Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate records its deep regret at the death, on 1 March 2008, of Siegfried Emil (Sid) Spindler, former senator for Victoria, and places on record its appreciation of his long and meritorious public service and tenders its profound sympathy to his family in their bereavement.

Looking around the chamber, I know a number of us knew Sid personally and served with him and were very saddened to hear of his passing. Sid was born to German parents in Poland in 1932 and was only seven when the German forces invaded. He grew up through the oppressive Nazi occupation and in the dying stages of the war he joined the hordes of refugees moving westward across Europe. Sid Spindler and his family ended up settling in East Germany. However, with the postwar Soviet occupation, it soon became apparent that they had traded one totalitarian regime for another. So in September 1949, at the age of 17, he migrated to Australia.

In his first speech as a senator, Sid recalled that the experience of growing up under the Nazi and Soviet regimes, of living through the horrors of the Second World War, particularly the Holocaust, had had a profound effect on him. It ingrained in him a very strong social conscience, an impassioned commitment to Australia’s democratic values and a burning to fight for justice and fairness for others. Upon arriving in Australia, Sid Spindler trod the path that many postwar migrants took and began by taking jobs in factories and on building sites. He was one of the many new Australians during that period whose hard work helped build the infrastructural foundations of Australia’s modern economy. He was a very worthy migrant to this country.

He, again like many other Australians, worked his way up to owning his own business, a painting and decorating business, which had become very successful by the time he sold it two decades later. At the same time, he was juggling the challenges of part-time study, marriage and raising four kids. He earned a law degree from the University of Melbourne, a qualification which no doubt helped to further instil in him his deep sense of justice. By the early 1970s, Sid Spindler had sold his business and started working in public service roles. He was the administrator of the Outer Eastern Regional Council for Social Development, he worked at the Community College of Central Australia at Alice Springs, for the Northern Territory government and also for United Nations consultancies in Tonga and Western Samoa. Again, these experiences were formative for Sid, particularly the time he spent in the Northern Territory with Indigenous communities, which he said engendered in him ‘an abiding respect and affection for Aboriginal people and a strong and continuing interest in their quest for justice’. It is worth noting that Sid Spindler’s commitment to Indigenous Australians continued for the rest of his life.

As he continued in new social justice work, his involvement in politics also grew. In 1972 he joined the Australia Party. Many will not remember the Australia Party. He went on in 1977 to help found the Australian Democrats. From 1981 to 1990 he worked as a senior adviser to Don Chipp and Janine Haines, until he was elected to the Senate in 1990 with the highest vote ever enjoyed by the Australian Democrats in Victoria.

He soon developed a reputation for being one of the most hardworking senators in this place. Over his term from 1990 to 1996, Sid Spindler holds the record for speaking more than any other member in either house. I can personally vouch for that. He had a lot to say. He was a tireless advocate for those whom he saw to be oppressed or disadvantaged, particularly Indigenous Australians, asylum seekers, prisoners and pensioners. He used his opportunity as a senator to be a voice for them. He also used his time as a senator to campaign for the environment and against child labour, the exploitation of textile workers and discrimination towards same-sex couples.

Sid Spindler made a significant contribution to the Senate. He was a very principled man. He was a man I was very fond of. He always had something interesting to say. He always challenged your thinking and was a very significant senator in his time. He led the Democrat negotiations with the Keating government over the Mabo legislation, something of which I know he was very proud. He also played an important role in the development of industrial relations laws that prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual preference. At the time he was quoted as saying, ‘For a civilised nation, equality should not be just words but should be translated into legislative action.’

When he left the Senate in 1996 at the age of 64, he might have reasonably thought that much of his political work was behind him; whereas, in fact, it seemed as though it was just beginning. In his later life, Sid Spindler immersed himself in Indigenous affairs. He continued to be a prominent activist for the causes of Indigenous Australians. He co-founded the Defenders of Native Title and the Victorian committee on deaths in custody. During the period I served as Labor’s opposition spokesman on Indigenous affairs, he was not backward in sending an email or two or making sure you understood his views or his causes. He was still very active.

He also moved into philanthropy and established the Towards a Just Society Fund with his family. This fund, through which Sid Spindler will certainly live on, distributes financial assistance to Indigenous students to the tune of about $200,000 a year. It aims to prevent Indigenous students from withdrawing from study because of financial pressures and, in so doing, to help bridge the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous education outcomes, a cause which is very close to the heart of this government and, I hope, to the hearts of all senators.

I am glad that Sid Spindler was alive to witness the apology to the stolen generations on 13 February 2008. I understand he was thrilled. I think that apart from his role in the formation of the Australian Democrats he will be best remembered for his deep commitment to Indigenous Australians. It is a credit to the Democrats that part of their contribution to public life has been the interesting and different personalities that they have seen elected to this place, who have contributed to political life in a way that perhaps senators from Labor and the coalition sides have not in the sense of being different sorts of characters. Sid was certainly one of those. He very much added to the place, as well as making a significant contribution to the Senate.

Sid Spindler passed away on his 50th wedding anniversary on 1 March 2008 after a yearlong battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife, Julia, children Karen, Chris, Linden and Rebecca and four grandchildren. On behalf of the government, I offer our sincere condolences to Julia and his family on the passing of a remarkable and inspirational man who made an extraordinary contribution to public life and to Australian politics.