THERE was a veritable who’s who of local politicians, councillors, business people, former council staff, Rotarians and local identities at the memorial service for four-time Bass Coast Mayor Neville Goodwin at the Wonthaggi Shire Hall last Wednesday, February 26.
Former local police chief Graham Sprague welcomed mourners, fitting after Mr Sprague recalled Neville being the first local person to welcome him to the area for his new posting in town.
Monash MP Russell Broadbent paid tribute to Neville’s contribution to the people of Victoria, with the former leader of the parliamentary Liberal Party in Victoria Alan Brown, Bass MP Jordan Crugnale and the Liberals’ candidate for Monash Mary Aldred also in attendance.
“Today is a day of celebration and of loss because one of the tallest trees in our community has fallen, one who was genuinely loved and appreciated, one who was able to build bridges over our troubled waters,” said Mr Broadbent.
Chief Executive Officer at the City of Latrobe, Steven Piasente, a former general manager at Bass Coast, long-serving Bass Coast CEO Allan Bawden and present-day mayor Cr Rochelle Halstead headed a strong turnout by former and present-day councillors and shire staff.
Two former colleagues, long-serving council staff members Frank Angarane and Peter Francis also spoke, recalling Neville’s ability to connect with the people he worked with, his can-do attitude and his ability to see the good side of every situation.
After first meeting Neville as a councillor on the old Shire of Bass, Frank said Neville came back on to council at the new Bass Coast Shire at a pivotal time when his leadership became the key to a successful transition.
“Neville made endless contributions to the community. He was a fantastic bloke, a true friend to many and someone who enriched all of our lives”.
In fact, the only person who wasn’t there, represented in his absence by his son Adam Smith, was life-long friend and former Speaker of the Victorian Parliament Ken Smith, stuck on a cruise ship in Antarctica at the time of the service.
The pair reportedly met at trade school in the 1960s and according to Neville’s son Wayne, his father saved plumber Ken Smith’s life, by stopping him falling off a roof, or was that stopping Ken from throwing a union representative off the roof? Likely the latter.
Speakers including Wayne, Neville’s last remaining sibling Kent, John Methven from the National Vietnam Veterans Museum, Rochelle Halstead, Rotarians Ashley Lamers and Leah Montebello, and Glen Alvie’s Alwyn Matthews, representing the local rural community filled out the incredibly varied life and times of Neville Goodwin.
From moving place to place in a policeman’s family, to starting a cabinetmaker’s apprenticeship at the Shepparton Tech, and building houses on the Mornington Peninsula to taking over a dairy farm on Hunter Road at Woodleigh oblivious of the challenges involved and getting into all aspects of life in the local region; there was never a dull moment.
His involvement in local government was an extension of his work representing the UDV during the milk strikes of the 1980s, serving as a councillor at the old Shire of Bass, as a commissioner at the City of Wyndham following shire amalgamations where he played a pivotal role in the development of the burgeoning City of Werribee, and ultimately four years as mayor at Bass Coast where the first of his heart attacks while in office failed to slow him down.
As the right-hand man for Ken Smith MP Member for Bass, Neville had a licence to help the community in anyway he could, using his extensive connections in politics to get things done.
His community involvements are too extensive to mention but his involvement in the Rotary Club of Wonthaggi and the development of the National Vietnam Veterans Museum at Newhaven are among the standouts.
As an example of his preparedness to get involved, Glen Alvie stalwart Alwyn Matthews said Neville Goodwin played a central role in the development of a community centre at the Glen Alvie Recreation Reserve attending all meetings to initiate and ultimately build the centre.
The flag outside the centre was flying at half-mast, as were the flags in front of the Bass Coast Shire Council offices on the day last Wednesday.
Husband of Lyn, father of Wayne and Rachelle and their partners Janette and Jeff, grandfather of Daniel, Neville Goodwin OAM, born September 24, 1942, passed away peacefully at home on Tuesday, February 18, aged 82.
