ANNUAL REPORT 2015-16 Edition

ANNUAL REPORT 2015-16 Edition The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust GPO Box 1536 Canberra ACT 2601 02 6247 8333 Freecall 1800 777 231 [email protected] churchilltrust.com.au commerce the arts & logistics environment education social welfare agriculture community science services horticulture emergency legal services services safety and health & security medicine infrastructure public relations culture public service ANNUAL REPORT 2015-16 Edition Contents Remembering Sir Winston Churchill 2 In Memory 4 Letter from the Prime Minister 7 Fellowships in Focus 8 Strategic Direction Statement 9 Governance and Life Membership 10 Board of Directors 11 Report by National Chair 12 2016 Sponsored Fellowships 14 Report by Chief Executive Officer 16 Finance Report 18 National Convention of Churchill Fellows 22 Regional Committees and Panels 26 Inspiring Australians Book Launch 30 CFA Events around Australia 32 2015 Churchill Fellows 38 Contact Us 70 Sponsorship 71 1 Winston Churchill died in 1965 and many Australians born since would Remembering not be aware that The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust was formed Sir Winston to perpetuate and honour the memory of Churchill. The amazing success of the initial fund-raising appeal held shortly From a seemingly hopeless position, Churchill, by his dauntless after Churchill’s death was due to the gratitude that the Australians and vigorous leadership, rallied the British people to prepare to of that time felt for Churchill. However, the Churchill Trust also resist an invasion and to sustain the air attacks against their country recognises that, with the passage of time, fewer Australians will during the Battle of Britain and then the Blitz. He inspired them now remember Churchill or the qualities that made him such a through ‘blood, toil, sweat and tears’ to ‘hold the ring’ until the great statesman and arguably the most influential individual of Commonwealth Empire and eventually American Forces built up the last century. the combined Allied strength to achieve final victory five and a half years later. It is appropriate, therefore, that we publish the following paragraphs about Churchill so that more of today’s Australians are aware of who …with the passage of time, Churchill was and what made him such an inspiring individual. fewer Australians will now remember When World War II broke out in September 1939, Winston Churchill (whose 65th birthday was then a little more than three months off), Churchill or the qualities that made him could look back on a long life distinguished by more success in more such a great statesman and arguably careers than could many men of his age. In the dark days of May 1940, when Hitler’s Nazi war machine had overrun most of Western the most influential individual of the last Europe and, with France about to fall, only the British Commonwealth century.” countries stood against him. Winston Churchill became Britain’s Those who lived through the years of World War II are unlikely to undisputed war leader as Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, forget the vital role Churchill played in ridding the world of a tyranny, Minister of Defence, and Leader of the House of Commons. He was the full magnitude of which was only revealed after the final victory obviously undaunted by his assumption of this supreme power at a was won. time of great peril for Western democracy. It is to be hoped that, with perpetual memorials like The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, future generations will come to appreciate the debt that they also owe to Churchill for the freedom they enjoy. It can be truly said of Churchill, as perhaps of no other figure of the Twentieth century, that he saved the Western world. Churchill died on Sunday, 24 January 1965, two months after his ninetieth birthday, after a remarkable public life in which, with only one break, he was a Member of the British House of Commons for nearly sixty years across the reigns of six sovereigns. The Churchill Fellowships that the Churchill Trust provides today are awarded to Australians who, like Churchill, are innovative, filled with a spirit of determination, and who possess a strong ethos of wanting to benefit the community rather than themselves as individuals, and who recognise that ‘with opportunity comes responsibility’. 