Vale Tim Fischer
August 22, 2019
It is with considerable sadness that I have to report the death today (Aug 22nd 2019) of our patron and former Chair, Tim Fischer AC as a result of an acute form of leukaemia. Tim was the esteemed Chair of the Crawford Fund from 2001-2006 and more recently has been a patron of the Fund. As many of you know, Tim was committed to agriculture and agricultural R&D both at home and overseas.
After leaving politics, where he rose to become Deputy Prime Minister, and his ambassadorial role at the Holy See in Rome, apart from continuing his life-long love affair with railways, Tim also served as Vice-Chair (2013-17) and subsequently Chair (2018) of the Crop Trust. This demonstrated his commitment to conservation and biodiversity. In his Crop Trust role he vigorously supported the operation of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault (the Doomsday Vault) which stores plant genetic material from countries all around the globe as an insurance against potential catastrophes.
Tim always gave generously of his time to those who met him and was committed to biodiversity and conservation. On behalf of the Crawford Fund, I would like to extend our sincere condolences to Tim’s wife Judy, his two sons and his brother Tony, who serves as our ACT Crawford Coordinator. Tim was a widely loved and unique Australian, who will be sorely missed.
Colin Chartres
CEO
The Crawford Fund
