VALE Vaughan Johnson OAM - as reliable as the sunrise to be persistent in any cause he pursued
On Sunday, 22nd January, we received the tragic news that a great friend and supporter of the Road Freight Transport Industry, Vaughan Johnson OAM had passed away.
Vaughan was certainly a character and on occasions could be controversial but was authentic in every way and enjoyed many friendships across the Parliament and Queensland generally.
He was born on 20 July 1947 in Bourke, NSW but before long his family had moved to Quilpie where he established his political career on the local council before winning the seat of Gregory in late 1989. Vaughan’s first speech to Parliament was on the 7 March 1990 where from the outset he set out his purpose to represent the best interests of country and regional Queensland.
When Rob Borbidge became Premier in 1996, Vaughan was appointed Minister for Transport and Main Roads on 26 February 1996 and he set about his ministerial task with great enthusiasm. A feature of his time as Minister was the passage of legislation to adopt speed cameras in Queensland which was assented to on 9 December 1996. Vaughan’s leadership and enthusiasm in road safety paved the way to launch the very successful Campaign 300 along with the Fatal 4 message which was a fully integrated campaign with Qld Police Service, media outlets, local government and many key stakeholders. These reforms had an extraordinary result for Qld Road safety as the road toll reduced from 385 in 1996 to 279 by 1998 the lowest toll in 35 years at the time.
In June 1998 Vaughan returned to the backbench after the Borbidge government lost the election and he undertook a number of roles over the years as the Opposition spokesperson in several different portfolios.
Other key achievements in his political career were being appointed the Deputy Leader of the Opposition from March 2001 to February 2003 and being the Government Whip during the Newman Government. He retired from the Queensland Parliament in 2015 and in 2020 he was awarded a medal of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honours List.
On a personal level and as an industry we enjoyed a great friendship with Vaughan for almost 30 years. Many of us shared trips and social occasions where the subject was almost always centred around country Qld. As a friend or as your boss (as a Minister) or when briefing him on an industry issue he was unfailingly respectful and principled in his approach.
He was a diligent and committed supporter who always made himself available and did his best as a champion of the bush. His word was a bond he would not break, was great company and he was as reliable as the sunrise to be persistent in any cause he pursued. What more could you ask for.
We are deeply saddened and pass on our thoughts and condolences to his family.
