53 - Friends' Memories of Philip

 FRIENDS' MEMORIES OF PHILIP

These tributes were read out at the Arboretum gathering to celebrate Philip's life.
(I tried to put these together with Post # 51, Tributes, but did not succeed.)

 John Barclay – long-standing friend who is too unwell to travel from

Melbourne

“Philip was irrepressible and seemed destined to survive into his 80s and far

beyond. One of the last moments we shared was of this unexpected loss. He was

reflecting on lost plans to continue with those he loved, particularly Maureen. I was

reflecting that I had been unprepared for the future without his friendship. We both

realised we had been defeated in our assumptions.

God is the only point of life upon which I know we had very divergent perspectives.

I respect that Philip died no longer believing in God, God as Human Ideal or God

as Real Person would appear to have little to quarrel with in Philip's life (though

possibly might find Philip more quarrelsome in response).

There is a stricture in Vedic philosophy against disrupting the spiritual comfort of

another, even with the best intentions. Philip was naturally aware of this measure

and that gave him special insight in dealing with a wide range of people, me

included. A good example coming from this insight was his awareness that with

mental illness "there is always a reason".

I will remember Philip's happy greeting and the compassion and energy he put into

a good life.”



 Rosa Gibbs – colleague and friend

“I met Philip over 30 years ago when we both worked in the same Section at ABS. 

I remember Philip as a wonderful and caring colleague and later as a true friend. I

remember his wise words and helpful advice on a range of topics. One in particular

stands out.

ABS was very good at putting people down. This was something I had grown up

with so I had no confidence and had no idea how to handle it so ended up just

accepting it and feeling useless and worthless. I was talking to Philip one day after

someone had made a less than polite comment to another officer. Philip said you

could choose to accept it, or choose not to and just watch it fly past you over your

shoulder.

Philip left ABS in 1989 but we kept in touch.

My younger sister got married in 1995. The day after the wedding, we all had to go

to McDonalds for a family breakfast. My father came and sat down opposite me and

started telling me off ..... as usual ...... and reminding what disaster I was. Yes, in the

middle of McDonalds on a busy Sunday morning. My thoughts were all over the

place - I don't need this now, I can't handle it, I can't make a scene in a public place,

what can I do? Suddenly Philip's words were in my head and from then on every

word my Father said just flew over my shoulder until he got up and walked away. To

this day I have no idea what he said after I remembered Philip's words.... .

This is just one instance of Philip's advice that has been invaluable to me.

 Jean Geue –  fellow protector of the bush:

I was thinking about Philip on Thursday 26 May at the ParkCare workshop

discussing the preliminary draft of the new Management Plan for Canberra Nature

Park. Philip was a wonderful strength in our campaign to put conservation first

during the 1999 Management Plan. The Act sets management criteria priorities

firstly as conservation of the natural environment priority and only secondly,

recreation, education and research. Government was balancing conservation and

recreation as if they were equal.

Aranda Bushland, Mount Painter and The Pinnacle were the hot-spots for the

contentious issues of horseriding and mountain biking. All active parkcare groups

made presentations to the Legislative Assembly standing committee in 1998. Philip,

Dierk von Behrens and myself created ROASTING (Residents of Adjacent Suburbs Taking 

an Interest in NaturePark Governance) Inc for those of us that  

were happy to lobby – not everyone’s cup-of- tea. There was much lobbying of politicians.

Briefing beforehand to ensure we told the same story and coffee after to discuss

how we had gone and what next. It was a great team led by Philip.

The result was the Landsberg Report which set positive and negative criteria for

horseriding in conservation areas. Philip and I walked the fire trails on Mount Ainslie

and The Pinnacle to check gradients suitable for horseriding. Government checked

all fire trails and recorded those suitable in the Management Plan. Aranda Bushland

was deemed unsuitable for horseriding and this kept horses out of Black Mountain.

Implementation on Mount Painter was well done. However, problems reared their

ugly head on The Pinnacle during Maxine Cooper’s report on Canberra Nature Park

in 2010. These problems have been rectified.

Did you know that Philip was one of four people who made Parkcare in Canberra

happen? Philip, Leon Horsnell (from the native plants society) and Michael

Mulvaney (NSW Parks & Wildlife) touched base with Tony Brownlie (In charge of

Canberra Nature Park). Tony was enthusiastic – he knew the hills were very special,

but could not prove it without community ownership to protect the bush. Mount

Painter and Farrar Ridge parkcare groups started in 1989 with Aranda Bushland

following in 1990. The first convenors were Philip, Leon, Michael and Merilyn Evans.

