Thursday, 15 May 2025

Richard Wootton

Steve DIMOPOULOS (Oakleigh – Minister for Environment, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events, Minister for Outdoor Recreation) (09:58): I rise to condole Reverend Richard Wootton AM. Richard was a minister of the Uniting Church in Australia. He married Betty, a nurse, in 1955. After training as a plumber in Bendigo he received the call to become a minister and trained at Ormond theological college, Melbourne University. He first worked at the Ballarat and Macleod Presbyterian churches. Richard, Betty and the family went to Korea as missionaries in 1964. He worked for five years in the industrial mission and utilised his plumbing and engineering skills to help build hospitals. This involved human rights work right through his career, including at the African National Congress in South Africa, at SWAPO in Namibia, and in Palestine, Latin America, Korea in particular and with the Tamil community. He was an extraordinary human being. Richard was instrumental in bringing Nelson Mandela to Australia in 1990. More recently, when I got to know him, he had lived in Carnegie for 30 years with his family. His wife, Betty, passed away in 2020. Richard was the most endearing, intelligent human I have met. He was always open for a conversation, an extraordinary intellect and a very, very good man. I want to extend our condolences to Richard’s children Peter, Janet and Mark and their families. I want to extend condolences to his church, to close friends including the Kilgour family, and to every other neighbour and friend of his in Carnegie and the local community.