Senator HOGG (1:00 PM) —The Australian Labor Party has a long and proud tradition of serving the interests of the ordinary working people of Australia. That tradition has been built up over more than 100 years by the efforts of so many committed and dedicated men and women. On 11 December 1997 the labour movement lost one of its finest servants with the passing away of Edgar Williams. Edgar Williams was a giant of a man in every sense of the phrase. His service to the union movement, the Australian Labor Party and, more importantly, the Australian Workers Union and ordinary Queenslanders, for more than 50 years was unrivalled.

Edgar was born in Alexandria, New South Wales, on 11 April 1911 and left school at 13 to become a messenger boy at a music company in Sydney. But that did not last long. In 1925 Edgar went west, working on properties until he started shearing in western New South Wales in 1927. In 1929 Edgar went to Queensland and from then until 1943 he followed the shearing trails, mostly in the western districts of Longreach, Blackall, Winton and Isisford.

In July 1943 Edgar took up his first official role in the Australian Workers Union as an organiser in the western district, a position he held until becoming western district secretary in 1947, stationed at Longreach. In 1950 he transferred to Townsville as northern district secretary. This position gave Edgar a wider responsibility and more experience as it took in the sugar industry and the mining industry in Mt Isa. He was there for 10 years. In January 1960 he became Queensland branch secretary, a position he held until retirement in May 1982. Those 22 years and five months made Edgar the longest serving secretary of the Queensland branch, a record that will probably never be broken. For 17 of those 22 years Edgar was also the federal president of the Australian Workers Union. In those nearly 40 years as a full-time official Edgar had one thing in mind—better working conditions for his members.

So it is appropriate for me to look briefly at some of the record of Edgar Williams and his devotion to his beloved union—the Australian Workers Union—and also to the people whom he represented through that union. Edgar rose from very humble begin nings. By 1957, before affiliation of the AWU with the ACTU, Edgar was nominated and elected by the ACTU to the Mines—other than coal—Conference in Geneva. He went on in his career to do three months with the Leader Grant program in the United States. He served on delegations with the trade union movement in West Germany, Israel, Russia and China.

Edgar will be remembered also for the book which he published in 1967. The Australian Worker, a publication put out by the Australian Workers Union, of 31 August 1983, said:

In 1967 Edgar's book, "Yellow, Green and Red" was published. It views the industrial scene, particularly the Mt Isa strikes of the 1960's in which he was one of the leading figures. In his book Edgar airs his dislike of communists.

It was this open expression of his low opinion of communists that brought throughout his career unabashed attempts by some of his opponents to discredit him . . . all failed.

The article goes on to give a further insight into Edgar Williams. It says:

His reputation for integrity as well as for his skill as a top Union negotiator earned him the further respect of friend and adversary alike.

The article goes on:

He had, he says, no ambition, he only wanted to assist fellow workers.

This is the quality of the worker. The article goes on to say that on two occasions Edgar was offered safe seats in the state parliament but declined. It was also made apparent in the article that Edgar was offered an opportunity to become an industrial commissioner. But, again, he rejected that because on all occasions Edgar put as his priority the needs of representing the working people who were members of his union.

Edgar was a great man who treated all of those he met equally regardless of who they were or their position. One of the best examples of this was when he first met a young Bob Hawke. Prior to Bob Hawke's arrival at the ACTU, the major industrial cases had been conducted for the ACTU by Dick Eggleston, QC. When it was announced that Bob Hawke would be replacing him for the 1959 basic wage case, Edgar wrote the headline for the Australian Worker, the official paper of the AWU, `From Eggleston to Egghead.' But as Bob Hawke said after Edgar's death, `I came to develop a warm and effective relationship with Edgar Williams, truly a giant figure in the history of the Australian trade union movement.'

Even after his retirement as a full-time official in 1982, Edgar was never very far from his beloved union. Hardly a week went by without Edgar visiting the union office either to just drop in to say hello or to offer advice that may have been sought by his successors.

Edgar also made a massive contribution to the Australian Labor Party over 50 years. In 1983 he was given due recognition when he was awarded life membership of the ALP. As further recognition of his contribution to Australian industrial relations, Edgar was awarded an Order of Australia in 1989. In 1995 the ACTU congress awarded him a certificate of honour in recognition of a lifetime of service to trade unionism and the Australian labour movement.

My memories of Edgar go back to 1976 when I became an official of the SDA, the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association. At that stage our union rented premises at Dunstan House, which was owned by the AWU. We used to get to meet Edgar on a number of occasions. From my first meeting with Edgar, he always greeted me with, `Good morning, young fella' or `Good afternoon, young fella.' He was very polite in his approach to life. The only problem that I had with that greeting was that for the next 21 years, until Edgar's death, I got the same greeting, which probably said something about my youthful outlook on life and my youthful appearance.

Edgar was a very private man. He did not seek publicity. He was very much a person who kept to himself. I always remember Edgar at ALP state conferences in Queensland. You could always bet that whenever a ballot was on, Edgar would be one of the first in line for his ballot papers. That was until the last state conference that was held in June 1997. To show the tenacity of the man, on that occasion, Edgar had gone out to do some shopping during a luncheon break. There was a ballot due to close not long after lunch and Edgar had failed to show to vote. I met him in the corridor. He had blood over his shirt and he had broken his glasses. But so fixed was he with his obligation to cast his vote and his commitment so strong that Edgar signed for his ballot paper, filled out the ballot paper and deposited the ballot paper with the returning officer before seeking medical attention.

Edgar's iron will and commitment came from his days as a shed hand and shearer in the tough areas of Western Queensland and New South Wales. Edgar will always be remembered as one of the great leaders of the Australian Workers Union, touching the lives of generations of Australian workers. As long as there is an Australian Workers Union, the spirit of Edgar Williams will live on. We lament his passing.