Bruce Albert Edward Skeggs OAM (11 October 1932 – 21 March 2013) was a longstanding Australian Victorian Parliamentarian who was equally famous for his career as a race-caller.
While a student at Katoomba, New South Wales, he learned voice production and microphone technique and enjoyed singing with bands conducted by his mother, Ethel.
At age 11, he won a talent contest called Australia's Amateur Hour and the local paper ran a story likening him to Nelson Eddy.
As a teenager he appeared on the Quiz Kids program, conducted by John Dees on the Adelaide radio station 5DN.
The course commentator failed to arrive for work and there was a call for a volunteer; Skeggs – being no stranger to microphones – offered his services.
He also served as Honorary Public Relations Officer for the AHRC from 1972 to 1997 and the Inter Dominion Harness Racing Council.
Speaking in the Parliament about the balance he struck, he said,[7]The most contentious area of the legislation concerns lawful sexual activity.
Many people want Parliaments to do this, but I believe morals are largely regulated by the community: the family, church leaders and, to a somewhat disturbing extent, the media.
I do not recognise homosexual and lesbian relationships as an acceptable alternative lifestyle, but the issue is one of basic justice and human rights in general.
In human rights terms it comes down to a matter of fundamental justice.Skeggs sat on many inquiries including The Review of the Trade Unions Act 1958.
Following a meeting at the House of Lords, Skeggs reported in a volume entitled Discussions with the Select Committee on the Scrutiny of Delegated Powers, House of Lords, Westminster In local government Skeggs was a long term City of Heidelberg councillor, including a year as Mayor in 1990–91.
During a WLFD conference in New York, Skeggs was witness to one of the biggest stories of the century: the 11 September terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre.
He was the Council Chairman of the Asian Pacific League for Freedom and Democracy (APLFD), an international private organisation founded in 1954 in Chinhae, South Korea, for the promotion of prosperity and peace in the region.
In his speech Skeggs said, I am no apologist for Garry David, also known as Garry Webb, but I am a stoic defender of the pure principles of justice.... Fortunately the constitution of the Victorian Parliamentary Liberal Party gives each member of it the right to exercise a vote of conscience where a position of principle is conscientiously and sincerely held.
[8] Speaking in the Parliament in 1995, he said[9]A couple of years ago I had the opportunity of attending a United Nations conference on human rights in Vienna.
Even in Western countries, including the USA, England and other so-called enlightened democracies, women had been subjected to the most unbelievable harassment and indignities.
[10] In addition to the racing honours mentioned above, Skeggs was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal.
In his last years, Skeggs was cared for in a Melbourne nursing home, and retained a love of racing and radio to the end.