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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1998 Week 5 Hansard (27 August) . . Page.. 1426 ..

MR SMYTH (continuing):

While he was doing that he also managed to become a senior engineering surveyor with BHP and broke new ground in the installation of things such as the high-speed rolling mills. Through his work at BHP he also contributed to many of the major projects that were going on around Australia in the 1950s and 1960s.

At 29, I am told, he became increasingly uncomfortable at the treatment that was meted out to workers in industry, the lack of basic facilities in industrial towns, poor community planning and the indifference of companies to the practices that led to serious health and environmental consequences. As a result of that, in 1968 he left Wollongong and came to Canberra, which is our great joy, and joined the National Capital Development Commission, starting in a junior position as surveyor and neighbourhood designer. He enjoyed his new job, where he was free to utilise his artistic and design skills to create what he called people places rather than designing and building industrial plants.

At that time he also taught mathematics and engineering surveying at Reid TAFE, saying that it gave him great satisfaction to work with talented young people who wanted to learn. In subsequent years he was also a visiting lecturer in town planning at the University of Sydney and the University of Canberra. Characteristic of so many great people, he not only drew on the things that influenced him to create change but was also willing to educate and pass on his knowledge.

He progressed through the NCDC to senior town planning positions and eventually became the commission's Director of District Planning and later the Director of Metropolitan Planning and Policy. In 1971 he was seconded from the NCDC to work on the Commonwealth Government's urban and regional development programs and provided advice on new urban centres throughout Australia. In 1982 he was seconded to Norfolk Island as the chief administrative officer and ran into the serious problems of maladministration on the island, particularly in regard to ministerial conflict of interest and contamination of the island's fresh water. John met these challenges head-on and always worked to benefit the people. In 1989 he left government service and commenced a successful private practice.

Asked how he would like to be remembered, he once said, "I hope I contributed something worth while to my adopted country and people recognise me as a fair dinkum Australian. If people remember me as that, I would be modestly proud". Others measured him much more highly in his own lifetime. Sir John Overall, first Commissioner of the NCDC, wrote in his book Canberra Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, that John Gilchrist was one of the people who had made an outstanding contribution to Canberra's planning. Tom Uren said:

I have known John for a period of two decades. I have worked with him both in the NCDC and when I was Minister for the Department of Local Government and Administrative Services. I found him to be an outstandingly efficient and capable officer. He was a pleasure to work with.

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