2 “ What is the use of living, if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we have gone ! “ Sir Winston Churchill 3 In Memory William Abernethy Park CBE AM Bill Park died on 25 July 2015 aged 94 years. With Sir Rupert Myers he was Patron of The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, a position he accepted after stepping down as National President in 2001. Many will recall that Bill was a regular attendee at many award dinners, often accompanied by his wife Lesley, sparkling in his delight at yet another year of outstanding Churchill Fellows. He was a chartered accountant and stockbroker by profession holding high office in all bodies associated with that career including In 2009, Bill was awarded a Masters of Philosophy degree by the the Brisbane Stock Exchange, the Taxation Institute of Australia University of Queensland for his work in compiling an accurate record and the Institute of Company Directors. He was deeply interested of Queenslanders who had served in the Army in World War II. He in education and served on the Council of the Australian National spent many years comparing names on the Department of Veterans University for many years as well as on the Board of the Faculty of Affairs files with other historical documents, correcting errors and, Commerce at the University of Queensland in the 1970s. more importantly, identifying the names of those missing from the official record. Dedication to remembrance of the service and Bill was, in every sense, a giant of sacrifice of fellow Queenslanders fuelled his persistence and resulted in the creation of a list of 162,580 names. Bill would have been a man! Tall, resolute and strikingly deeply satisfied that all this work was imported into the RSL Virtual handsome, his truly was a life well War Memorial on 10 June this year. lived.” Bill was awarded the Imperial Honour, the Companion of the British Empire (CBE), and an AM in the Order of Australia for his outstanding Bill’s vigorous and engaged membership of many community bodies and many contributions to Australian society. across a range of interests is astonishing but that which was closest May he continue to be an inspiration to all who are part of our to his heart was the Churchill Trust. He was Deputy Chairman of the Churchill family, a model of a life of generous service. Brisbane Doorknock Appeal to raise money to establish the Trust in 1965. Many Queensland Fellows were riveted by his account of the planning and execution of that event when he spoke at the Churchill Margaret White Fellows’ Association (Queensland) AGM two years ago. He had National Chair, The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust held every office in the Trust from membership of the Queensland Selection Committee to Patron and held Life Membership of the Trust and of the Queensland Churchill Fellows’ Association. Bill took a very active interest in the Trust as Patron and Life Member. As Chair of the Queensland Selection Committee, and then as National Chair, I greatly valued his wise counsel and was honoured to count him a friend. Bill and his family have sponsored a number of Churchill Fellows and, by a generous bequest, will continue to do so. 4 Pippa Rudd 2012 Churchill Fellow and Executive Director of NT Youth Justice, Pippa Rudd sadly passed away on Friday, 17 July 2015. Pippa made an enormous contribution in the area of youth justice in the Northern Territory and worked in government for a number of years. She was universally respected both within government and in the non-government sector for her brilliance, her intellect, her passion and professionalism. She also didn’t pull any punches. Just a few months before her death, Pippa wrote the following in a piece for The Conversation: If I were asked to outline a plan to ensure increasing incarceration, both generally and of vulnerable groups, I would just point to the Northern Territory of Australia. No need to look to the United States! The failure of governments to meet the need for a suitable youth facility means young people are now locked up in a jail deemed unfit for adults; Correctional Services described the facility as “fit only for a bulldozer”. Both [the youth justice and child protection] systems are effectively driving young people’s further and deeper involvement in the criminal justice system. Young people are remanded in custody, sometimes for weeks, because no parent or family member comes to court, yet child protection As part of her PhD, Pippa spent the bulk of 2014 in the youth justice maintains the young person is not in need of care. court, observing court proceedings and interviewing young people The Northern Territory’s youth incarceration rate is six times about their experiences. She saw firsthand the issue she described the national average. The over-representation of Aboriginal in The Conversation, namely how children were being remanded young people in the youth justice and child protection systems, in detention simply because no parent or family member attended and the number of ‘crossover kids’ who are simultaneously in court. This research was only partly completed, but is clearly a topic both systems, is unquestionably the most alarming aspect of of enduring importance to the Northern Territory. our youth justice system. Pippa stood for evidence-based responses, for compassion, and This is where Pippa spent a great deal of her energies, and her legacy for acknowledging that whether offended against or offending, the is in leading efforts in the NT to find a better way to support these needs of children are the same.

Load more