Mr BAYLEY (Clark) – I rise this evening with a heavy heart to speak about the enigma that is Lindsay Tuffin. Lindsay was a giant of a man, both literally and figuratively. After health challenges and a gradual decline, Linds, as he was affectionately known, passed over the horizon earlier this week. Amongst many, there has been an outpouring of sadness and stories on the news of Lindsay’s death. In talking to friends and colleagues, the adjectives that describe Lindsay have been truly eclectic. Amongst other things, he was a machine, brave, larger than life, non-compliant, anti-establishment, a vanguard and cracking good fun.
Lindsay grew up at Marrawah on a soldier settlement block and both expressed and demonstrated a profound love of Tasmania. Any interaction with Lindsay usually involved a tale of adventure and action, most often on wheels. He was an avid cyclist, famously settling into a recumbent and churning through hundreds of kilometres in an effort that left him invigorated, lean and fit. At over six feet tall, this kept him an imposing figure with a big voice and a boisterous bearing.
He was a true character, a gentleman and a colourful raconteur. Motorcycling was a passion, undoubtedly for the exhilaration, but some might be justified in asking if it was just for the leathers. Perpetually dressed in black leather with a beanie, this added to the imposing and introduced an element of an outlaw; always overshadowed by class, sass and mischief.
Lindsay’s legacy is undoubtedly in the media. In an era before social media, Lindsay spearheaded an alternative approach to media that bypassed the mainstream and gave voice to those struggling to get airtime or with access to none.
In 2002 he founded the Tasmanian Times and offered a platform to publish with few filters at a time there were no others. Anti-censorship to the nth degree, Tasmanian Times published pieces and allowed comment-based debate through a period of political time that many consider some of the darkest in living memory. This was the era of Gunns, with its arrogance, entitlement and absolute capture of Tasmania’s body politic, media and other machinery. In the words of Bob Brown, I quote, ‘he gave us exposés about the corrupt, bigoted and downright nasty figures who blight Tasmania’s future for their own advancement. His Tasmanian Times put a brighter light in the cavern of politics and business’. Tasmanian Times was influential and broke the stories the mainstream media would not touch. Many followed though and, as far away as France, Le Figaro picked up stories of Tasmanian travesties and published them in their sorry sordid detail.
For 200 years much media in Tasmania had run on silence and fear. Lindsay refused to cower to powerful forces and believed in truth and the discussion of truth. In February 2006, just before the calling of an election, Tasmanian Times ran the story that everybody in the media knew, but no one would touch – the premier’s house. He told the tale of a premier of the day, receiving kickbacks from the construction company subsidiary of Tasmania’s monopolistic logging company, seeking political favours to build the biggest pulp mill in the southern hemisphere. A pulp mill that would trash forests, pollute air, poison people, dump toxins into Bass Strait and was traded for a reno on a heritage house in a great Tasmanian political saga that was never to be told, if not for Lindsay Tuffin.
He was brave, forthright and uncompromising when it comes to scrutiny, accountability and the right of the public to know the truth. Prior to and during the establishment of Tasmanian Times, Lindsay worked at the Mercury newspaper; editor of the Sunday Tasmanian for a period of time. Lindsay dedicated his life to a vibrant media that asked hard questions of power and printed the answers. While much in Tasmania has changed, much has stayed the same and while the characters have changed in many cases, the script has not.
While there will never be another Lindsay Tuffin, we need more journos like him – committed to the story, capable of telling it, and willing to do so.
My condolences go to Sue and all of Lindsay’s family and friends. Tasmania is a brighter place for his being. Lindsay leaves a legacy of extraordinary journalism, diligently delivered in the face of power and establishment. He was loving, lovable and much loved. He will be sorely missed, and I wish him well in the world beyond. Vale Lindsay and thank you.
