Historian
Doug Tucker wrote that when Rex was elected, “Rockhampton
was a large sprawling country town with... few sealed roads, a
costly, inadequate water supply, some sewerage, few amenities, high
rates, and a huge debt ... Thirty years later... Rockhampton had
become an attractive, well-serviced, efficiently administrated city
with excellent amenities and relatively little debt.”
His
Worship, Alderman Pilbeam, Mayor of Rockhampton kept his day job with
the Show Society and was as tireless there as ever. In his new
position he leapt to work as Mayor, paving the streets, reducing
council debt and planning a resurgence of this once thriving town. He
never slowed his social schedule, still singing in eisteddfods
and participating in social sporting fixtures. As the Mayor he would
arrange the use of council land by sporting groups. As a private
citizen he would turn up to their weekend working bees, grab a
shovel, and help clear the land.
He
also had a dream. Rex dreamt that one day soon the men, women and
children of this hot dusty town would have a decent swimming pool –
an Olympic Swimming Pool. He declared that the towns aquatic
athletes should not need to travel to a 'suburban quarry' like
Brisbane to train. The pool would cost £60,000,
and Rex had a secret plan to build that pool without spending a cent
of council money. If his plan did not work, he would forgo the next 3
years of mayoral pay as penance. Rates, he decreed, were already too
high.
 |
| Ever the showman, when the new bridge opened Mayor Pilbeam organised a free concert - Rocky welcomed the important new infrastructure with a party - and mades some money for local charities - Rex never missed a trick! |
“If
you want something done, ask a busy person. The more things you do,
the more things you can do.” Lucille Ball
Rex
worked hard, and effectively. His political opponents in the long
established Labour and non-Labour Civic Advancement teams accused him
of being a dreamer. He dreamed of doing things councils they had
dominated for years had talked about, wondered and pondered upon, and
always eventually thrown in the too hard basket. The problem for the
establishment politicians was that the voters of Rockhampton saw that
Rex was delivering on his dreams. He was a 'live-wire', but when did
the man sleep?
He
was not sleeping at 9pm on the 8th
June 1953 when he was shot.
Quiz
- Who shot Rex Pilbeam?
A)
Political opponent
B)
Disgruntled ratepayer
C)
Hunting accident
Answer: None of the above.
Page 1: Perceptions
Page 2: Bull At A Gate
Page 3: Bull By The Horns
Page 4: Wounded Bull
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