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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 5 Hansard (9 May) . . Page.. 1385 ..

Thursday, 9 May 2002

The Assembly met at 10.30 am.

MR SPEAKER (Mr Berry) took the chair and asked members to stand in silence and pray or reflect on their responsibilities to the people of the Australian Capital Territory.

Death of Emeritus Professor Heinz Arndt

MR STANHOPE (Chief Minister, Attorney-General, Minister for Health, Minister for Community Affairs and Minister for Women): Mr Speaker, I move:

That this Assembly expresses its deep regret at the death of Emeritus Professor Heinz Arndt, who was Professor of Economics at the ANU from 1950 to 1980 and was an influential researcher in the area of economics in developing Asia-Pacific nations, and tenders its profound sympathy to his family, friends and colleagues in their bereavement.

Mr Speaker, it was with great sadness that I learnt of the death of the eminent economist, Emeritus Professor Heinz Arndt. He died on Monday morning in a single-car crash on the campus of his beloved Australian National University. Aged 87, Heinz Arndt has left an enormous legacy to all Australians. He played a large part in the post-war intellectual life of the nation. He was one of the first to recognise the importance to Australia of the Asia-Pacific region and his understanding of social ideals made a significant contribution to development economics. Heinz Arndt was a professor at the ANU for 30 years.

Heinz Arndt was born in Germany in 1915. He gained his undergraduate degree and Masters at Lincoln College, Oxford. He worked variously at the London School of Economics and at Manchester University before settling in Australia in 1946 with his wife, Ruth, an academic also. He moved to Canberra in 1950 to become the Chair of Economics at the Canberra University College and remained the Professor of Economics at the ANU until 1980.

Professor Arndt brought new ideas about economics to our nation. He played an eminent role in popularising the Keynesian revolution of 1936 within Australia. Professor Arndt became active in domestic economic affairs as soon as he arrived in Australia. He was prominent in the Sydney meetings of economists held by the Governor of the Central Bank. He was also active in a select group looking at tax reform in this period. Professor Arndt was a popular economic commentator and was often heard on ABC radio debating matters of importance during the 1950s and 1960s.

In 1963 he shifted his focus from Australia to Asia. He was to play a major role in developmental economics, addressing the issue of poverty in Asia. He saw a gap in the academic knowledge of the world's third largest developing economy and positioned Australia to fill it.

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