Page 2046 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 21 June 2011
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Cantrade was another organisation to benefit from Jim’s generosity. As the voluntary chairperson for five years, he oversaw a job creation project for young unemployed people, a program that is credited with creating 1,000 jobs. During this time he also established the Canberra Business Promotion Centre located at Regatta Point. On top of his board commitments at the Raiders, Jim also held a position on the board of Calvary hospital.
He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2003 Australia Day honours list for his contribution to the Australian wine industry and to the ACT community.
Jim’s television ads and his well-known catchcry of “for the good times” seem to have been etched in the minds of a generation of Canberrans. Regardless of whether one enjoys a good wine, it is hard to ignore that Jim’s continued participation and generosity in time, expertise and finance have enabled many who may not have seen the “good times” to do just that. He has also assisted in shaping Canberra and providing it with a stable core of business development activities outside the public sector. This vision and tenacity should be applauded and acknowledged as thousands of Canberrans continue to benefit and will do so into the future.
I join with many people across the ACT in mourning the premature loss of a fine Canberran and in acknowledging Jim’s extraordinary contribution to our community.
MR BARR (Molonglo—Deputy Chief Minister, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Education and Training and Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation): I rise to speak in this place to pay tribute to a great Canberran. I knew Jim Murphy professionally as a major driver in the wine, tourism and sport industries. And it is his contribution in these areas that I wish to focus on today.
There is no doubt that Canberra boasts a fine, first-class wine industry, one that produces great wines and makes a significant economic contribution to this community. Indeed, our local wine industry is a major part of a $1.5 billion tourism industry that employs nearly 13,000 Canberrans every day. But it was not always like this, and most likely never would have been without the contribution of Jim Murphy.
Jim’s career in fine wine began when he took over as bar manager at the ANU’s staff centre in 1969. Not long after, Dr Reik planted vines on the foreshore of Lake George and an Irish research scientist, Dr Kirk, planted those very Irish varieties, cabernet sauvignon and riesling, near Murrumbateman. From these very humble beginnings the destiny of Jim Murphy and the Canberra and region wine industry has stretched out over 40 years. They reached heights that would have seemed unimaginable in those early days when, if you drank wine, you were perhaps considered some sort of snob or a continental dandy.
Whilst at the staff centre, Jim started to conduct wine-tasting classes and helped found the Canberra Wine Club. He also introduced such ideas as wine options dinners, an annual poets luncheon and the first ACT Wine Symposium. The symposium brought the local wine industry together in a public forum and was so successful that the industry now run it as one of their major events, in conjunction with Wine Australia.
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