NATION MOURNS GENTLEMAN OF POLITICS
FORMER deputy prime minister and Coral-balmoral veteran Tim Fischer has been remembered as a “gentleman” and “courageous” by a Townsville veteran.
The former Nationals leader and deputy PM died at the age of 73 from an acute form of leukaemia yesterday.
Former commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel John Salter (Retd) served with Mr Fischer, both as 2nd lieutenants in Vietnam and the Battle of Coral-balmoral in 1968, being wounded in combat.
“He was a very nice man and always the gentleman,” Mr Salter said. “From the moment he got out of the army he became a politician and he was always there doing things for people, and spent all his life serving Australia one way or another.
“He was the epitome of country stock … he managed to do his job and when he finished it, he got on with life again.”
Mr Salter said his friend was well regarded by those who knew him, and described Mr Fischer as more “mature” than the rest of the blokes, and always a politician.
“He knew what courage was all about, and what fear was all about, and how to overcome it,” he said.
“He wasn’t scared calling a spade a spade and he was never afraid of making a hard decision.”
Mr Salter credits Mr Fischer’s courage to his decision as a country boy to go against his own base and support then prime minister John Howard’s gun control laws. The last time Mr Salter spoke to his friend, an avid train enthusiast, was two months ago.
“I knew that he had various forms of cancers but the leukaemia was pretty bad … when he got out of hospital he thought he was in remission,” he said. “So it came as was quite a shock that he was suddenly in a bad way.”
Mr Salter said he was going to see his old friend next month but that their meeting was left too late.
“We had a friendship forged in battle, like all other people involved who formed friendships that never break,” he said. “We’ve (veterans) been through a lot together and we’ll continue to go through a lot together.”
Tributes from around Australia were forthcoming yesterday. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has offered his family a state funeral.
He knew what courage was all about, and what fear was all about and how to overcome it
JOHN SALTER