Tuesday, 2 June 2026

 Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (13:15): I move:

That this house expresses its sincere sorrow at the death of the Honourable Norman Henry Lacy and places on record its acknowledgement of the valuable services rendered by him to the Parliament and the people of Victoria as member of the Legislative Assembly for the districts of Ringwood from 1973 to 1976 and Warrandyte from 1976 to 1982, and as Minister for the Arts from 1979 to 1982 and Minister of Educational Services from 1981 to 1982.

Norman Lacy lived a life defined by service and belief. Before he entered this Parliament he served as an Anglican minister. He served at St Mary’s Caulfield, St Stephen’s Richmond and St John’s Healesville. That was a different kind of public life, not one lived here in this chamber but one lived with people, with families and communities, in moments of joy and also in moments of hardship. It is not too hard to see how that experience would shape a person who continued to serve the community here in this place.

In 1973 Norman was elected as the member for Ringwood. Three years later he became the member for Warrandyte. He would go on to serve in the Hamer and Thompson governments, holding responsibilities in the portfolios of education and the arts. Those portfolios say something about the work of government at its best. Education is about giving people opportunity, the arts are about giving people expression, and both speak to the kind of state we are today, a place where children are supported to learn, a place where creativity is valued, a place where public institutions are built not just for one generation but for the next.

As Minister for the Arts Norman served during an important period in Victoria’s cultural life. From the Victorian Arts Centre to Film Victoria, the Victorian College of the Arts, the Australian Children’s Television Foundation and the Heide Museum of Modern Art, he played a big role in many of the institutions that still form part of Victoria’s story today. It is a reminder that the decisions made in government can last well beyond a single term or a single Parliament.

In education Norman was involved in reforms to the administration of the education department. He was also connected with the special assistance program and compulsory physical education in government schools. That work was practical. It was about classrooms and students, teachers and families; the systems behind our modern education system; the extra support that a child might need; and the health and wellbeing of young people in this state. After leaving Parliament Norman continued a long and varied career. Public life was just one chapter in his story; his contribution continued well beyond this place.

On behalf of the Victorian government and the people of Victoria, I extend our deepest condolences to Norman’s wife Gayle, to his children, grandchildren and broader extended family and to his friends, former colleagues and all those who knew and loved him. Vale, Norman Lacy.

 Jess WILSON (Kew – Leader of the Opposition) (13:19): I rise in support of this condolence motion for the late Norman Lacy, who passed away in May. Norman made a significant contribution to this state as a minister in the Hamer government, overseeing some remarkable achievements in the arts and the education portfolios.

Born in 1941 just down the road from this place, in Richmond, Norman lived a full life of diverse service to the people of Victoria. Norman lived at Ridley College at the University of Melbourne while he achieved his leaving certificate before studying theology. He was then ordained a deacon in the Anglican Church, serving parishes in Caulfield, Richmond and Healesville. It was during his tenure as vicar at St John’s Healesville that he joined the Liberal Party and secured preselection for the seat of Ringwood.

He served in this place as the member for Ringwood and later for Warrandyte between 1973 and 1982. During his parliamentary career he served as Minister for the Arts, Assistant Minister of Education and Minister of Educational Services. As Minister for the Arts Norman left an enduring mark on Victoria’s cultural landscape. He oversaw the final phase of construction of the Victorian Arts Centre, the process of which was started under Rupert Hamer himself when the former Premier served in the arts portfolio. Norman was responsible for installing the lightning conductor rod at the pinnacle of the now famous arts centre spire on 20 October 1981. The spire is now of course a key Melbourne landmark and the arts centre the beating heart of Melbourne’s thriving arts and culture scene. In his capacity as arts minister Norman also played a key role in the establishment of the Heide Museum of Modern Art. These institutions have become an integral part of Victoria’s cultural identity, fostering creativity, learning and artistic excellence for generations of Victorians.

