My 1st cousin Leon Bradley passed away just before christmas. He was way too young. I was flying east to go on holiday when his funeral was on and I sad to have missed it. I found this excellent tribute online at farmonline.com.au. The author has kindly given me permission to include it on this site.
Leon Bradley - an intellectual pioneer for WA agriculture
By Colin Bettles (Farmonline.com.au) used with permission
LEON Bradley was the modest but forthright intellectual mastermind behind the long-running farmer campaign that usurped Australia’s once giant AWB wheat export single desk monopoly, by relentlessly prosecuting an impenetrable argument that applied fierce dedication to objective evidence and free enterprise principles.
Leon was born to Frank and Doreen Bradley on October 11, 1949 and passed away peacefully on December 21, 2016.
The softly spoken Bolgart grain farmer was surrounded by his closest family members at the time, after enduring a long but typically courageous struggle against cancer.
He was first diagnosed with melanoma in 2011 - but unlike so many other battles against adversity, for the Australian farm sector, this time he was ultimately unable to overcome insurmountable odds.
His final days were however highlighted by a typically selfless and forward-thinking act.
Leon agreed to undergo a trial cancer treatment program, saying if that scientific research didn’t help him overcome the disease, it would help others by assisting future medical advancement, through the treatment of melanoma research.
Leon leaves behind his wife Pat and two sons Phillip and Ben while he was also a source of wisdom and inspiration to his three brothers, Brian, Graeme and Mark (now deceased), and their families.
His private pursuits were always modest and highlighted by family holidays mostly taken at quiet locations near the ocean.
Pat described her husband as a man of few words who would rest peacefully knowing his courage, wisdom, strength, kindness and loyalty as a parent and person had been passed along to his two sons and their families.
Leon’s early life experiences were spent on the family’s sheep and grain farm at Bolgart which was acquired by his father as a soldier settlement property.
Growing up on the land sowed the seeds of a life-long love-affair with farming and the productive powers of Mother Nature that would only be rivalled by his passion for raising family.
Being the eldest of four brothers, Leon was the first to leave the family farm to attend Aquinas College in Perth where he spent seven years gaining an education; starting in year six, through to graduation.
After finishing high school, he spent a year at home working on the farm before heading east to live in Victoria where he gained a degree in agricultural science while attending Marcus Oldham College in Geelong.
During this period in his life, Leon also forged his life-long commitment to the Geelong Cats AFL team.
He pulled on the boots and played Aussie Rules in his younger days, including for the Geelong Amateurs when attending Marcus Oldham but Leon was first to admit his on-field achievements were somewhat modest.
However, his sporting interests never waned; especially a love of horse racing.
After graduating from agricultural college, Leon returned to WA and was managing a farm at Rocky Gully in the southern half of the state when he first met his future wife Pat.
Despite having to call him out for committing the occasional foul on the basketball court - when he was playing and she was umpiring – the couple’s romance blossomed, perhaps aided by Leon’s admiration, albeit begrudgingly, of his future bride’s refereeing neutrality.
Leon returned to the family farm at Bolgart as their courtship continued - with large phone bills often queried by mum Doreen - before the couple were eventually married in Mt Barker on February 28, 1976.
Phillip was born two years later followed by Ben in 1980 as the family expanded eventually with four greatly loved grandchildren.
Leon’s deep love of horses and horse-racing saw him breed his own horses and take pleasure in owning several thoroughbreds that no doubt enhanced his regular study of the racing form-guide.
In the early 1990’s he served on the committee for the Toodyay Races, including time as Chairman, where he successfully fought for the reintroduction of meetings, at the popular country venue.
That committee experience also helped galvanise his foray into lobbying for the deregulation of wheat export marketing which put the name Leon Bradley on the lips of farmers, politicians and journalists throughout the nation; not always with fondness.
Leon joined the Pastoralists and Graziers’ Association’s (PGA) grains committee in 1993 in a move that provided a sturdy and fertile platform from which to prosecute and express his firm views and beliefs in the intrinsic value of free enterprise and freedom of choice.
In 1996, he became PGA’s grains committee Chair and flanked by like-minded Calingiri farmer Gary McGill, and others like the now Liberal O’Connor MP Rick Wilson and WA Upper House member Jim Chown, formed a unflinching vanguard that would take on critics far and wide, and nearby, to attack and defeat statutory marketing systems at state and federal level.
The pinnacle of their anti-AWB campaign arrived in 2008 when the monopoly system was eventually deregulated, with the purging of political intervention led by the former Agriculture Minister Tony Burke in the early days of the Rudd Labor government.
Leon’s capacity to prosecute a similar strong argument - backed by objective economic evidence about the lack of economic benefits to growers and industry – also helped to gradually erode and deregulate WA’s Grain Licensing Authority, a short while later.
A common theme driving that deregulation crusade was an ongoing and escalating concern by Leon and his PGA accomplices, about the economic losses and competitive lethargy that accompanied political interference in grain marketing.
Mr McGill said his close friend and committee colleague also planted the seeds about 15-years ago of another strong policy prosecution, backing the introduction of Genetically Modified canola into WA; a stance also based on sound logic and scientific principles but thwarted by political mischief that only served to cruel farm viability.
Mr Chown said Leon Bradley was an intellectual pioneer for WA agriculture and he and a small band of supporters had applied “significant foresight” in lobbying against the AWB and state’s grain marketing monopolies, while also backing the introduction of GM crops, to improve the industry’s sustainability.
“The debt of gratitude owed to Leon Bradley by the WA grains industry is beyond calculation,” he said.
Mr Wilson said Mr Bradley always stood up for what was right rather than what was politically popular – including among farmers - in fighting for the betterment of agriculture.
“Leon’s intellectual capacity and ability to dissect an argument and come up with an articulate response was unrivalled,” he said.
“We never won the popular argument but Leon was never concerned about that and all he cared about was being right.
“The courage it took to confront the vested interests in the industry during the AWB deregulation debate was just staggering.”
PGA grains committee member and former Chair John Snooke said Mr Bradley had been a great mentor and teacher for many young farmers who respected the value of accessing innovative technologies.
“Leon always sought the truth and never sought to be popular in public life,” he said.
“He always said to me, ‘John, let’s try and make agriculture in WA and Australia an area of free enterprise where the heavy hand of government was only there to protect private property rights’.”
Link to the orginal article http://www.farmonline.com.au/story/4413041/leon-bradley-an-intellectual-pioneer-for-wa-agriculture/?cs=5375