Tuesday, 24 May 2022

Malcolm ‘Mac’ Hill

Ms RYAN (Euroa) (12:36): I rise this afternoon to remember Malcolm Hill, a wonderful member of our party who was as National Party as they come. Mac passed away on 11 May, surrounded by his family, at the age of 91.

In 1916 Mac’s grandfather, William Hill, was the secretary of the Colbinabbin Progress Association and the founding president of the Victorian Farmers Union, which we now know as The Nationals. Frustrated that the interests of rural people were being ignored, William was instrumental in sending farmers to both federal and state parliaments. He himself was elected to the federal Parliament as the member for Echuca in 1919, and his legacy as a minister still shapes rural Australia. He built the Hume weir, he spearheaded the standardisation of rail gauges and he built the railway line from South Australia to Alice Springs.

But for the community of Colbinabbin, William’s biggest legacy was not the nation-shaping projects that he was responsible for but rather his family, which included Mac, who was the third generation of the Hill family to farm at Colbinabbin. Mac’s children and his grandchildren continued that tradition, and they are active contributors to their local community—no community organisation in Colbo is complete without a Hill. A couple of years after I was elected Mac gave me a photograph of the founding members of our party, and I have treasured it ever since. He was deeply loved in the Colbo community, and I was privileged to know him. He will be greatly missed by his wonderful family. Vale, Mac.