Bert King

1923 - 2006

I am grateful to Bert’s family for the opportunity to speak today as Bert had a great many friends and enjoyed a high level of respect in environmental and anti-nuclear circles. I have been involved in anti-nuclear work for over two decades and this is the first week where Bert has not been an active part of that journey. His work for a sustainable and nuclear free future was a big part of his life and he made a real and important contribution to this work and to our lives.

I started work with Friends of the Earth (FoE) in 1986 and Bert stood out from the crowd from the first. He was older than most, not immediately easy going, and had extensive mining and mineral processing industry expertise. This trifecta made Bert a lot different from the big end of town stereotype of ‘greenies’ as hapless, hopeless and gullible hippies. I was intrigued and from the start Bert was on my radar screen – over the next two decades his blip grew steadily stronger.

In those early days I was struck by Bert’s precision - when I saw the scrutiny he would give to proof reading the FoE newsletter I understood why the Port Pirie smelter never blew up on his watch. I was struck by Bert’s practical nature – each week saw fundraising on the agenda with the reminder that “it’s all well and good but it’s not much point unless you’ve got a few dollars” and I was struck by his matter of fact gruffness.

In 1988 because of a combination of affairs of the heart and a desire to avoid the continuing self-congratulatory excesses of the bi-centennial year I left Australia to live and work in Europe for a couple of years. FoE’s anti-nuclear collective had a farewell during which the fulsome speeches started to sound like I was departing this existence rather than this city. I was starting to squirm until I was saved by Bert’s contribution – “Dave’s a useful enough young colt but we need to be talking about how we’re going to keep this show on the road”.

Bert used to sign off his frequent notes and news clip filled letters with a variety of by lines – The Green Guerrilla, Up the Bulldogs – or most commonly – Bert the Kiwi. Bert was proud of his New Zealand heritage, especially in the areas of that country’s approach to indigenous issues, regional relationships and nuclear politics.

One of my favourite images of Bert comes from a story he told about his early days after arriving from across the Tasman to go to school across the Maribyrnong at Williamstown High (“I was a strong, fit young bloke Dave..”). The whistle blows, the Sherrin is bounced and Bert the Kiwi grabs it, tucks it under his arm, puts the other arm out in the classic stop me at your peril pose and sprints from the centre of the ground to finish with a diving flourish between the goalposts. He gets up thinking that Aussies are soft; everyone else thinks that he is mad and a red faced umpie is shouting “holding the bloody ball”.

For me there’s a lot of Bert in that story – often running against the tide, following his own set of rules, always with pride in his jumper and never dropping the ball.

Bert might have called himself the Kiwi but he was a true internationalist. His concerns and his activism spanned a planet, not merely a postcode. He had a keen interest in global affairs past and present. He often championed lesser known injustices before they gained the headlines, like support for Cuba, Central American liberation struggles and East Timor or his concern over the legacy of nuclear weapon tests in Kazakhstan and Soviet central Asia.

His personal interests were also broad and he was as comfortable in the Whitten stand at the Western Oval as he was at an exhibition opening at the Counihan gallery.

There is an environmental adage that runs “think globally – act locally” and Bert embodied this approach. He became involved in Friends of the Earth in Port Pirie over concerns about the impact of radioactive seepage from a uranium tailings dam from the former Radium Hill located on the outskirts of town. When he moved to Melbourne in the early 1980’s these concerns came with him. Luckily for us so too did his attachment to FoE. Bert was actively involved in FoE’s food coop and was never short of a comment, a suggestion, a critique or a hand. He was an unforgiving proof-reader and a very giving provider of specialised expertise and industry insights.

Friends of the Earth is also known as FoE – and this ‘friend or foe’ dichotomy is appropriate for Bert as his politics were not just ‘anti’. In those areas where he was anti then Bert was unapologetically anti. He was anti-nuclear, anti unfettered free trade, anti US militarism and empire – but his politics also had a common, constructive and constant thread of the positive. He was a friend as well as a foe with his collections and aid parcels to Nicaragua, demonstrating solar cookers at festivals in Sydney Rd, sending reminder notes for openings, meetings and rallies and active input to a saner future through his involvement with CERES and many local government initiatives. He was always busy and engaged and Bert far preferred to unite communities than to divide atoms.

Bert’s life touched and interacted with many others. He lived with principle and passion – with dignity and decency – he was a true friend of the earth. He lived long and well and he will be missed.

On behalf of people working for a nuclear free and equitable future – from Moreland to Managua – I wish Bert’s family comfort, Bert’s friends good memories and Bert’s unique spirit ease and rest.

• Dave Sweeney

Dave is anti nuclear campaigner with the ACF.

Originally published in Chain Reaction magazine, #98, 2006