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Hansard . . Page.. 1181 ..

When he retired from Parliament, Fred predictably did not retire from public life. He moved to Canberra from Marrickville, and here he became a prominent, very visible and much loved member of our own community. He was patron of the Raiders and the Canberra Labor Club, he was crowned King of Canberra, and of course he was a popular speaker and one very much in demand. He was a great contributor to tourism in Canberra, and his incomparable bus tours around Canberra will remain a fond memory for everybody. Fred Daly also wrote four books - no doubt, Jim Killen would have said, putting his dog's nose out of joint in the process - and they all sold very well. And, of course, politics remained an inseparable part of Fred's life.

Mr Speaker, I did not get to know Fred Daly personally until after he had retired and made his home in Canberra. However, my father, who was a Hansard reporter for Federal Parliament for many decades, was a great admirer and very fond indeed of Fred Daly. During the years that I was growing up in Canberra, our family dinner table was often regaled with Fred's latest witticism in the Federal Parliament. It was a great pleasure to me to get to know Fred after he had retired in Canberra. I have to say that I owe Fred Daly a debt of gratitude, for he passed on to me the very best political tip that I have ever had in my political career. I can assure the house that after I have retired and made my home somewhere else I will pass on that tip to somebody else, but not before.

Mr Speaker, Fred Daly remained extremely loyal and extremely open to the local branch of the Labor Party in Canberra, and he was unfailingly supportive of our efforts as a local branch, particularly during the early days of self-government. I found myself in 1989 at the receiving end of a no-confidence vote in this place. It was Fred Daly who came forward to be master of ceremonies and, indeed, the principal speaker at what turned out to be a packed public protest meeting in the Albert Hall at that time. I can say that Fred Daly never took the easy way or the cheap shot when it came to self-government. He remained fully committed to Canberra, to good government for Canberra and, of course, to the role of the local Labor Party in that process.

Mr Speaker, I am very sad that Fred Daly has died - I feel that I have lost a friend - but I will not be able to remember him with sadness, because he did indeed leave the world a much richer place. I think there was something about him which was intrinsically good and which was immediately recognised by the innumerable friends and acquaintances whose good fortune it was to know him. I will never forget that I was one of those who were fortunate enough to know him, and I will always be very grateful for the role that Fred Daly played personally, especially in relation to Canberra, and of course for his great loyalty and his great commitment to the party of which I am a member.

MRS CARNELL (Chief Minister): Mr Speaker, the Government shares the sentiments that Ms Follett has put so well. We were certainly saddened to learn of the death of Fred Daly on 2 July 1995, after what I understand was a fall at his daughter's house in Sydney. Fred certainly loved life and he loved people. He was a proud member of the Labor Party; but he was open to all people and interested in all people, no matter what their political philosophy. He responded to life's situations in a thoroughly human way. We all remember his natural wit, his sense of fun and his tolerance, which meant that his friends came from all walks of life and all political persuasions. It was this quality that

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