Norm’s legacy in the education portfolio is also significant. At a time when our education system was often dominated by centralised decision-making, Norm championed a model that empowered local school communities. He was a strong advocate for school councils and greater parental involvement in education, recognising that schools are strongest when families, teachers and communities work together in partnership. His ideas helped shape approaches to school governance and administration that remain influential in schools today. He was also a strong advocate for physical education in schools, helping to establish PE as an integral part of the curriculum in all Victorian schools, and so generations of Victorian kids have Norman to thank for being able to look forward to a run outside during PE at least once a week.

But perhaps one of Norman’s most significant achievements in the education portfolio was his establishment of the special assistance program across primary schools in Victoria. The program introduced the concept of special assistance resource teachers. These special assistance resource teachers worked in schools to identify students who needed additional support. They assisted in the diagnosis of learning difficulties and then worked to develop and implement appropriate support programs to support those students who needed extra help. These roles also worked alongside teachers and parents to support student learning. This type of thinking was ahead of its time and reveals a man who thought long and hard about how we support all children to succeed in education and in life, regardless of their disability or disadvantage. These are still issues we confront as a society today. How do we best support all of our kids to achieve their best in our schools? How do we identify and offer extra help and support for kids who need it? How do we support our teachers by giving them the tools they need so they can best do their jobs and thrive at work? How do we make sure schools are integrated into their local communities? How do we make sure parents are involved in their children’s education? Norman was contemplating these questions some 50 years ago, and his ideas show a man who was compassionate, who was persistent and who cared deeply for the future of our children and our state.

Norman had this to say in his first speech of the role he sought to play as a parliamentarian:

We are seeking first and foremost to build a liberal society in which each individual has the opportunity of achieving fulfilment. This will be possible only when every man, woman and child, irrespective of his social and economic background … has maximum freedom of choice in his own life.

Norman was clearly a man who approached public life with seriousness and with purpose. He sought at every opportunity to serve others, particularly those who faced additional challenges and disadvantage. Many of the institutions he established continue to endure today, a testament to his commitment to serve the people of Victoria.

On behalf of the Liberals, I extend my sincere condolences to Norm’s family, his friends, his former colleagues and all who knew him. May they take comfort in knowing that his life was a life of meaningful service and lasting impact. Norm Lacy leaves behind a legacy that can be seen by anyone who happens to walk down St Kilda Road today. Victoria is better for his service, and his many contributions to our state will not be forgotten. May he rest in peace.

 Danny O’BRIEN (Gippsland South) (13:24): I too rise to speak, on behalf of the Nationals, in acknowledging the contribution of Norman Lacy. Norman Lacy was the member for Ringwood from 1973 to 1976 and the member for Warrandyte from 1976 to 1982. He served as the Minister of Educational Services, Minister for the Arts and Assistant Minister of Education in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the governments of Hamer and Thompson.

Norman Lacy was an Anglican minister, as the Leader of the Opposition said, serving at St Mary’s, Caulfield; St Stephen’s, Richmond; and St John’s in Healesville, which of course earned him the pithy headline, when he became a minister, that said, ‘Ministry to Ministry’. He was clearly a man of God and a man who was committed to the underprivileged, the poor and the disadvantaged throughout our community. He undertook theological studies at Ridley College from 1962 to 1964 and was ordained as a deacon in 1964 and as a pastor in 1964 at St Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne.

He went on to have a long and varied career in Victoria in public service spanning Parliament, education, the arts and industry. His career was notably diverse, including work as an apprentice plumber, an Anglican priest, as I said, a Liberal parliamentarian, a management educator and an information technology industry executive. His time in Parliament continued his service to those particularly underprivileged, and some of his comments in his inaugural speech in 1973 reflect things that I think we all should be reminded of. There had been a federal election not too long earlier, and he referred to the election as being ‘a divisive instrument’ and said that he now would be working in this house on behalf of the people who had elected him:

as a community of people, many of whom are living in desperate need … These people are looking to us now, in hope and anticipation, to act on their behalf. It is, therefore, the responsibility of both Governments –

that is the federal and state governments –

to accept what is good in each other’s programme and cooperate unreservedly to ensure that good is brought to its appropriate culmination.

