General News
10 March, 2023
Ian David Fletcher: 'Fierce farming advocate' and 'gentleman'
Ian David Fletcher was born in Warracknabeal on October 21 1928, the second son of John and Ethel Fletcher, and the fourth generation of the family to live at Bangerang. The Fletcher family emigrated from the Isle of Mull in Scotland to Australia in...
Ian David Fletcher was born in Warracknabeal on October 21 1928, the second son of John and Ethel Fletcher, and the fourth generation of the family to live at Bangerang.
The Fletcher family emigrated from the Isle of Mull in Scotland to Australia in 1852, finally settling at Bangerang in 1874.
At his funeral service in February, Ian Fletcher was described as a “farmer, fierce advocate for the Australian grains industry and venerable Fletcher family elder.”
Julia and John Tonkin said, “There’s something frustrating yet admirable when considering Ian’s life and achievements, as he very much hid his light under a bushel.
“While these were a matter of public record, in person, Ian rarely spoke of his significant contribution to agri-politics or his dealings with people at the highest level nationally and internationally.
“If you persevered, he would speak about a particular issue rather than reflect on his personal contribution.
“This is probably because he was a humble and intensely private person.”
Janet Addinsall added: “‘Uncle’ - as the family all called him - was not demonstrative, was independent and self-reliant.
“He had a gentle kindness for all creatures.”
Ian also had an empathetic, almost emotional connection to his private and farm vehicles which he referred to not as “the Volvo” or “the Steiger” but more intimately as “Volvo” and “Steiger”.
He abhorred people not caring for their animals or their vehicles.
After leaving school at 14, Ian worked the family farm at Bangerang with his mother Ethel and his brother Charlie.
He continued to do this during his father’s period of World War II service and after his death in 1946, until striking out by himself in 1951 to farm the property known as ‘Homebush’.
In keeping with his parents’ ingrained sense of civic duty, he also spent his time developing an interest in advocating for farmers, and donated his time to local committees.
[Bold]Organisations
Ian was a founding member of Bangerang Young Farmers and for many years was the club’s auditor.
He was also a Freemason of many years’ standing, and a lifelong member of the Country Party/National Party.
On joining the Warracknabeal branch of the Australian Primary Producers’ Union in 1955, he was appointed to its barley committee.
By 1962 he was chairing that committee and had become a general councillor of the Australian Primary Producers’ Union.
With the amalgamation of this body with the Victorian Farmers Union (VFU) in 1967, he joined the grains council.
He chaired the council in 1971-73, was senior vice-chairman in 1974-76 and returned to the role of chairman in 1977-79.
Parallel to this, in 1971, he was elected as one of the VFU’s Victorian state delegates to The Australian Wheatgrowers’ Federation, becoming vice-president in 1976-80 and again in 1982-84, and president in 1981 and 1985, representing 60,000 wheat growers Australia-wide.
Yet all this tells only part of the story.
It attests to the breadth and depth of his agri-political involvement which, as his diary entries show, must have taken control of his life for a number of years.
A random sample of Ian’s 1981 diary noted 141 days spent at meetings, conferences, and consultative groups across four continents.
However, his real and lasting contribution was far wider than this.
In March 1985 he was presented with one of the only four Victorian Farmers and Graziers Association life membership certificates awarded to that point in time.
The certificate recognised his 30 years of “contribution in effort and time in the service of organisations for the benefit of farmers of Victoria and Australia”.
As a leader, Ian had the intellectual foresight and practical acumen to cut through charged political issues to find and press for practical solutions for farmers.
His success was due in equal parts to his methodical nature, astuteness and his adeptness at reading people.
During this time, quotes in the local press showed him to be measured and concise, yet forthright.
In 1979, Ian, as chairman of the Victorian Farmers and Graziers Association’s grains division commented on the proposed legislation for a wheat stabilisation plan, looking to streamline processes and focus on accountability
“If political arguments could be put aside, then today’s talks should get down to the final structure of wheat plan legislation,” he said.
“I’m quite sure no state will delay it anymore or (that) state’s credibility will be looked on very critically by Australian wheat growers.”
He and his peers were pragmatists guided by an innate practical knowledge of the needs of farmers, and, as they were the day-to-day, on-the-ground farmers themselves, they could judge big-picture strategic decisions to maximise returns and opportunities, not just for farmers, but for the benefit of Australia as a whole.
They oversaw negotiation, and financial and strategic planning, and were answerable to government directly.
The then-Minister for Primary Industry, John Kerin, in a letter dated October 1985, reflected on Ian’s involvement with farming bodies over a 30-year span: “I regard your contribution… as an important public service and wish to express my appreciation for your efforts on the Industry’s behalf.”
