<< Back to Lion December 2020 homepage
Obituaries
Col Wehl Hubert (Bert) Wansley AM (OW1938)
30/08/1921 – 14/04/2020
Bert attended Wesley with his brother Lansell (OW1941) (dec.). He graduated from Sixth A under Science Master TW Winn, and was quick to take up a subscription with the OWCA.
On leaving Wesley, Bert entered the Royal Military College Duntroon in Canberra. He graduated early in 1941 due to the commencement of the Second World War. He was a distinguished and strategic military man who served in the Second World War, the Korean War and, whilst not frontline, the Vietnam War. As well as numerous promotions and postings within Australia, his overseas service included two years at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in the United States at the Command and General Staff College, followed by four years in Washington DC attached to the Military Attaché Office at the Pentagon. A later posting included Papua New Guinea, preparing local defence forces for their independence ahead of the transition in 1975, a time
and people he remembered fondly. Near retirement, he commanded Headquarters of the 1st Military District, Brisbane.
He first visited Noosa in 1965 and, delighted by the pleasant rural and undeveloped beachside areas, it was no surprise that he retired to Noosa Heads when he left the military in 1976. By 1979 he was actively involved in the Noosa Heads Bowls Club when he was encouraged to run for Council in the local elections. He soon became Shire Chairman, and was re-elected for a further two terms during a period of significant change – which shaped and protected the area to this day.
Bert’s well-known strategic thinking was behind the creation of the Council’s own Town Planning and Engineering departments, crucial to the development of restrictions on the height of buildings, which enabled Noosa to avoid becoming another Surfers Paradise. Famously describing Noosa as ‘The Pearl of the Pacific,’ he sought to protect its unique lifestyle, waterways, parks and ‘hauntingly beautiful’ geography, all the while galvanising the Green movement and enabling business and tourism to find a place side by side. It wasn’t easy, as Council was always caught tightly between developers and the Greens as the character of this unique region formed, but Bert was never put off by the lively and often taxing debates, and residents and holiday makers enjoy the results of much of his work today.
In 2000, 50 years into his marriage with Audrey (dec.), the Noosa Journal in the series ‘Noosa’s living legends’ interviewed Bert on his 79th birthday.
In the published article, he reflected on the past with a precision of thought and strategic viewpoint that would leave many of today’s hot-shot young executives trailing far behind. As a military man Bert knew how to set objectives, how to carry them out and how to manage people, even though those things are much more difficult in a civilian setting.
As Noosa’s former Shire Chairman, Bert was a much-loved member of their community. Many Melburnians will identify with his famous quote, ‘I had my roots in Melbourne, but I’ll have my ashes in Noosa.’
Bert passed away in March at the age of 98, and is survived by sons Ian (OW1969) and Grant (OW1969), grandchildren Melissa, Paul, Christopher (OW2007) and Isabella and their families, and great grandchildren Trystan, Brodie, Alice, William and Annabel.