LABOR luminary and former Governor General Bill Hayden has been farewelled by family, friends and political heavyweights at a state Funeral Mass at St Mary’s Church, Ipswich today.
Ipswich parish priest Franciscan Father Stephen Bliss celebrated the Funeral Mass with Vicar for Administration Fr Peter Dillon and Tasmania-based Fr Michael Tate concelebrating and Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge sat in choir.
He is survived by his wife of 63 years Dallas, and three of their four children, Georgina, Kirk and Ingrid.
Also there were former governors-general Quentin Bryce and Peter Cosgrove, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, politicians Jim Chalmers, Wayne Swan, Pauline Hanson, Cameron Dick and Milton Dick.
Mercy Sister Angela Mary Doyle, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and former prime minister Paul Keating spoke at the funeral Mass.
Governor-General David Hurley delivered the first reading.
In his homily, Fr Bliss said Mr Hayden was a “true advocate for the poor and marginalised, dedicating his life to providing essential services to the people of Australia”.
Fr Bliss spoke about Mr Hayden’s conversion from atheism to Catholicism later in life and how he went to God not heralded by a long list of credentials and titles, but as a “son of God”.
“Bill went to God with a clear mind, knowing he was loved by his family and others, realising as a human and a sinner, he will be judged by the same criteria all of us will be judged.
“The criteria Jesus speaks about in the gospel today.
“It’s on this basis, on that criteria, that we are filled with so much hope today.
“Because Bill was a man of faith who took that criteria seriously – to extend love to others in a real and tangible way.
“If we can do that in public office, if we can do that in church, if we can do that in family life, our world is going to be a better place.”
Sr Doyle knew Mr Hayden for decades in professional and social settings before his conversion and had been instrumental in his conversion to the Catholic faith later in life.
Mr Hayden was baptised as a Catholic at the age of 85 after a lifetime as a declared atheist.
“There’s been a gnawing pain in my heart and soul about what is the meaning of life. What’s my role in it?” Mr Hayden said in an interview with The Catholic Leader in 2018.
“This took too long, and now I am going to be devoted.
“From this day forward I’m going to vouch for God,” Mr Hayden told The Catholic Leader as he prepared to be welcomed into St Mary’s Church, where he was remembered today.
Mr Hayden attributed his conversion to the influence of his own mother, who was Catholic, and of the Ursuline Sisters, who taught him at primary school in inner-city Brisbane, and who stressed the principles of humanity, social commitment and service to others.
However, it was a hospital visit to see Sister of Mercy Angela Mary Doyle that proved the pivotal moment in Mr Hayden’s faith journey.
“I have always felt embraced and loved by her Christian example,” Mr Hayden said, of the 98-year-old, who has been a lifelong inspiration of service to him, and who was among the congregation at the baptism.
“Sister Angela Mary Doyle was for 22 years administrator of Mater hospitals in Brisbane – a citadel of health care for the poor of South Brisbane where I grew up towards the end of the Great Depression,” he wrote in a letter to friends before the baptism.
“Dallas (my wife), our daughter Ingrid and I recently visited Sister Angela Mary in the Mater Hospital where she was a patient.
“The next morning I woke with the strong sense that I had been in the presence of a holy woman.
“So after dwelling on these things I found my way back to the core of those beliefs – the Church.”
At his funeral Mass, Sr Doyle said Mr Hayden was driven deeply into atheism when his five-year-old daughter was killed in a road incident.
He was a “committed atheist” for most of his life but remained steadfast in his commitment to serving those in need.
“May the soul of our much-loved Bill Hayden rest forever in the arms of God who called him home,” she said.
Mr Hayden was born in Brisbane in 1933.
He embarked on a political journey that spanned several decades.
Beginning as a police officer in Queensland, he transitioned into a political career within the Australian Labor Party.
Mr Hayden represented the electorate of Oxley in the Australian House of Representatives, and he assumed various ministerial roles, including Minister for Social Security, Minister for Health, and Minister for Foreign Affairs.
As Minister for Foreign Affairs, he staunchly opposed apartheid in South Africa and championed human rights.
In 1977, he took the reins as the leader of the ALP, focusing on economic policies and social justice, but internal divisions within the party led to his resignation in 1983.
Subsequently, Mr Hayden served as the Governor-General of Australia from 1989.
He retired from this role in 1996, and after leaving public office, he remained active in charitable and community initiatives, leaving a lasting legacy in Australian politics and public service.
The Mass ended with a guard of honour by Australia’s Federation Guard, soldiers and aviators from the Royal Australian Air Force Base Amberley and students at St Mary’s College and St Edmund’s College as well as a fly-past by the Royal Australian Air Force.
