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Scott Morrison Prime Minister, Member for Cook
The Hon John Herron AO is remembered
as a man who dedicated himself to others as a parliamentarian, surgeon and
humanitarian.
John Herron was a Senator for
Queensland from 1990 to 2002. He was Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Affairs from 1996 until 2001.
After leaving the Senate, he served as
Australian Ambassador to Ireland and the Holy See from 2002 to 2006.
The great theme of John Herron’s life
was medicine. It was tremendous life experience he brought into the Parliament.
John Herron served in the Royal
Australian Medical Corps Reserve and the RAAF Reserve for thirty years.
Following the genocide in Rwanda in
1994, John Herron volunteered to go to Rwanda as a medic. He saw things that
were unimaginable. He suffered for seeing them.
Prior to entering the Senate and near
the end of his Parliamentary career, John Herron served as President of the
Liberal Party in Queensland (1980 – 1984 and 2001 – 2002). This reflected
the great trust that members across the Party had in him.
In retirement, Dr Herron continued his
active support of medical causes including serving as Chairman of the
Australian ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Council on Drugs, and Chairman of the Royal Brisbane and
Women’s Hospital Foundation.
On behalf of the Liberal Party and the
Government I extend our sincerest condolences to his wife Jan and their many
children and descendants.
