Remembering Arch, a man still saving lives
Arch Tudehope is being remembered as a proud father, great mate and a titan of the union movement who fought passionately until the end for those with lung disease.
His family, friends and unionists are “celebrating” Arch’s life at a memorial in Brisbane on Wednesday.
He died at age 75 on May 8, leaving behind wife Trish and children Kelly, David, Megan and Bronwyn.
Childhood friend Peter Ramage said Arch, who was a life member of the Collinsville museum Coalface Experience, was a third-generation “Collinsville-ite” who arrived in the Whitsunday region town with his parents from the fellow North Queensland mining town of Mt Mulligan.
“He was a great mate,” Mr Ramage said.
“Our parents worked in the mines, we came through schooling into the mines and more or less lived and breathed mining.”
Mr Ramage said he believed it was Arch’s passion for helping others plus the hardships he witnessed his parents live through that compelled Arch to become the president of what was then known as the Queensland Colliery Employees’ Union. Now known as the CFMEU president Stephen Smyth followed in Arch’s footsteps, a man he admired.
Mr Smyth said Arch was “bigger than life”.
He recalled the time Arch led a three-day strike at a mine after workers were told to seal a section that was on fire.
“The manager knew what was going on,” Mr Smyth said.
“He said: ‘We’re sitting on the surface and we’re not going to work until they sack this bastard. It took three days and they sacked him. The action sometimes taken by a single individual who doesn’t think something is right and they feel uneasy, can stop a disaster or a catastrophic event … he was ballsy.”
Arch was one of three founding members – alongside former Mirani MP Jim Pearce, and former editor of National Union Mining Energy communications Patty Gorman – of the Black Lungs Victim Group.
Mr Smyth said the BLVG worked “hand in glove” with the CMFEU to “blow the lid”
He leaves behind a legacy … he will be sorely missed Scott Stewart Resources Minister
on black lung disease and secure a “one stop shop” for sufferers with free screening and ongoing support and, for some, financial compensation.
Arch lobbied at every level up to the premier to make screening a reality, with about 500 miners already tested and an estimated 25,000 still to go.
Resources Minister Scott Stewart said Arch was “tireless and dedicated” to the establishment of the Mine Dust Health Support Service.
Mr Stewart described Arch as a “guardian of Central Queensland” who “did not compromise” and “always sought better for the world … he leaves behind a legacy. He will be sorely missed.”