Clem Jones AO (16 January 191815 December 2007), a surveyor by profession, was the longest serving

Lord Mayor of Brisbane The Lord Mayor of Brisbane is the chief executive of the City of Brisbane, the capital of the Australian state of Queensland, and the head of the Brisbane City Council. Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner of the Liberal National Party was sworn in o ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, representing the Labor Party from 1961 to 1975. He was chair of the Darwin Reconstruction Commission from 1975 to 1978. He was a successful businessman and philanthropist.

Public life

During Jones' 15 years in office as the head of the

Brisbane City Council Brisbane City Council (BCC, also known as Council) is the local government of the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. The largest local government in Australia by population, BCC's jurisdiction includes 2 ...

, assisted by the Town Clerk J. C. Slaughter, Brisbane underwent considerable change. In 1961, Brisbane was a city with no town planning, many unpaved streets, limited water supply and few areas with sewers—relying instead on

outhouse An outhouse — known variously across the English-speaking world otherwise as bog, dunny, long-drop, or privy — is a small structure, separate from a main building, which covers a toilet. This is typically either a pit latrine or a bucket ...

s or

septic tanks A septic tank is an underground chamber made of concrete, fiberglass, or plastic through which domestic wastewater (sewage) flows for basic sewage treatment. Settling and anaerobic digestion processes reduce solids and organics, but the treatment ...

. Through the 1960s Jones successfully led the council to develop a town plan, seal roads, improve drainage and connect sewers to most of the city. The city council, under his stewardship, purchased city properties to build underground car parks, which were then topped with public parks and gardens. In the suburbs, land was acquired for open space and parkland. Work started on the development of the

Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mount Coot-tha The Brisbane Botanic Gardens (formerly the Mount Coot-tha Botanic Gardens and informally the Toowong Botanic Gardens) are located from the Brisbane central business district, Brisbane CBD at the foot of Brisbane's tallest mountain, Mount Co ...

. In 1968, to considerable public dismay, and some protest, Jones announced that Brisbane's extensive tramway routes would be replaced by diesel buses. In 1971, Jones chose to promote Brisbane as host city for the

1978 Commonwealth Games The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, from 3 to 12 August, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics was held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with a ...

. Without support from the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...

and due to a lack of preparation, the bid was unsuccessful. Convinced of the benefits and suitability of Brisbane to host the event, Jones completed a winning bid in 1974 for the next games in 1982. By 1974, early graves at the South Brisbane and Toowong cemeteries had fallen into disrepair. The Brisbane City Council under Jones' stewardship, wished to convert portions within these cemeteries into parkland. Instructions were given by Jones to the health department to remove untidy graves, resulting in the destruction of at least 2,500 memorials. After completing his duties as Lord Mayor in 1975, Jones was briefly the curator at the Brisbane Cricket Ground (

the Gabba The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Gab ...

) and even prepared the wicket for a test match. Jones was also appointed chairman of the Darwin Reconstruction Commission in 1975 to guide the rebuilding of the city of Darwin after its near destruction by

Cyclone Tracy Severe Tropical Cyclone Tracy was a small but destructive tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin, in the Northern Territory of Australia, in December 1974. The small but developing easterly storm was or ...

. Jones stood for the Labor Party for the state seat of Yeronga in 1972 and, at

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from December 1972 to November 1975. To date the longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he was notable for being ...

's request, the federal seat of

Griffith Griffith may refer to: People * Griffith (name) * Griffith (surname) * Griffith (given name) Places Antarctica * Mount Griffith, Ross Dependency * Griffith Peak (Antarctica), Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Glacier, Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Ridge, ...

in 1974 – both unsuccessfully.'Clem the Magnificent', Labor legend, Sydney Morning Herald, 18 December 2007
He was involved in the opposition to the attempted federal takeover of the Queensland State Branch of the Party in the early 1980s, being one of several senior members of the Queensland branch to challenge the takeover in the courts. Briefly expelled for his involvement, he was later reinstated to the party and given life membership in recognition of his achievements in Brisbane. Jones was also chairman of the Brisbane Strikers, which won the National Soccer League title in 1997. Jones was a delegate in 1998 to the Australian Constitutional Convention as the head of the Clem Jones Constitutional Republic Team. He favoured the republican model of government in which the head of state is directly elected rather than being chosen by

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. Jones also established FoodBank Queensland in 1995, which helps to fund the school breakfast program.

Personal life

Jones was born in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

, Queensland in 1918. His father was a master at the

Anglican Church Grammar School The Anglican Church Grammar School (ACGS), formerly the Church of England Grammar School and commonly referred to as Churchie, is an independent, Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican, Day school, day and boarding school for boys, located in ...

in East Brisbane, Queensland, where Jones was also a student. He displayed an interest in tennis and cricket. Jones went on to attend the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

, taking a BSc in mathematics and geology. His wife, Sylvia, died in 1999. They had no children.

Honours

*Officer (AO) of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in 1976 * Queenslander of the Year in 1990 *Honorary doctorate from the University of Queensland (1996) *Australian Sports Medal in 2000 *Centenary Medal in 2001 * Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame (2009)

In popular culture

*Prior to the redevelopment of the

Brisbane Cricket Ground The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as the Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. The nickname Gabba derives from the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located. Over the years, the Ga ...

the

grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators, typically at sports stadiums and including both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium i ...

was known as the "Clem Jones Stand". *The nickname of former Australian cricketer

Terry Alderman Terence Michael Alderman (born 12 June 1956) is a former Australian international cricketer who played primarily as a right-arm fast-medium bowler. He began his first-class cricket career during the 1974–75 season with Western Australia in t ...

was "Clem", as Clem Jones was both an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...

and a cricket fan *The Clem Jones Tunnel, more commonly known as the Clem 7, was named in his honour and opened in Brisbane in 2010. *The Leukaemia Foundation of Queensland was a beneficiary of the generous support of Clem Jones who made a significant donation to the Foundation in 2005 and as a result the Foundation named their latest Accommodation and Support Village at Coopers Plains in Brisbane in his honour. *Since his death his Estate and Foundation have funded medical research in his name including the Clem Jones Centre for Ageing and Dementia Research at UQ's Queensland Brain Institute, the Clem Jones Centre for Neurobiology and Stem Cell Research at Griffith University and the Clem Jones Research Centre for Regenerative Medicine at Bond University. A scholarship has been provided at the University of Queensland - the Clem and Ted Jones Memorial.

References

External links

*
Woolloongabba Cultural Mapping Oral History

State Library of Queensland State Library of Queensland (State Library) is the state public reference and research library of Queensland, Australia, operated by the Government of Queensland, state government. The Library is governed by the Library Board of Queensland, whi ...