Born to parents Toby and Grace on March 22, 1928, the middle brother to David and Peg, Peter James Nixon grew up on a farm at Jarrahmond, west of Orbost.
Growing up on the farm in the post-depression era, life was tough.
He spent his early years fishing, shooting and helping with the chores on the farm. Joining his neighbours the Russells and Trewins, they would ride their ponies bareback to school.
During the war years Peter was sent to boarding school at Wesley College, making lifelong friends and developing a keen love of mathematics and economics.
He was the drummer for assembly, sang in the choir and involved himself in cricket, football and chess.
It was here that Peter developed his great love for football and particularly the Richmond Football Club.
After playing for Wesley in the morning, Peter and his mates would go to Punt Road to watch the Tigers play.
It was after one such game that the legendary Jack Dyer invited the three boys into the club rooms.
They were hooked and bled yellow and black for the remainder of their lives.
In 1944, in year 11, Peter spent six months at the Alfred Hospital after breaking his hip while playing football.
With much spare time on his hands, he spent many hours reading all kinds of books and newspapers.
This is where his interest in politics began.
On release from hospital Peter returned to the farm on the banks of the Snowy River. He also began studying agriculture at Burnley part time.
Peter busied himself with the chores of the day, working with the Italian POWs who helped with growing maize, vegetables and the dairy farm.
He also travelled to Lake Tyers to get help from the Aboriginal community.
He would drive there in the morning in the farm truck, pick them up and then return them after work. He enjoyed their fellowship, good humour and family values.
When Peter was 19 the bank came to foreclose on the farm.
Peter sought the bank’s permission to work the farm for 12 months to see if he could make a go of it. In an era where character was judged more than balance sheets and budgets, they agreed.
He continued growing maize, beans and working the dairy, but using the knowledge he had learned from Burnley, he sold unproductive cows and a paddock, which infuriated his father.
He started raising egg chickens, eventually getting to 4000 layers.
With improvements made he began to turn the farm around.
After a couple of good years growing beans, he travelled the countryside trying to buy machinery.
Not only were his neighbours growing beans, it appeared to him that half the country was as well. He came home empty handed and refused to plant the crop.
The ensuing glut meant that he missed the financial bust that affected so many others.
Before TV, nights were spent discussing the political moves of the day over the dinner table. His father was a keen Country Party member and had strong views, which he liked to discuss.
Any spare time was spent fishing or hunting.
Good with a rifle or shotgun, this culminated in Peter winning the Queens medal for shooting and a life long passion for fly fishing.
There were annual fishing trips in freezing conditions to Lake Eucumbene with friends Jack Trewin and Jim Nixon, and later with Michael Yule and the Tasmania crew, Doug Anthony and Malcom Frazer.
It was around this time that he was introduced to an attractive young lady from nearby Bairnsdale called Sally, who was visiting Orbost to play golf.
He would have to work hard to win her affection.
One day Sally informed Peter that she was going on a boating trip with another suitor and wouldn’t be able to see him.
Lo and behold, upon her return, here was Peter standing on the jetty awaiting their return.
Peter and Sally were married on July 27, 1952 in Bairnsdale, with a reception at the Memorial Hall in Lucknow.
Peter’s groomsmen where John Allen, Gil Richardson and Sally’s brother Bryan Dahlsen. They would be together for almost 60 years.
After settling into the end of the house at Jarrahmond with parents Toby and Grace, Sally got involved with the ebb and flow of farm life.
It was to be on the farm at Jarrahmond that they welcomed their three children.
Moving forward Peter was involved with the Orbost Show, became a life member of the Orbost Hospital board and was president of the Apex Club of Orbost.
It was during his reign that Orbost Apex raised the finance and built the 50m swimming pool that is still being enjoyed today.
Peter was also becoming quite well-known by the local Country Party branch as he was driving his father to the regular meetings.
Impressing some members he was asked to run for preselection for the Country Party in the seat of Gippsland.
But he declined, angering his father.
It was Sally, who, in an effort to maintain harmony, convinced Peter to have a go.
And so, the political journey began.
He always remembered his first preselection meeting. There was a roaring fire in a cold CFA shed in the middle of winter at Noorinbee near Cann River.
There were 12 potential candidates.
He drew number 12 in the ballot.
As the candidates droned on, everyone started dozing or falling asleep.
At nearly midnight it was Peter’s turn to speak.
As he stood at the lectern there was a clap of lightning above the shed and everyone woke up. The rest is political history.
Peter had a stellar political career that impacted every Australian. Affectionately or not, he was known as the “blue-eyed Hun” because he was the original tough man of politics.
He was a member of parliament from 1961 to 1983, being elected under the then Prime Minister Robert Menzies.
He had portfolios under five other Prime Ministers – Harold Holt, Black Jack McEwan, John Gorton, Billy McMahon and Malcolm Frazer.
It was with the retirement of Black Jack in 1968 that Peter’s best mate Doug Anthony became leader of the party.
When asked why Doug and not he became leader, he simply replied “Doug had a way of getting people to agree to what was required compared to my much more
forthright approach. We were a formidable team”.
As Minister of the Interior from 1967 to 1971 Peter took charge of giving Aboriginals the vote after the coalition successfully argued for constitutional recognition in 1968.
He drove change in Aboriginal affairs, arguing for education, housing and inclusion against the likes of Nugget Coombs who argued for funds to maintain the traditional
way of life.
