Dr WOODRUFF (Franklin - Leader of the Greens) - Mr Speaker, on behalf of the Tasmanian Greens, I extend our heartfelt condolences to the late Reverend Lance Armstrong MP, former Greens member for Bass, his family, his wife Ruth, their three children Kim, Tracey and Victor, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, and Lance and Ruth's daughter as well, who sadly passed away when she was a toddler.
Lance Armstrong was the Greens member for Bass for seven years. Before he was elected to parliament he lived in Launceston and worked as a Uniting Church minister, a youth worker and a secondary college teacher. He had a huge public profile through his involvement in social justice, environment and peace issues. He was a member of Christians for Peace, Friends of the Tamar and Esk Rivers, People for Nuclear Disarmament and the uranium moratorium committee.
In 1989 it was a tumultuous time in Tasmania and the campaign again the Wesley Vale pulp mill was fierce. In March, North Broken Hill and Noranda of Canada withdrew from the Wesley Vale pulp mill project. When premier Robin Gray called a snap election to try to get the pulp mill back on track, Lance put his hand up. Denison MP Bob Brown had been working to bring together a team of non-aligned Independents and Uniting Church pastor and peace activist Lance Armstrong stood in Bass.
The Independents won the seat and embarked upon a huge reform agenda of protecting forests, extending the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, gun law reform and gay law reform. Lance was accused of betraying his Christian principles as he campaigned for all of these things, in addition to the decriminalisation of marijuana. He wrote a book in his later life explain how the pursuit of social justice, environment, quality and peace are entirely consistent with Christian principles. In Lance's words:
Green philosophy is about the wholeness of life for the planet and all who inhabit it. That is the witness of the Bible as God intends it. I agree. I argue on theological grounds that all Christians should support the Greens because God is the original greenie.
Lance never wavered. He shared our journey from the Independents in 1989 to the Green Independents in 1992 to the formation of the Tasmanian and Australian Greens party in 1993. In 1991, Lance introduced a bill to ensure the vote for young citizens who turn 18 years of age just before the calling of an election, requiring the electoral rolls to remain open for five days after an election is called. In passing that bill, he was responsible for the first piece of Greens legislation passed in an Australian parliament.
Former Greens leader Peg Putt worked with Lance when she joined in 1993 and praised his leadership in opposing the expansion of pokies into pubs and clubs. When it was first mooted, she said he spoke passionately about the impacts and the greed that does not care about the suffering of individuals and families.
Lance opposed discrimination of all kinds and tirelessly worked in parliament to end discrimination, including gay law reform. He had supported gay law reform since the 1970s because of his early experiences as a pastor in the community that convinced him that sexual orientation was given and not chosen. Rodney Croome described the late Reverend Lance Armstrong as a dauntless advocate for the LGBTIAQ community, someone who was passionate about decriminalising homosexuality and enacting antidiscrimination laws. Rodney said:
As a minister for religion, he was attacked by many people who found his stance deeply objectionable. He responded with grace and patience. He modelled how to be an ally of the LGBTIAQ+ community, not despite being a Christian but because of it. Many contemporary Tasmanians of faith are more accepting of LGBTI people thanks to pioneers like Reverend Armstrong.
Lance was also a strong advocate for Aboriginal rights and fought in this place for land returns to the Aboriginal community. Through the Labor-Greens accord the Greens sought to grant Aboriginal land rights and push the Labor government to introduce legislation, which only happened after the Green Independents had forced the issue by introducing their own bill.
As the Greens spokesperson on Aboriginal Affairs, Lance Armstrong described the 'great thrill' of being invited to Risdon Cove for the official handing over of the title deeds to the land and to feel the joy of the several hundred Aboriginal people in attendance. Of course it has been nearly 20 years since there have been land returns to the Aboriginal community in Tasmania.
Lance was a long-term anti-nuclear activist and, in 1990, introduced legislation to prohibit nuclear warships from visiting Tasmania's ports. He represented the Greens when he joined the protests against the French nuclear tests in the Pacific in 1995.
In 1996 the Liberal government of Ray Groom introduced a 40 per cent pay rise for politicians that provoked outrage in the community. A new party, the Extremely Greedy 40 per cent Party, ran candidates in all electorates despite the fact that the Greens had committed to personally taking none of that money. Lance decided to allocate every cent of his pay to various charities in Bass, but with a protest vote for the Extremely Greedies scattering the vote, Lance lost his seat to the Liberals by 32 votes.
Lance was a caring generous person and he showed great compassion for people in need. He diligently served the people of Bass and the Tasmanian Greens with enormous distinction. He bore the bitter disappointment of his election loss with stoicism and good humour.
After his seven years in parliament, he returned to the Uniting Church to be a full-time reverend, relocating to Albury with his family before recently passing away. Bob Brown, the former leader of the Tasmanian and Australian Greens, described Lance as 'a rock-solid Green who never wavered under repeated attacks on Greens policy, including death threats, from protecting forests to gay law reform, return of land to Aboriginal community and opposing poker machines'.
The Tasmanian Greens have lost a stalwart for Greens principles and values in Lance Armstrong. His Christian faith was his rock and he brought that principle to parliament in a way that was incredibly progressive in Tasmania in the 1990s. I only met Lance once and it was a great privilege. His passion lives on today in the spirits and actions of the Greens in Tasmania and Australia; 34 years later we continue to fight for and maintain the issues that he stood for throughout his parliamentary career.
We are so glad and proud of the good foundations he built for us as a party and for the people of Tasmania whoexist in the laws we have here today. Vale, Lance Armstrong.
