Brendan Nelson (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I rise obviously to support the motion in support of Peter Andren, a great man, a kind man and a man who will be deeply missed not only by Val but by those who knew him and those whom he touched in his pastoral life as the member for Calare, although of course on many occasions on policy and other matters we and those opposite did not agree with him.

Peter was born in 1946 in Gulargambone in north-west New South Wales. His father was a stationmaster and Peter grew up in a succession of country railway towns. Later in life, he talked about the need to restore rail infrastructure to ease the pressure of trucking on rural roads. He studied arts at Macquarie University and worked as a teacher, the profession of which he was most proud, before switching careers to work as a news producer in Sydney for the Seven and Nine networks. After returning to the Central Coast of New South Wales, Peter became a TV newsreader in Orange. He was much loved by his partner and childhood sweetheart, Valerie Faber, and sons, Greg and Josh. At his funeral, Valerie said, amongst other things, that Peter was ‘a man with an open heart who allowed people in’.

He was elected to represent the electorate of Calare in parliament in 1996. His success in winning his seat in 1996 came in part from his significant ability to tap into the sense of dislocation and uncertainty that many Australians felt in that era. In his maiden speech, he said:

In a world that is becoming more confusing, more threatening, far more violent and less personal by the day, people need leadership from politicians who will hear their calls regardless of the political implications.

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Lest one side or the other in this place believes it has a mortgage on common sense, might I warn that the traditional role of parties in Australian politics is under strong challenge. There is a growing awareness in the electorate that honest, effective representation of constituents’ interests can be achieved through channels other than political parties.

Whilst we might debate the point, they were prophetic words that should be well heeded by all of us and those whom we represent.

He was, as the Prime Minister just reminded us, immensely popular in his electorate of Calare—much to the consternation, I suppose, of both of our major parties—and increased his margin over the years to hold one of the safest seats in the country. By the 2004 election, Mr Andren had increased his primary vote to over 50 per cent, a result that many of us have envied. In parliament, he campaigned for greater investment in economic and social infrastructure for rural and regional Australians and worked to make parliamentary and electoral processes more transparent and accountable. His friend and our fellow parliamentarian, from whom we will hear in a moment, the member for New England, called him ‘a man of the highest integrity and the conscience of the parliament’.

At the time of his diagnosis with pancreatic cancer, a cruel disease, Peter Andren was intending to run for the Senate. Had he been able to run, he would have had an excellent chance of being elected. In fact, he probably would have been. Peter died on 3 October, in the middle of the election campaign, and the hustle of an election campaign and the travelling media sideshow was such that it meant that members here did not perhaps put enough time aside to adequately reflect on his passing and what his contribution had been to this parliament and to Australia.

Amongst the dealings I had with him when I was Minister for Education, Science and Training, trying to develop a complex reform program for higher education, I concluded that he was a man with an open mind, that he was prepared to listen to a reasonable idea and that he was prepared to take people as he found them. I also saw him as a man who constantly nurtured the inner integrity of his own intellect. I think in the end he, like people who are really remembered, is remembered for the humanity that he really showed to others, even though at times many of us envied the fact that he was not constrained by the disciplines of being a member of a political party.

We remember him today for his dedication to the people of Calare and for the high standards that he set for all of us in this place. To his family—Greg, Josh and his childhood sweetheart, Valerie—on behalf of the coalition, I extend our deepest sympathies for your loss. We are better for having known him.

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