Page 2997 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 17 October 2007
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course, has had to put up with the stresses and strains of politics and, my guess is, some of the seething over politics that can occur at home in your spare time. But Warwick, Kerry and Paula, of course, have also shouldered much of the weight throughout Ken’s political career.
For me, Ken was the father of the ACT left of which I and many others are longstanding members. We hold him in high regard for his solidarity and, of course, his leadership in the early days of the development of a group of people around progressive policies. Over these years we have continued to campaign for these progressive policies and convince others of their righteousness, but always in the back of our mind we have had somebody like Ken Fry as a role model for us to follow.
He was the sort of politician held in high regard then and now by all of those who made contact with him—down to earth, hardworking, decent and with a great deal of common sense born of experience and a keen intellect. He accepted all he met with equanimity. He always focused on public service in the traditional sense of the word. I have heard it said that he was an old-fashioned socialist, but I have to say that each time that I bumped into Ken Fry the conversation, after greetings, always found its way towards fixing up modern issues in a progressive way. So Ken, right up until he left us, was on the ball when it came to modern politics and he always had a great interest in the class issues affected by modern politics. It was always a great experience to have conversations, short and long, with Ken and his family about these issues in later years.
Because of Ken’s concerned and caring demeanour, many discounted his intellectual gifts. His academic record is, however, as shining as his record as an elected representative. First he gained his diploma from the Hawkesbury Agricultural College, then in 1973 he graduated from the ANU with a BA followed by a bachelor of letters in 1983. His thesis, an environmental study of the effect of 150 years of European impact on grazing between Boorowa and Cowra, written before environmentalism became trendy in history writing, is also notable.
He completed his PhD in 1988 which was published in 1993 as Beyond the barrier: class formation in a pastoral society, Bathurst 1818-1948. This, of course, continued his and his father’s interest in class and its effects on communities. As you can see, Ken, among his many other activities, was a lifelong academic. Over the years since Ken retired I have bumped into him on occasions. On the first occasion I bumped into him after he retired I was with my family, visiting relatives in the area. I was swimming at Broulee, popped up out of the surf and Ken was standing beside me. There was a little bit of a conversation about how things were going up here, as always, and, as I said earlier, there was always a political content to Ken’s words after the introductions.
I have since kept in touch, occasionally bumping into him and Audrey when shopping in Moruya or on his way to a swim in Shark Bay. He has had a long and productive retirement at Broulee and made many friends and continued many acquaintances, as was indicated by the many people and friends who came to the ceremony in Broulee on Monday. Ken’s life is an example to us all and our community is the poorer for his passing but it is also the richer for his work. I would like to pass on my condolences to
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