Mr NAIRN (7:45 PM) —Tonight I rise to pay tribute to an heroic soldier and a great Australian. I refer to Sir William Keys Kt, AC, OBE, MC. Sir William passed away last Wednesday, 3 May, and there will be a memorial service for him next Monday at Duntroon. Sir William was born in 1923, the son of John and Irene Keys of Bombala. He was educated at Hurlstone Agricultural School, and he served as an officer in the Australian Army in both World War II and the Korean War. In 1950 he married Dulcie Stinton, and they had three daughters: Elisabeth, Amanda and Tammy.

Sir William was a really great Australian, and the work that he did particularly for the RSL over many years is something that people will never forget. He initially joined the RSL in 1944, and he was a member of the New South Wales State Council of the RSL from 1947 to 1961. He was national secretary from 1961 to 1978, and he was the national president from 1978 to 1988. There are so many achievements that he made during his time with the RSL that time does not permit me to go through them, but there are two areas that I wish to highlight. First of all, he really has played a role in ensuring the continuation of the Anzac tradition. Back in 1965, Sir William Keys negotiated with Turkey and others with great diplomacy for more liberal conditions to be applied to people visiting Gallipoli, and we have seen most recently how many Australians and New Zealanders go back there on Anzac Day. They can thank Sir William for much of what has been done in that respect.

The other matter was in relation to the repatriation system, which he fought very strongly to maintain as an independent system when, in the 1980s, there was a strong push for that to become just part of other social security areas. He certainly lobbied hard, and I think he succeeded, in the end, in getting Bob Hawke as Prime Minister at the time to ensure that not only were veterans affairs kept separate but conditions for veterans were improved.

Sir William was born in Bombala in my electorate on the Monaro. When he came back from the Korean War, he very shortly afterwards in 1951 stood for the seat of Eden-Monaro for the Liberal Party. It was a double dissolution election in the Menzies era. He lost that election by 600 votes—one can see that the tradition of very close contests in Eden-Monaro goes back a long way. I think that is why we certainly had a great affinity over the last few years.

I want to relate another story about Sir William's role within the RSL and one of his initiatives that was not quite successful. He and an Aboriginal ex-serviceman, Reg Saunders, set off together to solve the intractable racial problems in an RSL club in a New South Wales country town. Both were thrown out of the club and out of the town. He was a very strong advocate for the things that he felt very strongly about.

I first met Sir William when I lived in the Northern Territory. He was the patron for the 50th anniversary commemoration of the bombing of Darwin, and he did a tremendous job as patron of that commemoration. I got to know him better over the last few years as he lived on Captains Flat Road, just out of Queanbeyan. He was a great supporter of mine over the last few years and a great worker within the community since he left the RSL. I pass on my regards to Dulcie and his family, and I express my sadness at his loss. He fortunately made it to the dedication of the Korean War Memorial a few weeks ago prior to his death. I finish by recounting something that Sir William Keys said:

That says so much about Sir William.

Honourable members—Hear, hear!