Former MLC Elizabeth Kirkby was a rare politician and oldest PhD student in Australia 🇦🇺
Elizabeth was a thoughtful politician... she always made time to share a story I was lucky to share few sandwiches with her in Parliament House during her time in the bear pit …
With John Bell she performed several times at the parliamentary theatre… Like John Hatton, she wrote poetry and when she sang “Season in the Sun” there were goosebumps everywhere on your body …
Veteran performer Elisabeth Kirkby, best known for Number 96, has died, having reached an amazing 105 years of age.
Centenarian Elisabeth Kirkby’s world war warning
Trailblazing broadcaster and politician who turns 100 tomorrow warns developed countries must reprioritise their global agenda.
TESSA AKERMAN
January 25, 2021
A trailblazing broadcaster, actor and politician who turns 100 on Tuesday has warned western countries need to reprioritise their global agenda or they will “lay the foundations of their own destruction”.
Dr Elisabeth Kirkby, who served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service during World War II, said she feared there may be another world war in the next decade: “although I hope and pray that I am wrong”.
Dr Kirkby, who led the New South Wales Australian Democrats for 17 years, said the problems of the Middle East, the rise of China and the fluctuating fortunes of many former colonial Asian countries have created an unstable world.
“It is essential that the policies of the one- time colonial powers recognise the aspirations of these countries and allow them to develop,” she said.
“For too long, they were valued only as overseas markets and the source of valuable minerals, but the contribution they made to the global economy was largely ignored.”
Dr Kirkby, who also starred as Lucy Sutcliffe on the Australian soap Number 96, said young Australians need to be as concerned with the impact of our policies on international issues, as they are with domestic challenges.
She said instant communication via the internet, air travel and international trade meant Australia needed to give greater concern to its neighbours such as how Indonesia was handling COVID-19 and the views of people in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, not only because of the impact of global warming and climate change.
“The impact of global warming, and rapid population growth, to say nothing of a worldwide pandemic have to be taken into account by the ‘developed world’,” she said.
Dr Kirkby said the Western world faced “many dangers, mostly self-inflicted”, so it was more important than ever for future politicians to learn of the follies of the past.
“Above all, they must learn that climate change, global poverty and pandemic control must be their priorities, and are far more important than territorial ambitions and regional domination,” she said.
“In my view, if they do not accept these priorities, they will lay the foundations of their own destruction.”
Among the self-inflicted challenges faced by the west, Dr Kirkby said Australia and other countries must recognise “decades of inequality … as a social evil”, and protect democracy through wise and sensible policies to combat prejudice fostered by hate speech and extremism, as seen in the riot at the Capitol Building on 6 January.
“It is imperative that democratic governments realise how dangerous they are, how gross inequality can make some people receptive to such dangerous propaganda,” she said.
Song by Terry Jacks ‧
Goodbye to you, my trusted friendWe've known each other since we were nine or tenTogether we've climbed hills and treesLearned of love and ABCsSkinned our hearts and skinned our knees
Goodbye my friend, it's hard to dieWhen all the birds are singing in the skyNow that the spring is in the airPretty girls are everywhereThink of me and I'll be there
We had joy, we had funWe had seasons in the sunBut the hills that we climbedWere just seasons out of time
Goodbye papa, please pray for meI was the black sheep of the familyYou tried to teach me right from wrongToo much wine and too much songWonder how I got along
Goodbye papa, it's hard to dieWhen all the birds are singing in the skyNow that the spring is in the airLittle children everywhereWhen you see them, I'll be there
We had joy, we had funWe had seasons in the sunBut the wine and the songLike the seasons, have all gone
We had joy, we had funWe had seasons in the sunBut the wine and the songLike the seasons, have all gone
Goodbye Michelle, my little oneYou gave me love and helped me find the sunAnd every time that I was downYou would always come aroundAnd get my feet back on the ground
Goodbye Michelle, it's hard to dieWhen all the birds are singing in the skyNow that the spring is in the airWith the flowers everywhereI wish that we could both be there
We had joy, we had funWe had seasons in the sunBut the stars we could reachWere just starfish on the beach
We had joy, we had funWe had seasons in the sunBut the stars we could reachWere just starfish on the beach
We had joy, we had funWe had seasons in the sunBut the wine and the songLike the seasons, have all gone
All our lives we had funWe had seasons in the sunBut the hills that we climbedWere just seasons out of time
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Jacques Romain Brel
Seasons in the Sun lyrics © Edward B Marks Music Company, Warner Chappell Music France Sa, Les Editions Jacques Brel, Tutti Intersong Ed Music Sarl