Which I think is something, particularly in these febrile days between federal and state and across the political aisle, that we should all remember. Norman went on to say in his contribution about the intentions of the then government:

We are seeking first and foremost to build a liberal society in which each individual has the opportunity of achieving fulfilment. This will be possible only when every man, woman and child, irrespective of his social and economic background or intellectual and physical handicaps, has maximum freedom of choice in …

their own lives. Again I think they are important issues that we should all remember.

In closing, I quote from the obituary in the Age for Norman Henry Lacy. His family stated:

Norman lived life to the full, with several interesting careers, a long list of wonderful overseas trips, and a delight in the achievements and exploits of his beloved children and grandchildren.

Oh, that we all share such a life. Our condolences to his wife Gayle, daughters Fiona, Sharon and Kirsten, and son Henry. Vale, Norman Lacy.

 Nicole WERNER (Warrandyte) (13:28): Today I rise to honour the life of the Honourable Norman Henry Lacy, and I do so with a particular sense of connection. Norm was the very first member for Warrandyte elected in 1976 when the seat was new, and I of course have the privilege of being its current member. Although I never had the chance to personally meet Norm, given there have been four members for Warrandyte since Norm, I have been generously assisted in preparing these remarks by Peter Falconer, the former federal member for Casey, who worked alongside Norm at the electorate level for many years. I thank Peter for his assistance.

Norm leaves behind a remarkable family, and on behalf of this house I extend our deepest condolences to all of them – to his wife Gayle; to Norman’s three daughters with Ruth, Fiona, Sharon and Kirsten; and to Norman and Gayle’s son Henry; to his six grandchildren, Hamish, Sasha, Mairead, Finn, Eljay and Archer; and to his sister Janette. Norm’s love for his family was, in the words of one of his daughters, limitless, and we honour that love today.

Norman Henry Lacy was born in Richmond in October 1941, the son of a self-employed plumber. Tragedy came early in his life when Norm lost his mother to cancer when he was just 14. In his family’s words, he bore that loss with the stoicism of a working-class lad of the 1950s, throwing himself into sport and going on to later captain the Victorian under-16 basketball team. Four years later, after years of his father’s ill-health, Norm lost him too, and was orphaned at 18. As he himself reflected, he knew then that he was alone in the world. From that beginning, Norm built a life of extraordinary breadth.

He was, in turn, a plumber’s apprentice, an Anglican priest, a parliamentarian, a cabinet minister, a management educator, a director of an Australian government training centre in Beijing and a senior executive in the information technology industry. Few public lives encompass so many worlds.

In May of 1973, at the age of 31, Norm was elected as the member for Ringwood, as the youngest member of the new Parliament. It was in 1976 that he became the inaugural member for Warrandyte, where he held the seat for three terms. A fortnight ago I had the honour of attending Norm’s funeral, where his daughter Sharon Lacy shared a beautiful summation of Norm’s work, saying that:

Norm came to parliamentary life with what he himself described as classical liberal and conservative philosophies, built on freedom, free enterprise, and the traditional family unit. He was the product of the postwar era. His own life had shown him that upward mobility was possible through hard work and seizing opportunity.

It was after the 1979 election when, at the age of 38, Norm became the youngest member of the Hamer ministry. He held the portfolios of Minister for the Arts, Assistant Minister of Education and later the Minister of Educational Services. As the Minister for the Arts, Norm was responsible, as has been said, for the construction of the Victorian Arts Centre. He also notably established the Victorian Arts Centre Trust, created Film Victoria, oversaw the establishment of the Heide Museum of Modern Art and helped bring the Australian Children’s Television Foundation into being. Norm also reconstituted the Victorian College of the Arts to better provide for the preparation of young people to enter upon ideas as professional artists. In fact it was the school where his daughter Kirsten ended up studying ceramics and where his grandchild Eljay now studies sculpture.

