1996
CITATION
Award of Doctor of Laws honoris causa
Dr Clem Jones AO
Mr Chancellor,
Clem Jones was born in Brisbane and educated at the Church of England Grammar School and the University of Queensland, graduating Bachelor of Science and later undertaking postgraduate studies in public administration and municipal government at the University of California during the mid 'fifties. Over the period 1940-55 he worked as a surveyor and town planner, building up the largest practice in Australia, from which he formally retired in 1956, at the age of 38, though he continued consultancy work with local governments in South East Queensland through the years 1956-1961. In 1961 he was elected Lord Mayor of Brisbane by direct popular vote and held that position until 1975.
He has been described as the most highly qualified and experienced mayor in a century of Brisbane history, the best known Queensland leader of his period, and the outstanding local government leader in Australian history. During his mayoralty he transformed Brisbane, providing the social infrastructure of sewered housing, sealed roads, underground electricity cables, and an upgraded water supply system; nor were cultural and recreational amenities neglected as libraries, gardens, picnic areas, swimming pools and other sporting facilities prepared the city for its triumphant staging of the 1982 Commonwealth Games, secured for Brisbane by Clem Jones in 1974. Darwin too had cause to give him thanks as Chairman of the Darwin Reconstruction Commission, 1975-1978, but it was Brisbane and its people who continued to enjoy the ongoing benefits of his community service during his decades of alleged retirement. The Clem Jones Home for the Aged and Disabled and the Clem Jones Youth and Welfare Centre reflect his concern for people of all age and condition, and his involvement with the institutional organisation of every sport played in Queensland as well as its performance suggests that there are no limits to what one life can encompass.
In recent times the University of Queensland has been the beneficiary of his outstanding philanthropy through his endowment of the Sylvia Jones Board Room, in honour of his wife, at the restored Brisbane Customs House. His vast achievements have been recognised and honoured many times over, for example by the Commonwealth of Australia when he was elected an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1975, and by our neighbours at Griffith University when they awarded him an honorary degree of Doctor of the University in 1995. It is questionable if any person could ever equal the contribution that Clem Jones has made to Brisbane, the city of his birth.
Mr Chancellor, in recognition of outstanding service to the Community and the University of Queensland, I present to you Clem Jones, an Officer of the Order of Australia, Bachelor of Science of this University and Doctor of the University, Griffith University, Fellow of the Institution of Surveyors, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, distinguished graduate and benefactor of this University and a man for all people, for the conferral of the award of Doctor of Laws honoris causa, to which he has been admitted by the Senate of the University.