The notes and minutes Ian took at pivotal meetings show that he was consultative, quietly determined and, most importantly, prepared to ask the hard questions.
His mantra was “One union, one voice”, and he strongly believed that if farmers worked together, collectively, they were a force to be reckoned with.
To the end, Ian maintained a razor focus on politics and was not short of a definite, yet informed, opinion on the state of the world.
In his earlier years, Ian attended world conferences to represent farmers in London, the United States, Paris and Argentina,
He developed a particular soft spot for Argentina and its successive political upheavals.
Wimmera Mallee residents who knew him, and particularly those who rubbed shoulders with him in the agri-political arena, have described him as “a great leader”, “a great man of knowledge”, “a reliable leader” who typified “a life well lived” and had “an empathy for all farmers”.
He is someone who was “revered nationally and internationally”.
Ross Johns remembers visiting The International Grains Council in London with Ian in 1989, and witnessing first-hand the respect accorded him there.
[BOLD] Life outside the boardroom
Outside of politics and farming, Ian was passionate about motorcycles, cars and vintage trucks.
Julia Tonkin said she remembered once remarking that her favourite passenger jet airliner was the De Haviland Comet, the world’s first commercial jetliner which entered service in the 1950s.
“I was floored when he replied ‘I’ve flown in one of those. It was a lot quieter than the Lockheed Constellation’, and he had, to America, in 1959.”
However, his private passion was family history, and was especially appreciative of the efforts Janet Addinsall made in recent years spearheading the renovation of the Fletcher grave in Ararat.
In particular, he had an affection for, and near obsession with, the Isle of Mull in Scotland, and family members were often treated to slideshows of his visits.
“I vividly remember Susan and I being given annotated ordinance maps and receiving strict and fervent instructions as to where to go, including coordinates, to take specific photos in designated directions on our 1983 visit to the Isle of Mull,” Ms Tonkin said.
An impressive adopter of technology, even in his 80s and 90s, Ian regularly spent many hours on “Dugald (Google) Earth” travelling through Scotland on his laptop and reminiscing.
Peter Martin share-farmed with Ian for 27 years and the pair grew to know each other well.
For years Ian had a Christmas breakfast with Mr Martin and his wife, Bronwyn.
He’d be there at 7.30am and would leave four hours later in time for the Fletcher family Christmas lunch at noon.
Despite his undemonstrative nature, Ian was very clannish.
He was a devoted son to his mother, Ethel, taking her on several overseas trips.
He revered his grandmothers, Grandma Horsburgh and Grandma Fletcher, and spoke often of the advice he received from them and the example they set for him in his formative years.
Many a sentence began with “As Grandma Horsburgh said…”.
Ian was deeply affected by the drought years of the 1940s and would often caution family and neighbours not to forget that “we could all return to the ’40s” at any time.
He often expressed his gratitude and admiration for his ancestors, noting that their sacrifice afforded their descendants opportunities that wouldn’t have been available to them in Scotland.
Despite spending his final years in a Melbourne-based aged, Ian’s first question of those who called or visited him was often “How much rain have we had?”
Upon hearing the answer, Ian would reply that he was unsurprised and go on to explain in detail what the synoptic chart he had seen on television meant in terms of weather patterns.
Ian had a wickedly dry, quicksilver sense of humour, although this warmer side to his personality was displayed more often in private.
A lovely example was the delight he had in recalling an encounter he had with a doctor, where he was asked to repeat three words he’d been given
Ian responded: “Well, I’m not interested in that academic ballyhoo but I can tell you the firing order of the cylinders in a Pegasus radial engine.”
Apparently, the doctor beat a hasty retreat.
A favourite recollection is from Peter Martin, who suggested Ian might like to take up bowls.
“Bowls! No way!” came his rapier-fast reply.
“Bowls! That’s Tommy Gardiner’s holding paddock.”
A deeply devout person, Ian was proud of what he called his “simple faith”: a Presbyterian faith.
True to this avowed faith, he lived by Christian principles: service, humility, kindness, community.
Even when living in aged care, he never stopped advocating for those he saw as needing it, including his fellow residents.
Despite his own increasingly deteriorating health, his determination to continue organising and advocating for his fellow human beings continued.
On identifying an area in the nursing home that was not sufficiently lit, Ian tabled his complaint at a residents’ meeting and, as a result, management arranged for a new light fixture to be installed.
Ian is to be admired for his humanity, his devotion to the service and betterment of the farming community and, above all, his selfless, unflinching integrity.