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The 2019 Joe & Enid Lyons Lecture THE 2019 JOE & ENID LYONS LECTURE Given by The Hon Will Hodgman MP Premier of Tasmania Parliament House, Hobart Monday 8 April 2019 The 2019 Joe and Enid Lyons Lecture was given by the Premier of Tasmania, The Hon Will Hodgman MP to a capacity audience in Tasmania’s Parliament House. The premier was introduced by Peter Lyons, grandson of Joe and Enid Lyons and son of Peter Lyons. The Vote of Thanks and Response from the Lyons family was given by Dr Mary Pridmore, grand-daughter of Joe and Enid Lyons and daughter of Rosemary Lyons. INTRODUCTION Welcome everyone. On behalf of the family, I am very grateful that so many people have been able to come this evening. I must start by paying tribute to two people: first Anne Henderson, who has written two wonderful books about our grandparents and who has done more than anyone to restore them to their rightful place in Australian history. The second is to Ann Teesdale of the National Trust who is also here tonight. She and her team at Home Hill in Devonport have worked tirelessly to restore the house to the condition it was in when our grandmother left it and she would be thrilled to see that it is now an active community centre holding functions, weddings and even Easter Egg hunts for children. I also welcome the friends and supporters of Home Hill and urge you, if you haven’t done so, to go to Devonport and see it. With so many distinguished practitioners in the room it would be vain to remind you that politics is primarily about numbers. But Joe and Enid Lyons had 11 children and 49 grandchildren. I have no idea about how many great grandchildren they produced but some are here tonight. The last two of their children, Janice and my father Peter, have been unable to make it, but Dad sends his apologies and best wishes. I have known our guest of honour since he was 15. We are good friends. I was delighted when he accepted our invitation to speak. I have been away from the State for 25 years, but I come home regularly from England. I have noticed in the past few years that Tasmania has a certain spring in its step. I think a lot of that must be to do with our guest’s approach to his difficult job. Although I am biased, I predict that if he wants to, Will Hodgman could very well be the second Prime Minister from Tasmania. So, from the grandson of the first woman member of the House of Representatives and the first female Cabinet Minister; the 10th Prime Minster of Australia and the 26th Premier of Tasmania; it is my pleasure to introduce Tasmania’s 45th Premier, Will Hodgman. - Peter Lyons 1 THE JOE & ENID LYONS 2019 ORATION Given by The Hon Will Hodgman MP Monday 8 April 2019 JOE AND ENID LYONS – THE LYONS LEGACY They should make a film about it. A story of triumph, against the odds. A true love story. A story, too, with great tragedy. There is nothing like it, there will never be again. Joe and Enid Lyons. I grew up with a real sense of the Lyons legend. There were books about Joe and Enid on our bookcases. A framed picture of Dame Enid on a shelf. Dad spoke of their eminence in our parliaments and our party, and was very proud to say he knew the Dame. One, our first and only Prime Minister. The other, Australia’s first female Member of the House of Representatives. Seemingly, two very ordinary Tasmanians, born just a few kilometres from each other, though 18 years apart in age. Perhaps the first sign this was no usual relationship. They were extraordinary. He rose to be Premier, and Prime Minister. The only person to have done so. She, the first woman appointed to the Federal Cabinet, and many years before another made it there. Just as amazing, Enid married at 17, and was the mother of 12 children. Joe was an MP for three decades. Opposition Leader for seven years (I can sympathise). The first Prime Minister to win three elections in a row and retain his leadership and, sadly, the first Australian Prime Minister to die in office. Enid won three elections of her own, was a member of the Federal Cabinet, a “radio broadcaster, newspaper columnist, author of three books, and the best-known woman in Australia”. She was, of course, a “political widow” for many years, but then truly became a single parent at 41, when Joe died. A mighty role model, and inspiration to all Australians, especially women, ever since. As Anne Henderson says in Dame Enid Lyons: Leading Lady to a Nation - from which I draw from significantly tonight – 2 So often young women are told that parenting and public life are too difficult to manage at one time. Yet Enid did this, with a large number of children, and as a single parent… Clearly it took an exceptional person to manage it all, but, then, most successful leaders in the public sphere are exceptional. What Enid demonstrated in that women could do it too. How could any Tasmanian not be captivated by this legend? I have, over the years, gained a greater understanding of the Lyons legend. And as often happens when living in a place like Tasmania, have done so through knowing some of their children, and grandchildren. And Peter junior, in particular, whom I’ve had the privilege to call a dear friend for many years, I also draw on heavily on. Time will not allow me to cover their many political achievements. But, as Tasmania’s 45th Premier, there are a few for me that stand out from the time of our 26th, and his trailblazing wife. A trailblazing leader As Education Minister Joe Lyons built Tasmania’s first high schools in Hobart and Launceston. I am immensely proud that my government is making all of them provide year 11 and 12 schooling, to give our students the very best shot in life through the power of education that Joe and Enid so strongly believed in. It was Prime Minister Joseph Lyons who set up the Commonwealth Grants Commission to provide independent advice on the payment of special grants to the states that recognised their differences. A foundation of the Federation, it took a Tasmanian Prime Minister to establish the principle of horizontal fiscal equalisation, that all Australians are entitled to the same standard of services wherever they live, and over which the premiers of today still fight for. And from governing at a time of great difficult for our country – between the wars and a time of Great Depression – Joe Lyons had the foresight to appreciate that our nation’s interests would not always align with Britain’s. We had little control over foreign affairs and trade, remained effectively under the administrative rule of the British Empire, and trade continued to favour the British market. 3 Joe Lyons demonstrated vision in authorising what was Australia’s first diplomatic and trade mission to the Far East, and appointing Government representatives in China, the Dutch East Indies, Japan and the United States, which were previously British appointments. It was seen as a “turning point in the history of Australia’s external relations, where a more self-confident and assertive nation began to distinguish Australian from British interests” and a “transitional moment” for Australia. Interestingly, each of the countries visited in that Mission were identified today in the Tasmania’s first Trade Strategy I released just some weeks ago – as our most important export trade markets. Today, our imperial interests have been replaced by a future that lies firmly in the Asian century, Joseph Lyons was one of those who first foresaw it. His biographer, David Bird wrote “The Lyons years should be seen as a part of the evolution of Australian external policy towards autonomy”. It was another piece of nation defining policy under Lyons. A woman beyond her time Enid’s time in parliament was of course much shorter than Joe’s, and much of it during a very challenging time for the conservative opposition. Moves were on to establish a great new political party, placing at risk the one Joe helped found. And, of course, she had lost him. She had no partner to share her experiences, her hopes, and fears. A newly elected MP, and recently widowed. But, she persisted, and soon made her own mark speaking with great insight on a wide range of subjects. Enid Lyons was a persuasive, compelling orator. Menzies once said she could make him weep about the state of a railway track. But ill health and an understandable weariness eventually caused her to question her future as an MP. Enid Lyons was driven by a strong sense of duty, particularly as she was her party’s greatest asset. And in remarkable insight into her worth, a parliamentary journalist Stewart Cockburn sent Enid a note of good wishes just a fortnight out from polling day, saying he hoped she’d be returned. He wrote: It is people like you who give us courage – who help us to hope and believe that Parliament and democracy are worth believing in, and fighting for. If only one member of the whole Parliament can show that life and experience have not destroyed idealism, sincerity and the spirit of struggle, then 4 parliament is worthwhile. More than anyone else, you, Dame Enid, have helped me resist the impulse to scepticism.
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