Speech on Adjournment – Vale Dr Bruce Felmingham
Thursday the 20th of June, Meg Webb MLC raised on the Adjournment the passing of Dr Bruce Felmingham.
Ms WEBB (Nelson) – I rise on adjournment to pay my respects to the former Dr Bruce Stanley Felmingham, who passed away on 12 June. Dr Felmingham was a Tasmanian economist and academic who engaged with all levels of the community through being a regular contributor to public debate on economic and political issues in Tasmania and Australia. He provided his expert commentary and analysis on a range of economic issues which impacted our community in a regular column in the Sunday Tasmanian newspaper.
Dr Felmingham completed a bachelor of economics with honours at the University of Tasmania in 1972 and was awarded a doctorate of philosophy in economics in 1976 – the first PhD in economics conferred at the University of Tasmania. He went on to have a distinguished career with over 60 fully refereed publications in economics, finance and administration journals. As well as these significant academic achievements, he spent 35 years teaching at the School of Economics at the University of Tasmania, serving as an Associate Professor of Economics, head of school, Dean and research fellow. Through his teaching years, he was dedicated to supporting his students and established the Dr Bruce Felmingham Scholarship for a full time student majoring in politics and policy. He left a lasting impact and was described to be entirely committed to his students, sharing his wealth of knowledge and in an engaging and entertaining manner. Dr Felmingham also committed to selflessly serving the broader community. He spent many years as a Rotarian and was President of the Rotary Club of Hobart in 1989.
He was passionate about the social wellbeing of disabled people and was formerly the Tasmanian State Director of Crossroads, an organisation which provided opportunities for disabled people to escape the limitations of a homebound institutionalised existence.
Dr Felmingham was also a keen football player and played more than 60 games for the University of Tasmania Football Club where he coached and served as club president. He also served as a reserve and senior player for the North Hobart Football Club and was made a life member in 2002. He was inducted into the Demons Hall of Fame in 2007 and was described by the club as a wonderful person who had great wisdom, decency, warmth and intelligence.
He was a genuine friend to many and will be remembered with great love and respect by those who knew him. Dr Felmingham’s funeral was held today at the Kingston Uniting Church, where I am sure many of his family and friends gathered to celebrate his life and share their fond memories. Vale, Dr Bruce Felmingham.
