Former Queensland minister Rod Welford dies
Former Queensland minister Rod Welford, who served during the Goss, Beattie and Bligh Labor governments from 1989 to 2009, has died.
Labor luminaries including current state leader and former premier Steven Miles and Senator Murray Watt paid tribute to Welford on social media on Saturday.
'Rod was a legend in everything he did – as a terrific Labor MP and Minister, but as a Queenslander and a mate too,' Miles wrote on Facebook.
'He was a change agent, never satisfied unless he was working on reform.
'Rod had a lifelong passion for protecting our natural heritage, culminating in the creation of the Queensland Environmental Protection Agency under his watch.'
Federal Environment Minister Watt, himself a former state MP who succeeded Welford in the Brisbane seat of Everton, spoke of Welford's commitment to environmental protection both during and after his time in government.
'Rod lived his passion for social justice and protecting our natural environment every day – before, during and after his long and successful Parliamentary and Ministerial service,' Watt wrote.
'His working life delivered lasting reforms that he and every Labor supporter were rightly proud of. He continued making a difference after politics, especially on energy efficiency and other environmental goals.'
Welford was first elected in the seat of Stafford in 1989 before switching to Everton at the 1992 election following the former seat's temporary abolition in a redistribution.
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