(31 March 1921 – 15 November 1996)
I joined the South Australian Public Service on 30 March 1937 as a Temporary Junior Clerk with the Department of Industry; however, shortly thereafter came the call of King and country and I joined the RAAF, where I trained and qualified as an air navigator. With the return of peace, I left the Air Force and, in 1947, I began my long association with reporting by becoming Clerk and Assistant Reporter in the South Australian Industrial Commission. In 1949, I transferred to the Department of Government Reporting as Acting Reporter and, during this period, as a part-time student, I gained a Bachelor of Economics at the University of Adelaide. In December 1959, I was appointed Director of the Department of Government Reporting and Leader of Hansard, a position I held until 1976, when I became Director of the Division of Government Reporting.
During my 20 years of leadership in the South Australian reporting environment, I was personally involved in training, developing and motivating most of South Australia’s best reporters. I was always intense and energetic in forwarding the cause of highly trained and qualified court and Hansard reporters and I was known for effecting greater efficiencies by cutting through red tape and getting straight to the point. Fundamental to my management style was a genuine respect and warm regard for my reporting colleagues; I believe they were well aware that I placed a very high value on their exceptional skills and abilities.
Having helped to establish the means for producing a parliamentary Hansard report that was the envy of the other states, I embarked on my final job in the South Australian Public Service: to set up and administer the best possible reporting system for South Australia’s courts, including methods for recruiting and training new reporters; it was quite a challenge. At the direction of the Dunstan Labor government, in anticipation of the technological revolution that was hovering on the horizon, I undertook three fact finding tours of Europe and the United States. These tours resulted in CAT (computer aided transcript) stenography being taught and utilised in the South Australian court and Hansard environments.
I had always been active in church affairs and, on retiring in March 1980, I undertook 12 months service for the Order of St Steven within the Uniting Church. After completing a course in Vietnamese, I assisted with refugee resettlement in South Australia and, in my spare time, edited the memoirs and biographies of several high-profile South Australians. In my final years, I indulged my love of cricket and football to the full and kept up a vigorous and extensive correspondence with the many reporters and editors with whom I had formed close friendships when representing the South Australian reporting profession at various international conventions.
Words of wisdom I’ve been known to give: two per cent natural ability and 98 per cent perspiration – practice, practice and more practice; if you’re not sure, never be afraid (or embarrassed) to ask, as not being sure and asking is a strength and not a weakness; and, if you’re going to strive to achieve something, give it everything you’ve got and don’t settle for mediocrity.
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