But Norm reflected for himself that for all of the major projects, the towers and the trusts, what gave him the deepest satisfaction were the policies that touch people at the street level, playground level and classroom level. There are a few examples which I will share today, the first being the school crossing supervisors program, the so-called lollipop ladies, introduced by the Hamer government in 1975. As a local member, Norm threw himself into the rollout with local councils and schools across Warrandyte. He issued an enthusiastic press statement listing the equipment that supervisors had been issued with: safety vest, all-weather jacket and stop–go baton. This legacy would follow him for years. He would arrive at an electorate function and someone would always call out, ‘Didn’t hear you coming, Norm. Should’ve blown a whistle.’ He took it all in good humour, and as was often reported back to branch meetings, you did not read about bad accidents at school crossings anymore. The program worked.

The second was the introduction of compulsory physical education in Victorian government schools. At least 20 minutes of supervised exercise for early years of primary school was built on what many schools were already doing voluntarily. That made it consistent across the state. It earned him more friendly ribbing. He would often be asked, ‘Done your 20 minutes, Norman? How many push-ups did you manage this morning, Norm?’ And it is said that Norm was once seen launching a speech with a few stretches and toe touches, just to prove he was keeping up with the kids. For this work, he was later recognised with a fellowship by the Australian Council for Health Physical Education and Recreation.

The third – and the one Norm considered himself as the most important – achievement was the establishment of the special assistance program in Victorian primary schools. Norm said of these ground-level initiatives that they gave him the chance to talk with teachers and parents about practical things without political risk and without ideological baggage. People responded to them. He used to say that he received more spontaneous comments at the school gate about the lollipop ladies and the PE program than he ever did about the arts centre. Together, these reforms – street, playground and classrooms – speak to the kind of member he was: not chasing headlines but quietly improving the everyday life of the community he served.

Beyond Parliament, Norm was a father and a grandfather. His daughter Sharon, who spoke so beautifully at the funeral, wryly recalled the tall tales politicians used to get away with in the era before social media and 24-hour news cycles. His daughters found one clipping from a newspaper in 1973 featuring a photo of the new member with his young family and their Shetland pony. However, as Sharon noted, none of his daughters can remember ever actually owning a Shetland pony. His family remembers Norm as fabulously fun and shared that, like most politicians, Norm was big on inducements. If the children behaved themselves in church on a Sunday, they got a Violet Crumble on the way home. If they helped out in handing out how-to-vote cards at an election, they got a Big M as well.

In Parliament he let his children do cartwheels in Queens Hall when the guards were not watching. He likened the politics of the cabinet room to the story tales of the Brothers Grimm. He was a man that was mischievous and irreverent. He was a man with an open mind and a passion for new information.

In closing, his family told us he was still learning new things on YouTube right up until his death. By example, he showed his children resilience and tenaciousness. He showed them that it was okay to be sad, that sometimes you lose and that graciousness is the better measure of success. He made sure that they knew he was proud of them. He taught them to be brave and to see the world. He had created his own opportunities, and he urged them to do the same. He made them believe they could do anything. Two wives, four children, six grandchildren – as was said, his love was limitless. In him we have lost a man larger than life. Vale, Norman Henry Lacy.

 Will FOWLES (Ringwood) (13:36): I rise to speak on the condolence motion for the Honourable Norman Henry Lacy, a former member for Ringwood, member for Warrandyte and Minister for the Arts and Minister of Educational Services. I have quickly edited this speech to remove those matters that have already been covered by my colleagues. As the current member for Ringwood, it is a particular privilege to acknowledge one of my predecessors, even though he became the member for Ringwood before my parents had even met. I extend sincere condolences to his wife Gayle; children Fiona, Sharon, Kirsten and Henry; and his grandchildren, extended family and many friends. It was lovely to meet many of them at his recent memorial service.

