Allan Clyde Holding

I join the Premier, the Leader of the Opposition and others in this house in paying my respects to the late Allan Clyde Holding, a former member of this place and member for Melbourne Ports, which includes my electorate of Caulfield, in the federal House of Representatives. As the member for Melbourne Ports Clyde was a strong advocate for and a close friend of the Melbourne Jewish community.

We have heard today from a number of people, both here and earlier at his state funeral, about the work Clyde Holding did as the federal Minister for the Arts and Territories and federal Minister for Aboriginal Affairs. He is also known for the work he did with Mabo, the handing back of Uluru, his advocacy for the abolition of the death penalty and his work in protesting the execution of Ronald Ryan.

I would like to focus on the support Clyde Holding gave the Melbourne Jewish community. In Clyde the Melbourne Jewish community knew it had a strong federal representative who would ensure that its views were heard in Canberra and its interests protected. We heard a number of people make significant contributions today. I would like to make mention of some of the words of Rabbi Dr John Levi, who spoke at Clyde's state funeral. Firstly, Clyde grew up in the shadow of World War II where he saw the Nazis, the world's greatest evil, defeated.

He also witnessed the formation of the state of Israel as a safe homeland for the world's Jewish community. Because of what Clyde Holding saw as a young man he recognised the need to value and protect the Jewish community, and the community always valued his friendship.

To quote Rabbi Levi:

The Jewish community knew they had a friend ... he identified ... with Jewish fate ...

Rabbi Levi also said:

We may have forgotten the time when bombs were placed in the basement of the Jewish social club in Bondi and bullets were fired into the doors of Jewish community leaders but Clyde, the son of a police officer, did not take such events lightly.

He blocked visits to Australia by the representatives of Arafat's Palestinian Liberation Organisation, he was a founder of Australian Labor Friends of Israel, he visited Israel and he also had a forest in Israel named in his honour.

Other local achievements include securing the land for the Betty Day Community Centre and ensuring a multi-use development for the Elsternwick railway station, as well as the work he did for the Montefiore Home, the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia and the Sacred Heart Mission.

Those on the other side of the house have mentioned today that during the time that Clyde Holding was a member of the Victorian Parliament there were many deep divides within the party and that during Clyde's time in the Parliament he advocated strongly and took some of the hard decisions. One of the issues that divided the Labor Party was school choice and the importance of private schools and religious schools. Some believed Clyde's passionate defence of these schools contributed to his never obtaining the position of Premier.

As parliamentarians we must recognise across party lines the skills shown by all who were here before us. As an MP here and in Canberra, as leader of the Victorian Labor Party and as a senior minister in the Hawke government he was seen as a tough warrior for his party who stood up for what he believed in. For those engaged in the battle of ideas that is politics there can be no more important attribute. In his tribute this morning former Prime Minister Paul Keating spoke of a unique individual of strong character.

We have also heard others mention today John Howard's comment on the retirement of Clyde Holding from the federal Parliament in June of 1998, which I would like to repeat. Clyde remarked to Mr Howard that he found:

... despite the fact that he was no longer on the front bench of the then government, a great deal of peace and contentment in representing his constituents. He found a great deal of satisfaction in simply putting their cause. He thought that there was a place in this parliament for people who saw their career beyond any particular office in a party but simply in terms of public service.

My thoughts and the thoughts of all of us are with his first wife, Margaret, his wife, Judy, and his children, Peter, Dan, Jenny and Isabella.