A good supporter gone

Dear ,

Last Friday Australia lost a great politician, thinker, businessman and character. We knew when we organised Keith DeLacy’s launch of his book, Keith DeLacy, A Philosophical Journey, that Keith was on the verge of making another journey. We hoped it wouldn’t be so soon.

Keith was a great friend to our institute, and was one of the first people that Gary Johns introduced me to when Gary and I conceived the idea of a centre-right think tank based in Brisbane. I may have said some harsh things about Keith when he was treasurer of Queensland, but I can’t recall a political issue in later life where we had significant disagreement.

Keith represented that strain of thinking in the Labor Party that valued economic progress and human freedom, and which seemed to briefly control the party during the 80s. If you are truly concerned with human flourishing, it is inevitable that no matter where you start because of the circumstances of birth, later in life, and by application of logical thought, you will converge on a similar spot to where Keith, and those others who support our efforts, have converged.

Of course this also takes honesty, forthrightness, and courage, not least because you may need to change your mind at times and admit you were wrong. These characteristics in Keith seem to have strained his relationship with the Labor Party, a mark in his favour, but not theirs.

You can read about Keith’s philosophical journey in his book (we still have copies for sale, click here to order one or more). It took him from a communist-inclined household in North Queensland, through agricultural college, to stints as a tobacco farmer, miner, and newsagent, as well as a teacher, on to the boardrooms of Brisbane.

He had little tolerance for Greenies, and spoke warmly of fossil fuel and industrial development. These attitudes probably originated in his childhood. We tend to forget in these days of the Green-Left that Marxists were actually interested in increasing personal wealth and industrial development (and they still are in Russia and China). Marx’s problem was the flawed method of attaining them.

Keith knew what real poverty was, and he didn’t want to go back there, nor to leave anyone else there either.

He was also a visionary. We’ve been keen to back Sir Leo Hielscher’s vision for a 21st Century reboot of the Bradfield Scheme, but the first person to talk to me about a scheme he was promoting for using the vast rainfall of the north for agricultural production was Keith DeLacy. His Integrated Food and Energy Development project on the Gilbert River system, proposed to develop 650 square kilometres of land for sugar cane and guar beans, as well as another 2,400 square kilometres for grazing.

Keith was no stranger to water schemes, having also been the chairmen of Cubbie Group.

The thing that marked Keith most for me was his self-effacing, but penetrating, sense of humour, and a sense of personal context. While he had much to boast about, in this day of “celebrity” he was lacking the #LookAtMe qualities that guarantee fame, and obscure substance.

He will be missed by a lot of people. I’ll certainly be raising a glass to him this Friday at our Christmas party. You might think about coming and joining me.

Regards,

GRAHAM YOUNG
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR