End of the dynasty
WELL that came as a shock, didn’t it?
For starters, it means that for the first time in 65 years there will be no Hodgman in state and/or federal parliament.
Which makes it quite literally the end of an era
William Edward Felix Hodgman (Will to everyone, ever since as a teenager he pulled a stunt, standing in a Miss Sandy Bay Regatta Girl competition and coming 3rd or 4th, from memory).
Like his father Michael, he always had an eye for a good stunt (even though he reigned it in to become a less ostentatious premier than would have been expected of his father).
Also unlike his father, he didn’t constantly rant about Marxist feminist lesbians taking over the Labor Party.
And unlike his Union Jack-tie wearing dad he was not a royalist. Will’s membership of the Australian Republican Movement was a subject best not broached at Hodgman family lunches.
Not that Michael Hodgman would have been anything but bursting with pride to see his son elevated to premier – a position Michael long coveted for himself but, realising it was out of reach, anxiously longed to see Will achieve.
Sadly, Michael did not live to see his son sworn in as Tasmania’s 45th premier.
Michael died in June, 2013, when Will was still Opposition Leader – a position Will had held while his father was a Member for Denison.
It had been incongruous to see the flamboyant Michael sitting in the House of Assembly directly behind his son and heir.
Well, heir in the sense that Will inherited the family political dynasty which boasted Will’s father Michael who served in federal and state parliaments; his uncle Peter (like Michael a Member of both the Legislative Council and House of Assembly); Will’s grandfather, and Michael and Peter’s father Bill (William Clark) Hodgman who started as a Liberal in the Assembly before falling out with the party, becoming an independent, and going on to serve as President of the Legislative Council from 1981-83.
Then there was Uncle Tom – Thomas Christophers Hodgman – an uncle of Bill, and a Member of the Assembly from 1900-12.
Young Will, at barely 50, is (like his father and grandfather) a lawyer and is still young enough to carve out a fresh career for himself.