Rex Pilbeam
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30 October 1907
Rex Pilbeam | |
|---|---|
 Pilbeam in 1953 | |
| Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Rockhampton South | |
| In office 28 May 1960 – 17 May 1969 | |
| Preceded by | New seat |
| Succeeded by | Keith Wright |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Reginald Byron Jarvis Pilbeam 30 October 1907 Longreach, Queensland, Australia |
| Died | 31 July 1999 (aged 91) Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Party | Liberal Party |
| Spouse | Barbara Winning Rose (m.1927 d.1994) |
| Occupation | Accountant |
Reginald Byron Jarvis "Rex" Pilbeam (30 October 1907 – 31 July 1999) was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly and long-serving mayor of Rockhampton.[1]
Pilbeam was born on 30 October 1907, at Longreach, Queensland, to John Thomas Pilbeam and his wife Ellen (née Tonks). He was educated at Emu Park State School before attending Rockhampton High School and then earned his accountancy and secretarial qualifications by external studies.[1]
Pilbeam became a practising public accountant and joined the Australian Army in 1944, serving with the 61st Australian Infantry Battalion and being discharged the next year with the rank of Staff Sergeant.[1]
On 21 January 1927, Pilbeam married Barbara Winning Rose (died 1994) and together they had two sons. He died in Brisbane in July 1999[1] and was cremated at the Albany Creek Crematorium in Brisbane.[2]
Public life
Pilbeam first entered politics in 1952, elected to Rockhampton City Council as Mayor of Rockhampton at the age of 44. Prior to the election, Pilbeam campaigned on an ambitious platform with an agenda consisting of better financial management, lowering rates, securing a more adequate water supply, sealing the city's streets, and establishing a better sewerage system for the city's residents.
Pilbeam was elected at the Rockhampton City Council election which was held on 31 May 1952, with a three-to-one majority over his nearest rival, Labour candidate Francis Baker.[3]
Pilbeam was also the Liberal Party member for Rockhampton South in the Queensland Legislative Assembly from the seat's inception in 1960 until his defeat by Keith Wright in 1969.[1]
However, Pilbeam continued to be mayor of Rockhampton City Council for a record 30 years. His mayoralty came to an end in 1982 when he was defeated by 41-year-old Jim Webber who was successful on his third attempt to unseat Pilbeam.
Upon assuming the role as Rockhampton mayor, Jim Webber dutifully paid tribute to Pilbeam's contribution to the city, but he also commented that many people thought 74-year-old Pilbeam had become too old to continue as mayor. Webber also said that his aim was to consult with more people than Pilbeam did when making decisions and unlike Pilbeam, he wouldn't be running "a one man show".[4]
1953 attempted murder
Just over a year into his first term, Pilbeam was shot in the chest by a former lover. He was shot on Lion Creek Road in the early hours of 8 June 1953, by 26-year-old Jean Frances McGregor Jennings with a .22 calibre revolver. After being shot, Pilbeam drove himself home despite his bullet wound. Upon arriving home, his wife called an ambulance and Pilbeam was taken to Tannachy Hospital where he was a patient for several weeks. Doctors said that he suffered a single bullet wound, and the bullet was embedded near his spine. Jennings was arrested the day after shooting Pilbeam and was charged with unlawfully attempting to kill.[5]
Details of Pilbeam's adulterous affair with Jennings were revealed during court proceedings in the weeks after the incident. The affair had commenced in 1949 and ended in mid-1952. It was revealed that during the affair Pilbeam had visited Jennings in Brisbane a number of times, bought her jewellery, made promises of marriage and had even stayed with Jennings at a hotel in Maroochydore under assumed names.[6]
Jennings had worked as a typist at the Rockhampton Agricultural Society from 1945 until 1950 before deciding to go to Brisbane. She worked at various firms in Brisbane before returning to Rockhampton in October 1952, when Pilbeam was several months into his first term as mayor. Prior to the shooting, Jennings had been asking Pilbeam to be reinstated in her old job at the Rockhampton Agricultural Society and when he refused to help, Jennings threatened to publicly release love letters that he had written.[7]
On 30 August 1953, Jennings was found guilty of attempted murder by a jury, and she was sentenced to two years gaol, but the sentence was suspended on a £100 bond.[8]
Following the verdict, Pilbeam announced his resignation as mayor of Rockhampton City Council and asked for the people of Rockhampton to be given the opportunity to decide whether he deserved to continue to be mayor following the shooting and the details of his affair becoming public knowledge.[9] Pilbeam was re-elected on 31 October 1953, but with a significantly reduced majority.[10]
Despite the affair with Jennings, Pilbeam remained married to his wife Barbara and the two were married for 67 years before she died in 1994.[11]
Male chauvinism accusations
Pilbeam again became a national topic of conversation when a 19-year-old librarian assistant employed by Rockhampton City Council had her employment terminated in August 1977 because she got married. Janine Marshall had started working for Rockhampton City Council when she was 15 years old, and had intended to keep working after she got married but was sacked by Pilbeam because of a policy of not employing married women.
This prompted the Australian Arbitration Commission to rule in April 1978 that the sacking of female council employees when they got married was clearly discriminatory, and a clause was inserted into the Municipal Officer Award that protected relevant employees. The Full Bench of the Australian Arbitration Commission said that the policy was not only discriminatory but was contrary to the avowed aims of the International Labour Organization and the Australian Government.[12]
Pilbeam's controversial attitude towards and comments about women became the centre of a national debate in the late 1970s. In an interview with The Australian Women's Weekly, he stated: "I deplore married women putting themselves on the same level as men, and I'll tell you why. They are 300 percent better than men. They are a better animal than man. Whoever got the idea that a woman was a lesser animal? Whether we're human animals or not, we're still animals. I've bred birds and I've bred dogs, and I can tell you the worst kind of animal you can ever breed from is a masculine bitch. Or a hen that thinks she is a rooster and crows. It's an unnatural urge."[13]
