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Speaker, 21 April 1983 to 26 October 1984; 21 February 1985 to 20 December 1985
Australian Labor Party
Dr Harry Jenkins (1925-2004) was elected Speaker of the House in 1983. Praised for his ‘ability to defuse potentially explosive situations in the chamber’, he held the position until his retirement in 1985.1
Jenkins was born in Caulfield, Melbourne.2 He remained in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs throughout his studies, completing Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, and Master of Science degrees at the University of Melbourne. In 1951 he married Hazel (Wendy) Winter, with whom he had three children, one of whom would also become Speaker.
He worked as a resident medical officer and general practitioner before being elected as the Labor Member for Reservoir in Victoria’s Legislative Assembly in 1961. Jenkins resigned from the Victorian Parliament in 1969 to run for federal Parliament and was successful in his bid for the newly created seat of Scullin. He served on and chaired a variety of parliamentary committees. His appointments as Deputy Chairman of Committees in 1973 and Chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Standing Orders in 1974 helped him gain the experience required for the Speakership.
Jenkins was first nominated for the Speakership following the 1980 election. Nominated by colleagues Gordon Scholes and John Kerin for his ‘dignity, impartiality, consistency and control’, he lost to the incumbent, Sir Billy Snedden.3 Following the election of the Hawke Government in 1983, Jenkins contested and won the caucus ballot for the Speakership and, when the new Parliament opened, was elected by the House unopposed.
A calm and able Speaker, Jenkins maintained his passion for the parliamentary committee system throughout his Speakership, continuing to serve on and chair many House of Representatives standing committees. He also jointly chaired the Joint Standing Committee on New Parliament House and the Joint Statutory Committee on Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings. Jenkins used these positions to educate the public on parliamentary proceedings, advocating successfully for the creation of the Parliamentary Education Office in the new Parliament House and for televised broadcasting of the Budget and Budget Reply speeches.
On being offered the position of ambassador to Spain, Jenkins resigned from the Speakership and from the House on 20 December 1985. The decision was rumoured to be related to his deteriorating health.4 Jenkins served as ambassador until 1988 before retiring early and returning to Australia, where he continued to serve his local community in retirement. He was appointed an AM in 1991 and received a Centenary Medal in 2001. After a long battle with motor neurone disease, he died on 27 July 2004.
Wesley Barton Walters
Victorian portraitist and abstract painter Wesley Walters (1928-2014) studied architecture at the Gordon Institute in Geelong and art at the Ballarat School of Mines before embarking on a career as an illustrator in Melbourne. He studied life-drawing at night at the Victorian Artists’ Society and taught himself anatomy. By the 1950s and 1960s he was freelancing as a commercial artist and had achieved success with commendations and awards for his advertising work that led to his induction into the Illustrators’ Hall of Fame some 30 years later. Walters developed a love for non-figurative abstract painting, creating layered, expressionist works emphasising texture and a sense of movement. In the 1970s Walters focused on portraiture, undertaking hundreds of commissions of public figures across business, academia and the arts, including his Archibald Prize-winning portrait of broadcaster Phillip Adams in 1979 and his portrait of art collector and philanthropist, Dr Joseph Brown. He was a finalist in the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize in 1988 and 1992, and won that prize in 1998. His work is represented in major state and national collections across Australia.
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Henry (Harry) Alfred Jenkins
by Wesley Barton Walters
1985
Oil on canvas
151 x 105.2 cm
Historic Memorials Collection, Parliament House Art Collection
References
1.
M Latham, ‘Condolences: Jenkins, the Hon. Dr Henry Alfred, AM’, House of Representatives, Debates, 3 August 2004, p. 31794–95.
2. Information in this biography has been taken from the following unless otherwise sourced: J Black, ‘Jenkins, Henry Alfred (Harry) (1925–2004)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, 2021; C Jones, ‘Jenkins, Henry Alfred (Harry) (1925–2004)’,
Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, 2 August 2004. Websites accessed 30 August 2021.
3. J Kerin, ‘Mr. Speaker: Election’, House of Representatives,
Debates, 25 November 1980, p. 5.
4. E Helgeby, ‘Interview with Morrie Adamson, part 8’,
Oral Histories, Museum of Australian Democracy, transcript, 23 September 2008, accessed 28 July 2021.
5. ‘Wes Walters: 1928–2014’, National Portrait Gallery; H Ryan, ‘A collection of works by Wes Walters’, Leonard Joel Auctioneers; D Thomas and Clare Gervasoni, ‘Wes Walters (1928–2014)’, Federation University; ‘Walters, Wes’, A McCulloch, S McCulloch and E McCulloch Childs, eds,
The New McCulloch’s Encyclopedia of Australian Art, Aus Art Editions in association with The Miegunyah Press, 2006, p. 1001. Websites accessed 15 April 2021.