remember Freddie as a member of the Legislative Council in Victoria where he held the seat of Eumemmerring from 1985 to 1992. He was the first member to hold this seat, which had been created in 1984, and he undertook his role as an MP with sincerity, passion and honour. In fact, in the early nineties I challenged Freddie for his seat in an internal party contest and, of course, I lost—and rightfully so, I would say in retrospect—but for years later we laughed about my youthful foolishness. He was, however, proud that later I became his federal member. Freddie never left politics and when he ceased being a member of the Victorian parliament he continued to work as an advocate of the people, taking up the role of industrial officer with the National Union of Workers until his retirement in 2000.
During his life, Freddie was often involved in many community activities and was a founding member of the Broadmeadows Club. He was passionate about the union movement and the rights of workers. I want to conclude today by quoting Freddie in a speech that he made in the Victorian parliament in June 1992 when he was speaking to an industrial relations bill:
The opposition—
the Liberal Party—
does not want the arbitration commission. The APPM dispute is a recent example of what is taking place in Australia. You want to replace awards with contract labour—slave labour!
Employers want one-to-one bargaining. They are not prepared to talk to trade unions; they want to go to individual employees with a contract and say, That is all I can offer you, if you don’t like it you can leave. ... Every employee must sign a direct contract with the employers.
Defending the rights of workers was Freddy’s passion, and I know that he would have loved to have stuck around for the latest IR battle. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. I want to thank you, Freddie, for your support and encouragement. I know that you did everything to protect the very things that you were passionate about.
