Page 5785 - Week 14 - Tuesday, 7 December 2010
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He pioneered environmental studies at ANU and was the first director of its research centre. The Fenner conferences still bring together environmentalists from around the world to discuss the complex environmental challenges facing the planet. The work of the centre and the deliberations of the Fenner conferences will form an enduring legacy.
As early as the 1970s Professor Fenner recognised mankind’s impact on the environment and the need to address global warming, population growth and overconsumption. He had no hesitation in sharing his alarm about global warming and the urgent need to respond appropriately and quickly. When once asked what stirred his sense of wonder, he replied, “The Australian bush.” Perhaps that is why he chose to make Canberra home for so much of his life. Professor Fenner was one of the first Canberrans to be recognised with a plaque on the ACT honour walk.
Professor Fenner will be long admired, not only because of the sustained nature of his distinguished career and the breadth of his achievements, but also because of his humility and decency. He was a quiet, gentle and kind man whose generosity of spirit, his determination and genuine interest in others will not be forgotten.
Professor Fenner is survived by his daughter Marilyn, grandchildren Sally and Simon, and a great-grandson, Jasper. The ACT government is pleased to be jointly funding a state memorial service to be held at 4 pm on Friday, 17 December at the ANU’s Llewellyn Hall. This will be an opportunity for his colleagues and others to pay their respects to a remarkable Australian and a great Canberran whose work touched the lives of many around the world.
Mr Speaker, today on behalf of the government and, indeed, all Canberrans, I express my sincerest condolences to Professor Fenner’s family, friends and colleagues.
MR SESELJA (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition): I rise too in recognition of and respect for a truly remarkable individual, Professor Frank Fenner. His list of honours and awards, including AC, CMG, MBE, FRS and FAA give some small indication of his extraordinary achievements. This is a man who helped to rid the world of the scourge of a disease that plagued humankind for centuries and who worked to free our nation from the pestilence that had crippled the country for decades.
Hailing from Ballarat in Victoria, Frank Fenner graduated from Adelaide University with Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees in 1938 and a Doctor of Medicine in 1942. He served in Egypt and Papua New Guinea as an officer in the Australian Army Medical Corps where he started his work with diseases. His extensive study of malaria resulted in his being awarded an MBE in 1945.
After several postings in academic institutes in Australia and overseas he was appointed Professor of Microbiology at the new John Curtin School of Medical Research at the Australian National University here in Canberra. It was here in Canberra that he continued studying viruses, and particularly the myxoma virus. The study led to the use of myxomatosis as a method of controlling pest rabbit numbers in Australia. This approach could eradicate 99.5 per cent of all pest rabbits within nine to
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