Former Grand Prix chief Ron Walker dies
TRIBUTES continue to flow after the death of influential Melburnian, developer and former Australian Grand Prix supremo Ron Walker. Premier Dan Andrews said this morning Mr Walker’s family would be offered a state funeral.
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RON Walker’s family will be offered a state funeral, Premier Dan Andrews said today.
Mr Andrews said he would talk to the Walker family to offer the state funeral in the coming days.
The prominent businessman and former Australian Grand Prix supremo died on Tuesday. He was 78.
The influential Melburnian and developer played a key role in the city’s successful bid to host the 2006 Commonwealth Games.
Friends and family paid tribute to the towering figure, saying the state would not be what it is today without his work.
He had been battling cancer and its side-effects for several years.
In a statement his family said he died peacefully surrounded by loved ones.
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Former Liberal premier Jeff Kennett said he sent his “heartfelt sympathy and commiserations” to Mr Walker’s wife, Barbara, and his children and grandchildren.
“No individual’s unselfish, consistent contribution has delivered so much to what is rightly magnificent Melbourne today,” Mr Kennett said.
“Without Ron Walker Melbourne, Victoria, would not be what it is today.
“We, I, Victoria will miss you greatly.”
The multi-millionaire Melbourne identity was diagnosed with melanoma in 2012, and attributed a lifesaving drug, Keytruda, for keeping him alive despite a dire prognosis.
According to his family’s statement, six years ago he was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic melanoma and given only months to live but he “wasn’t having any of that”, travelling to LA to embark on a clinical trial for Keytruda.
“Little did he know that it would not only save his life and give him six more years with us, but it would give him the opportunity to campaign for Keytruda to be fast-tracked for approval in Australia, and then made available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme,” the statement said.
“He will be greatly missed by his wife of 51 years Barbara, his children Jo, Campbell and Candice and grandchildren Harry, Stella and Audrey.”
In 2015, after a campaign spearheaded by Mr Walker, the drug was finally listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, meaning patients with a concession card would pay $6.10 per prescription.
The drug previously cost $150,000 a year.
The Premier said Mr Walker was a “giant of Victorian public life”.
He said Mr Walker was a generous man who did many great things the public would not know about.
Mr Andrews revealed Mr Walker contacted him shortly after his father was diagnosed with cancer to offer his assistance.
He said some of his greatest work was in the field of cancer research fundraising.
“He was a giant in stature and in contribution to the state,” Mr Andrews said.
Vale Ron Walker - a great Australian, magnificent Melburnian & ferociously committed Liberal. Ron was a wise and true friend to me as he was to so many Liberal leaders. We will not see his like again. Our hearts go out to Barbara and their family at this sad time.
— Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) January 30, 2018
Mr Walker was a revered community leader who founded Crown casino with business partner Lloyd Williams.
On Tuesday night, Mr Williams described Mr Walker’s contribution to Victoria as immense.
“I have know Ron for 60 years, he has been a very significant part of my life,” Mr Williams told the Herald Sun.
“His contribution to local government — he was the youngest lord mayor in Melbourne history in the ’70s — commerce, sport, education and health has been truly extraordinary.
“You don’t meet too many people like Ronald. A great strength of character that shone through in his energy.
“And it wasn’t an energy for himself, but for other people and this city. He never stopped.
“He flew around the world trying to get the Olympics to Melbourne. He was instrumental in the Grand Prix coming here, and then he went after the Commonwealth Games.”
Leaders of Australian sport lined up to remember the man whose love of Melbourne inspired many.
Nine-time Grand Prix winner Mark Webber told the Herald Sun Mr Walker inspired him with “incredible wisdom’’ from the start to the end of his career, teaching him about life as well as sport.
“He did take me under his wing and he was special,” he said.
“The stamina he had, the vision he had — he touched so many people around the world let alone on our shores here in Australia.’’
Webber said Mr Walker’s ideas and standards were ahead of their time and the show the Melbourne Grand Prix put on every year still left some events around the world in its wake.
“Obviously it’s not the only thing he did for Australia but that model is the benchmark, some Grands Prix have still not caught up to Ron Walker’s 1996 Melbourne Grand Prix spec,’’ he said.
Mr Walker’s close friend and Formula One founder Bernie Ecclestone has called for a “fitting’’ memorial for a man he called “Mr Melbourne”.
A statue, naming the Australian Grand Prix trophy after him and the offer of a State Funeral are among tributes to be considered.
But Mr Ecclestone told the Herald Sun something special needed to be done to recognise Mr Walker’s lifelong achievements.
Speaking from London, Mr Ecclestone said he would call on his contacts to make sure Formula One Management ``do something Ron would like rather than something somebody else likes.’’
“As far as Formula One is concerned, they should know he is the one that made it happen (in Melbourne) and without him it wouldn’t have happened.
“But I don’t think we should make it all about Formula One because he did so many other great things.