The vision and enthusiasm of Philip, Leon, Michael and Tony spawned the

revolution in bringing back the bush to the surprising diversity and lack of weeds that

we see today.

Philip, Merilyn with Pam and Colin Macdonald had many joint daytime activities for

kids in the early Friends of Aranda Bushland days.

Philip and Colin mapped the introduction of Paterson’s Curse with horse feed in the

Pinnacle in the early 1980s drought to where it spread a purple haze throughout the

ACT. This evidence was used in 1997 for the Administrative Appeals Tribunal on

horseriding in Aranda Bushland (Grishin vs Conservator of Flora and Fauna,

AT97/78).

He co-opted Peter Newman (light rail expert) for a week during the Save the Ridge

saga.

Philip was an inspiring leader, enthusiastic and persevering in all causes. He was a

good friend and always ready to help. I will miss him especially as we tackle the

Management Plan for Canberra Nature Park again.


 Denis Strangman,  A.M. – fellow mental health advocate

“I first had contact with Philip in the Northside mental health carers’ group and later

in connection with the Carer Peer Support roster at Ward 2 N, Calvary Hospital, and

in the U3A mental health group and its associated on-line Forum. 

“Philip was unrelenting in his advocacy for the reform of mental health in the ACT

and was prepared to call things as he saw them. His outspoken views did not

always endear him to some people in the public service and NGO bureaucracies but

they could hardly ignore them. I am sure he made a difference but it is in the nature

of the work of an advocate that their work is not always acknowledged.

“His presence will be missed. An appropriate tribute to his work would be to ensure

that the current and future residents of Brian Hennessy Rehabilitation Centre are not

left “high and dry” by Government decisions that are difficult to comprehend.”


 Eleanor Whelan on behalf of the Non-Geeks Computer Group

“From the early days in 2006 at the Irish Club, Philip was an energetic and

indefatigable promoter of the “Plain English” Chat Group on Computers and the

Internet (aka the Nongeeks Network).

Philip always gave generous credit to the late Gloria Robbins who provided the

model of an open, friendly and supportive chat group where “techie” terms, if used,

were explained for the benefit of members who were often newcomers to the

computing world.

The group welcomed members of the PC Users Group (ACT) and University of the

Third Age (ACT) and the mailing list has nearly 100 members, many of whom have

been contributing to and benefiting from the advice and support of the group since

its inception.

“Nongeeks” was ably guided by Philip himself, with support from Mike Dinn, Monty

Fox and Arthur Palmer, especially in technical matters, with John Brook, Janet

Johnson, Pearl Moyseyenko, Julian Flynn and others supporting.

I have had the privilege of working with Philip in Nongeeks over the last 10 years

and have seen how members have grown in confidence in using various devices,

although we all knew of Philip’s devotion to all things Google, especially

Chromebooks!

The group’s success can be attributed to Philip’s work in building up a self-

supporting network for beginners and experienced users of all types of technology,

to the benefit and enjoyment of us all.


 Mike Dinn from the PC Users Group

My main recollection of Philip was his passion for any topic he chose to pursue -

from highly important to less important.  He considered that Google had the right

business model, and Microsoft had it completely wrong!  He could never understand

how anybody could see it otherwise.  And in setting up the "non-geek's U3A

computer group he let nothing stand in the way of its being a great, on-going,

success. His planning and execution of the family abode down-sizing a couple of

years ago was also pursued with a passion.  He kept every aspect he could under

control, and made sure every decision was optimum.  He was willing to help

anybody on any topic, and will be sorely missed.


 Sarah Hnatiuk  on behalf of the Friends of Mount Painter

We owe a great debt to Philip for his championing of the natural world throughout

his life. The Cook community and, in particular the Friends of Mount Painter, have

an ongoing reminder in our Nature Reserve of his contribution to preserving,

improving and extending the bushland estate of the ACT. His energy and foresight

saw the establishment of the Friends of Mount Painter in 1989. He was a leader in

the campaign to extend the boundaries of the existing small reserve to include the

entire hill, with its magnificent 360 degree views over the surrounding hills and

valleys.

Building on the strong foundations laid by Philip, Friends of Mount Painter has

survived and flourished since its start. So we were delighted that, when we

celebrated FOMP’s 25th birthday in 2014, he and other long standing friends were

able to join us.

We thank you, Philip!

 Chris Dorman – also PC Users Group

Text TBA.