Dr Moses ‘Moss’ Cass
Ms HALL (Footscray) (09:58): When I was a young person interested in progressive politics my father used to tell me about the brilliance of Dr Moses Cass. Moss Cass was a heart surgeon. He ran the trade union clinic in Footscray, providing free health care to the working people of my community, and that legacy lives on in Cohealth. He was the member for Maribyrnong from 1969 to 1983, and he was Australia’s first Minister for Environment and Conservation, and conserve he did. His story is one of never wasting an opportunity to effect change. He was a man of great integrity. His election slogan of 1969 was, ‘I don’t mind who you vote for as long as you think about it’. He won. In his inaugural speech he put the case for the legalisation of abortion. He was an advocate for the decriminalisation of homosexuality. He was an opponent of uranium mining. His work laid the foundations for a universal public health system, and he saved the Great Barrier Reef from oil drilling. His legislative reforms paved the way to protecting the Franklin River from damming. As Minister for the Media he championed a diverse media that included the creation of 13 community radio licences and support for Double J and of course SBS. For Moss Cass having power was only of use if you did something bold with it. He was a visionary, a great reformer in the history of great Labor reformers. On Monday a state memorial service was held in his memory. I attended with the Minister for Public Transport and the Assistant Treasurer. These words were on the back of his booklet:
We have not inherited this earth from our parents to do with it what we will.
Vale, Moss Cass.