Peter always argued that would cause the creation of a welfare mentality which we see so much of today.
Later, he argued against Malcolm Frazer for the same reason, in the end agreeing to disagree, rather than end their long friendship.
As Minister for Shipping and Transport (1971, 1972 then 1975 to 1979) he took on the maritime unions and started renewing the merchant Navy fleet with the launching of the Australian Star, Australian Exporter and others.
Sadly, the merchant fleet no longer exist today.
He was Minister for Primary Industry from 1979 to 1983 causing the creation of the National Farmers Federation.
While he listened to the different views of the different farm organisations he often relied on his own council on their needs and outcomes.
When confronted on his failure to act on the claims of the various farm organisations, he simply replied, “I will continue to make my own mind up on the various issues confronting your industries until you guys can come to me with a single coherent plan.”
Hence the National Farmers Federation was created.
Peter banned long line fishing to protect the tuna industry and went on trade delegations to Japan to explain the reasoning.
A strong believer in the Westminster system of ministerial accountability, he would get reports drawn, seek advice from within the public service and others and then draw his own conclusions and outcomes.
He faced many crises and took them head on, the most famous being the roo in the stew crisis of the American meat trade and the Australian dairy corp operations in Asia.
His toughest time in politics were the three years in opposition from 1972 to 1975.
Having spent many a Friday night playing Prussian Pool with the likes of Clyde Cameron and Frank Crean he would use his friendship with these tough uncompromising Labor men to get small wins for the Nationals constituents.
It started with support of Gough’s schools commission against the wishes of the Liberal party of the time.
During this period the Nats often strayed from the coalition partner if they believed Labor had a clear election mandate for their policies.
As Clyde Cameron dryly observed “the problem with you Peter is you don’t know how to hate, good Labor politicians know how to hate”.
As Peter’s political career flourished, he took to heart the advice of then Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies who said “when this ride is all finished, the only thing you will have left is your family. So, make sure you look after them”.
So, in 1967 with his first ministry, they all packed up and headed for Canberra.
Peter attended games of netball and football, speech night etc. where he could and shielded the family from much of his political life.
Peter’s children never knew until much later in life of the constant death threats or even the 24-hour police guard they had for 12 months.
Peter and his family spent holidays at Cape Conran, where they would make the long drive down the Cann Valley Highway.
Peter would spend the first week of the holidays doing the yearly maintenance, as he unwound from the rigours of political life – painting, burning around the house for fire suppression etc.
After that was done, he spent his time offshore fishing, snorkelling for crayfish and swimming.
His time in politics was marked by long absences, and in the era before mobile phones, phone calls early in the morning or late at the night were the norm.
Peter’s children always knew when he was coming home as the phone would start ringing about 10 minutes before he was due home.
He had a philosophy of returning every call he had received that day, even if it was past midnight.
His appointment book was kept on a first come first serve basis.
Case in point: He missed a state dinner for the Queen because the Club Terrace branch of the party, which, would have been lucky to have had 20 members, had booked him first.
He treated the branches and members of the party with total respect. They were his eyes and ears of his electorate.
He always sought, and if asked, gave frank and fearless advice. The likes of Bob Hawke, Paul Keating, Kim Beazly and Simon Crean all sought his advice in advancing their own careers.
In fact, when Bob Hawke asked Peter about replacing Bill Hayden for the leadership of Labor, was when Peter first tendered his resignation with Malcolm.
He was a respected confidante to members on both sides of the house.
His transition to business was equally impressive, initially with Gippsland and Northern and later a host of other boards including LINFOX.
His pride and joy was Southern Cross Broadcasting where, as chairman, together with chief executive officer Tony Bell, built one of the pre-eminent media companies of the country.
To quote Tony Bell, “Peter was a guiding force in shaping our strategic direction and growth. His unwavering integrity, sharp intelligence, extraordinary fairness, practical business acumen and deep humility made him a joy to work with”.
He became a Chief Commissioner of East Gippsland Council, reducing the work force from around 400 people to just 35.
He became a VFL Commissioner and drove the nationalisation of the game to become an inaugural AFL Commissioner and the expanded interstate league. They built the Southern Stand on time and on budget.
When asked which he enjoyed more, politics or his business career, he simply stated “Both in equal measure”.
As his friend Stewart McArthur observed “Peter was always active and involved.”
Peter continued Toby’s love affair with horses and with trainer Lou Farrugia in Bairnsdale, won every cup (Bairnsdale, Sale, Traralgon etc) in Gippsland.
Upon leaving politics his business career allowed him to spend more time at home and around the farm.
He loved getting on the motorbike or driving the tractor or doing whatever job needed doing.
He took great delight in watching his grandchildren and then great grandchildren grow and develop.
He rode their successes and failures as if they were his own and the look of pure delight whenever they rang to share some snippet of news, or walked into the room was priceless.
Simply driving around the farm looking at the pastures and cattle was his ultimate pleasure. No matter what was going on, Orbost was always home.
Although at the end, Peter was in care in Melbourne, his family was lucky enough to be able to bring him home for Easter.
He bounced around the farm in Orbost and Tonghi, admiring one of the best autumns in recent history and the cattle.
Jo cooked his favourite lamb roast and he loved the chaos and noise of the little ones.
He did indeed live a very active and interesting life.
We are all the better for being in his orbit, Vale Peter Nixon.