“He is Mr Melbourne, it needs to be something that is important for Melbourne.’’
Australian Grand Prix Corporation chairman John Harnden said there would not be another like him.
“He was a great Australian, a great Victorian, a great Melburnian and he did amazing things for the country, the state and the city not to mention AGPC and sport in general,’’ he said.
“He led from the front but he cared about everybody and made sure we were going to succeed and he made certain we all succeeded.’’
“There will never be another Ron Walker.”
Mr Harnden, a mentor to Mr Walker before the Grand Prix was even brought to Melbourne, said he made “everyone around him better’’.
“He was the rock upon we all stood to do whatever it was we were going to do,’’ he said.
“Failure just wasn’t an option.’’
Collingwood president Eddie McGuire said Walker left a legacy far greater than sport, business or politics.
“Ron Walker was one of the greatest Victorians ever,’’ he said.
“You have people like La Trobe who set up the MCG and great people through the years but he was in so many areas of life in Melbourne,’’ he said.
Mr McGuire said through the Grand Prix, Walker gave Victorians hope.
“The Grand Prix gave us pride and let us build ourselves into the city we are today,’’ he said.
But he said Mr Walker’s “greatest legacy’’ may be to medicine.
“To me, His bravery in the way he faced his cancer but also how he fought to get various cancer treatments that prolonged his life onto the government list has saved so many lives and given people hope of life,’’ he said.
Mr Walker was elected Melbourne’s lord mayor in 1974, and was treasurer of the Liberal Party for more than a decade.
He was appointed chairman of the Major Events Company in Victoria in the early 1990s, leading the charge for Melbourne to secure the Grand Prix.
In 2006, Mr Walker was chairman of Melbourne 2006, playing a key role in Melbourne’s widely praised hosting of the Commonwealth Games.
He received a range of awards over several decades, including Victorian of the Year, and was given Order of Australia honours in 1987.
Australian Grand Prix chief executive Andrew Westacott said Mr Walker was a “monumental man who made a huge impression’’.
“He gave us multiple events through Formula One, the Commonwealth Games, through all those pioneering things in the Melbourne Major Events company,’’ he said.
“He helped put Melbourne on the map and shape major events that allowed us tom be very proud of the city we have.
“He did that with vision, a real attention to detail and a special flair that was unique to Ron.’’
Australian Sports Commission chairman John Wylie said “Australia will be poorer for his passing’’.
“Ron was a powerful influence on not just Melbourne but for Australian life,’’ he said.
“He made an enormous contribution to this city and this country and his legacy will live on for generations of people in this state.
“It’s just an incredibly sad day because he was an inspiration and a role model
“He was a can-do person, he believed in Victoria and believed in the potential of the state.
“He was enormously upbeat and positive individual who was a force for good in this town.’’
Vale Ron Walker, a man of big ideas and great generosity. Modern Melbourne owes much to his vision and drive.
— Bill Shorten (@billshortenmp) January 30, 2018
Former prime minister Tony Abbott tweeted that Australia had “lost a great son with Ron Walker’s passing”.
“For decades, not much happened in Melbourne without Ron being at the centre of things,” he said.
“As well, he was a great supporter of good causes, from medical research to the Liberal Party, which he helped to keep together in tough times.”
Former Labor premier Steve Bracks said Mr Walker always put Victoria first.
“That was evident when he was head of the major events corporation and the Grand Prix corporation,” he said.
“I’ll always remember him for his stewardship of the Commonwealth Games in 2006. And his chairmanship of that was outstanding.”
Leader of the Opposition in Victoria, Matthew Guy, said: “Ron Walker loved Melbourne and Victoria. His generosity touched many. His achievements helped put Victoria on the map. Australia is poorer for Ron’s passing. My condolences to Barbara and all of his family.”
After Mr Walker became one of the first people saved with experimental immunotherapy treatment he began a crusade to help others access the medication, visiting high-powered contacts to plead for an overhaul of Australia’s slow-moving drug approval processes.
While his efforts were a stunning success in helped thousands access potentially lifesaving treatments, Olivia Newton John Cancer Research Centre medical director Prof Jonathon Cebon said Mr Walker’s legacy went far beyond a single drug.
“Ron Walker has been the face of many success stories in a variety of ways across the course of his life, and this is a success story,” Prof Cebon said.
“If you are talking about drugs that are going to have lifesaving potential, people can’t afford to sit around and wait for bureaucracies to grind on slowly.
“You need approvals to come through as quickly as possible and he (Mr Walker) shone a light on that.
“He was a tireless campaigner to get the regulatory systems more responsive and to enable access to patients like himself so that these lifesaving drugs could be more widely available.
“His contribution is something all of us who work in the field have acknowledged and valued enormously.”
While the immunotherapy was able to add years to Mr Walker’s life, the continued research and development in the field since his initial treatment is allowing increasing numbers of patients to have even greater success, though Prof Cebon said the treatments were still in their infancy and much more needed to be done.
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