Page 1123 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 2 April 2019
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offering services for children, people with disabilities and those in the community experiencing hardship. He oversaw the development of several new community services, and initiated significant projects for Communities@Work, including development of a purpose-built facility in Holder. When the new Communities@Work building was completed in 2016, it was named in John’s honour.
His outstanding and significant contribution was also recognised in 2015 when he was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia. His citation in the Queen’s birthday honours read:
For significant service to the community through policy direction and reform in public administration, and the social welfare sector, and to cricket.
May that be how he is remembered, Madam Speaker: for his significant service to the community through policy direction and reform in public administration, the social welfare sector, and, of course, his beloved sport of cricket.
I would like to conclude this morning by expressing, on behalf of this chamber, our condolences to John’s wife Kathryn; to his brother Robert; to Richard, Meredith, Philip and Cath; to their children; and to John’s close friends and former colleagues who are here with us in the chamber this morning.
MR COE (Yerrabi—Leader of the Opposition) (10.09): I too rise today to express condolences on behalf of the ACT opposition at the passing of Mr John Turner AM. Born in February 1939 in Melbourne, Mr Turner joined the public service as a base-grade clerk at the age of 15, before moving to Canberra in 1959, describing it as a “big country town”. Originally only working under a six-month contract, Mr Turner, having enjoyed his time in Canberra, decided to move here permanently. “You went shopping on a Friday night in Kingston and met the entire population,” he said, describing a city of only 45,000 people at the time.
Mr Turner joined the Department of the Interior in 1965, working in a number of different roles. He enjoyed working on “things that mattered in your own city” and spent a considerable amount of time on ACT-focused projects within that department. Mr Turner was appointed as ACT city manager in 1987 and played a crucial role in the preparations for self-governance that were to follow in 1989. The city manager role was an important one, with extensive responsibilities, including transport, housing, traffic and roads. However, Mr Turner’s love of contributing to this city saw him commit extensive amounts of time to ensuring that his city was well managed. It was not just a job but it surely was something that he had a real passion for. He said in 1988:
So many public servants work in policy areas that have nothing to do with the city. I enjoy it because I’m working in a job directly relevant to the community in which I live.
Throughout the transition and early days of self-government, Mr Turner managed the Department of Urban Services, a role that he stayed in until 1997. In those eight years he worked for several ACT governments in what were perhaps tumultuous days,
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