Norman lived a life that was defined by service but also by reinvention. Few people, I think, can claim to have been a plumber, a priest and a parliamentarian. Most people spend a lifetime building one career; Norman seemed to have built several. Each chapter of his life was different, but all reflected a desire to contribute and leave institutions stronger than he found them. He was elected as the member for Ringwood in 1973, at a time when the area was growing rapidly and finding its identity as Melbourne expanded eastward. Indeed when he was elected Ringwood was a very different place. Eastland was still relatively new, and Melbourne’s eastern suburbs were continuing to grow. Communities like mine were simply establishing their identities. More than 50 years later much has changed, but the responsibility of course remains the same: to leave the community better than we find it. One of the most remarkable aspects of his story, I think, was the adversity he faced early in life, which others have alluded to. Rather than becoming bitter, he channelled those hardships into faith, into learning, into public service and into community involvement. He often credited sport with helping him through those years. He represented Victoria in basketball and developed the discipline of teamwork and resilience that would remain with him throughout his life.

He was a parliamentarian of principle. He belonged to a generation of parliamentarians who saw ideas and reform as central to public life. He was known as thoughtful, intellectually curious and willing to take a position based on principle. In fact he was not somebody who discovered these principles after entering Parliament. As a young Anglican priest he joined those protesting the execution of Ronald Ryan, Australia’s last judicial hanging. He was there on the day that Ryan was hanged. Years later, as a member of Parliament, he became a strong advocate for the abolition of capital punishment. There are not many people who can say they fought the same cause from both sides of the gates. Whether people agreed with him or not, it demonstrated a characteristic that remained with him throughout his life. He was prepared to take a position, defend it and accept the consequences. Indeed, looking back over his career, it is clear that Norman Lacy seemed remarkably comfortable being unpopular. Whether it was capital punishment, education reform or social policy, he was prepared to advance ideas that attracted criticism if he believed they were right. He understood that leadership and popularity are not always the same thing, and he earned respect from colleagues across the political divide through the seriousness with which he approached public policy. He understood that politics was not simply about winning the argument, it was about improving people’s lives.

His lasting contributions were significant, with a mark particularly on Victoria’s cultural landscape. He had a major role, as others have said, in the development of the Victorian Arts Centre, including the iconic photograph of him installing the lightning rod at the top of the Victorian Arts Centre spire, but also in supporting the establishment of Film Victoria and helping establish the Australian Children’s Television Foundation, as well as in the creation of what became the Heide Museum of Modern Art.

Many Victorians enjoy these institutions today. They will not necessarily connect them with him, but that is a remarkable legacy. His legacy, too, is in education as a champion of literacy and numeracy intervention. He established the special assistance program and the deployment of specialist teachers into Victorian primary schools, a remarkable legacy, and long before intervention became a widely used phrase he understood that helping children early could change the trajectory of a life.

There are not many cabinet ministers whose life story includes plumbing pipes, preaching sermons, protesting outside Pentridge and helping build the arts centre, but Norm Lacy was one of them. He leaves behind a substantial legacy in Victorian public life, and more importantly, he leaves behind a family who loved him and many people whose lives were enriched by knowing him. On behalf of the people of Ringwood, I extend my condolences to his family. Vale, Norman Lacy.

Motion agreed to in silence, members showing unanimous agreement by standing in their places.

 Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (13:41): I move:

That, as a further mark of respect to the memory of the late Honourable Robert Ian Knowles AO and the late Honourable Norman Henry Lacy, the house now adjourns until 2:45 pm today.

Motion agreed to.

House adjourned 1:42 pm.

The SPEAKER took the chair at 2:47 pm.

The SPEAKER: I acknowledge in the gallery the former member for Lara and former minister John Eren.