Heather Southcott Condolence
02/12/2014
The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: I rise to second the motion. Dignity for Disability and myself did not have a direct relationship with the former member for Mitcham. However, I understand that her work and commitment within the disability sector in particular was one of the important parts of a community involvement that marked hers as a life of significant public service.
When it came to politics, Mrs Southcott was first a member of the Liberal Country League and then, as progressive politics developed through a number of changes in South Australia, she moved with the times (which is something I can certainly appreciate), becoming a member of the Liberal Movement and the New Liberal Movement and, finally, she was a founding member of the Australian Democrats.
In 1982, when Robin Millhouse was appointed to the Supreme Court (as we have heard), Mrs Southcott contested the resulting by-election in Mitcham as a Democrat, and was elected with a winning margin of 90 votes. When the general election was held later that same year, and despite strong campaigning, she was not returned. I have been asked by a few people within the community to put on the record their thoughts for Heather and her family at this time, so I would like to read them. The Hon. Ian Gilfillan has requested that I place this statement on the record:
I remember Heather as a tireless, caring person who gave to many causes and many people. She blended humility and determination in unselfish service.
The Hon. Kate Reynolds has also asked me to place on record her sentiments:
Heather was an extraordinary person. She had endless energy and she was always working to organise somebody or something, and always with a grim determination that astounded me. Herding Australian Democrat MPs, state and national council members and an always-changing parade of candidates must have been so much worse than herding cats, but Heather always had an encouraging word to say, and we had many quiet conversations together, and it was in those moments that her knowledge and experience of community, politics and the strange worlds inhabited by members of parliament was most valuable to me. I know her calm and measured counsel was also valued by former state and national president, Richard Pascoe. We shared some very difficult times, and Heather was always dignified and always looking for the right thing to do. She will be missed.
In speaking as a woman in this place, I am particularly humbled, and I think it is important to note, even though it is somewhat clichéd, that I stand on the shoulders of giants, or perhaps sit on the shoulders of giants, in this case. Heather Southcott was arguably one such giant. As a trailblazer, she went where too few have followed—for instance, in being the first woman to lead a political party in the nation of Australia, as we have heard.
The record shows that she was somewhat unimpressed by her time in parliament and was content thereafter to support others who were elected to this place and to the Senate. Always an organiser at work and as an office bearer, she worked with groups including the United Nations Association of Australia, the National Council of Women, the women pharmacists group, the International Human Rights Day Committee and the Adelaide Women’s Memorial Playing Fields Committee.
An advocate for peace, Ms Southcott was also involved in the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and was an advocate for disarmament. She was a member of the Older Women Advisory Committee, a proud supporter of Amnesty International and a member of the Coalition for the Bill of Rights. There are certainly quite a few causes there that I can identify with. She strongly favoured a bill of rights for Australia. She also served on the committee of the Disability Advocacy & Complaints Service of South Australia.
In 1991, her service to the community was recognised with an Order of Australia medal and, in 2007, Ms Southcott was honoured by UNESCO for her work in human rights and, in particular, her commitment to refugees. A life like this is guided by a strong moral compass, a strong understanding of teamwork and the resilience to keep going even in the face of adversity. Dignity for Disability certainly believes that we need more people like Heather Southcott in the community and in this place, and that we need to value the people who give their lives to servicing others so selflessly as she did. Finally and importantly, I want to recognise that Heather was active in planning for the celebration of the Centenary of Women’s Suffrage in 1994—one of her lasting legacies which the commemorative tapestries proudly display in the other place.
