25 August 1992

3736 ?Ceidatatii Aaormtbty Tuesday, 25 August 1992 THE SPEAKER (Mr Michael Barnett) took the Chair at 2.00 pm, and read prayers. STATEMENT - BY THE SPEAKER ParliamentHouse Bells Problem - GWN Film Footage of Spring Sitting Opening THE SPEAKER :I advise members that a minor problem has arisen with the bells in Parliament House which, although they are ringing in most places, are not accompanied by the blue lights which are nornally alight at the same time. In particular, the lights are not coming on in the Legislative Council, so that may be a good place for members to stay away from at present! It has been drawn to my attention that Golden West Network Pty Ltd - GWN - will be paying particular attention to the Parliament from today on and that as the file footage available to other stations is inappropriate for that station's use its representatives are here today to film file footage of the Legislative Assembly with particular reference to country members. CONDOLENCE MOTION Bickerton, Arthur William DR LAWRENCE (Glendalough - Premier) [2.06 pm]: I move - That the House records its sincere regret at the death of Arthur William Bickerton and tenders its deep sympathy to his family. Arthur William Bickerton, former Labor member for the Pilbara and Minister, died On 20 June, 1992 aged 72 years. He was born and educated in Victoria and began his working life as a mining engineer. After working in the coalmnines in New South Wales he came to Western Australia where, in 1958, he ran successfully for the seat of East Pilbara. Not only was Mr Bickerton a successful member much loved and highly regarded by the people of the region, but also, between 1971 and 1974, he was Minister for Housing, Fisheries and Fauna, and the North-West. He was well known for writing about his political experiences and notable among his books is Meet the People, which was specifically about his political career. Arthur Bickerton was well known for his good nature, which attracted the friendship of members of Parliament from both sides of the House. He was a considerable wit. On behalf of the Government, I record our regret at the death of Arthur Bickerton and extend to the former member's family our sympathy in their sorrow and loss. MR COURT (Nedlands. - Leader of the Opposition) [2.07 pm): I support the condolence motion moved by the Premier relating to Arthur Bickerton, who was a member of this Parliament from 1958 to 1974. 1 did not know Mr Bickerton, but I read his wife's book which explained a lot of what took place during his time as a member of Parliament. It was an interesting era because he represented the north and the Pilbara at a time it changed from being primarily a pastoral region to a large mining powerhouse. If one reads what happened during that period one sees the types of stories that pioneering was made of. We offer our sympathies to Mr Bickerton's family and our thanks for the work he did for this State, and this Parliament in particular. MR COWAN (Merredin - Leader of the National Party) [2.08 pmn]: The National Party joins with the Premier and the Leader of the Opposition in this condolence motion. I was not privileged to serve in the Parliament with the late Mr Bicker-ton. However, in earlier days one could be sure of occasionally finding Mr Bickerton visiting the members' bar where he was always prepared to pass on his experience and knowledge to junior members of this establishment. I have no doubt that his courteousness and the general manner he exhibited on those occasions indicated that he was a person with whom anyone could readily strike up a friendship. I sometimes regret that those days seem to have disappeared from the Parliament of Western Australia. Mr Bickerton was certainly a person about whom many [Tuesday, 25 August 1992] 333737 members could relate amusing tales which gave this Parliament some life. In the main nowadays it tends to be a businesslike operation. I join with the Premier and the Leader of the Opposition in extending sympathy to the late Mr Bickerton's family. MR GRAYDEN (South Perth) [2. 10 pm]: I support this motion, and join with the previous speakers in expressing my condolences to the family of the late Arthur Bickerton. Arthur Bickerton came into this Parliament in 1958 and left in 1974. He was here for 16 years. In my opinion. Arthur Bickerton was the epitome of what a member of this House should be. He had wide experience, commonsense and good intent. Arthur Bickerton left school relatively early, I think at the age of 15, as did the majority of persons of his era, when high schools were few and far between and a high school education was the exception rather than the rule. He went to work on farming properties in Cippsland in Victoria, which is the richest agricultural section of Victoria, and later joined his father in contracting work. In 1940, at the age of 21, he joined the Australian Imperial Force, as did many others of his time. He was appointed to the 2fl Australian Artillery Regiment, and was discharged in 1945 with the rank of captain. Arthur Bickerton then went into open cut coalmnining and earthmoving in New South Wales. He was a manager of that type of operation, and later had his own business of open cut mining and earthmoving. Arthur Bickerton came to Western Australia in 1955 and was appointed the manager of Shaw River Alluvials, which was a mining operation on the Shaw River west of Marble Bar, and it was there that I first met him. We had an alluvial tin mining operation about five miles from his plant on the Shaw River. From to time in operations of that type, the plant would break down and one would have to cast around for spare parts, etc, and whenever that happened we would go down to his operation and if he had the plant or could make available the equipment, he would do so. He was extraordinarily helpful, and we were always happy to reciprocate. As a consequence of Arthur's good nature and other qualities, he soon gained an excellent reputation throughout the Pilbara, and it was not long before we read of his endorsement as a Labor candidate. We were not surprised; we could not think of a more suitable person to be a candidate. We realised, of course, that he would be a formidable opponent to the Liberal candidate who was standing for that area. That proved to be the case, and Arthur Bickerton won the seat convincingly. Arthur Bickerton was an outstanding raconteur. It would be evident to anyone who cared to glance through the Hansard reports of the debates in which he participated that he was a person of tremendous wit. He was a wonderful friend to those who knew him, and he will be greatly missed by all who knew him. I support the motion. MR BLAIICIE (Vasse) [2.13 pm]: I support the motion of condolence to the late Arthur Bickerton, and extend sympathy to his family. I support strongly the comments made by the member for South Perth. I came into this Parliament in 1971 and had the opportunity of serving as a member of Parliament for three years while Arthur Bickerton was a member. Although Arthur Bickerton was a political adversary and represented a philosophical viewpoint which was different from mine, he had a genuine regard for his fellow members and demonstrated true friendship. In recent years, that element has been sadly lacking from this Parliament. One attribute of Arthur Bickerton that I recall was the friendly advice that he, as a member of the Labor Party but also, more importantly, as a member of Parliament, gave me. Arthur Bickerton had a ready and quick wit. He was able to make brilliant inteijections which would throw even the best speakers off their subject. More importantly, Arthur had regard for the institution of Parliament and for the members, and he never gave any quarter in respect of the cause that he supported and espoused. I support this motion on this sad day. MR TAYLOR (Kalgoorlie - Deputy Premier) [2.15 pm]: I support the motion. I knew Arthur Bickerton reasonably well. Many of the speakers before me would probably put Arthur Bickerton into the category of a good bloke, because that is certainly what he was. I first came across Arthur Bickerton as a young economist in the State Public Service when I was asked to prepare a report on the cost of living in the Pilbara in the early 1970s. At that time Arthur Bickerton was the member for Pilbara, and we had quite a bit to do with each other. One of the things that came through to me then was his great care and concern for his electorate, and that undoubtedly had a great influence on the way that others also saw Arthur Bickerton. The next time that I came across Arthur was when he was Chairman of the 3739 [ASSEMBLY) Western Australian Greyhound Racing Control Board. We worked together on a number of issues associated with greyhound racing, in particular in trying to get a track off the ground in my electorate of Kalgoorlie, and it was not due to any lack of determination on Arthur's part that we were not successful. Arthur Bickerton had a great deal of concern for anything he went into, and chat was evident to me from the work that he did in relation to greyhound racing in Western Australia.

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