Bob Katter (Kennedy, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I was quite fascinated during all of my time in this place with Peter Andren. There was a precedent for him. I knew Doug Jennings, a very close friend of mine, who was in the state house. Both were men of compelling morality. They had a sense of duty and responsibility. Morality is the word that keeps leaping to my mind. My colleague the member for New England said, as every speaker has said, that Peter took positions which were most unpopular. Personally, I pleaded with him both on the refugees question, on which I disagreed with him, and on the war in Iraq, on which I disagreed with him, as I pointed out the political unwisdom of doing what he was doing because there was no doubt that it was enormously damaging to him politically. But that was not where he was coming from. He was not thinking in terms of politics at all and his attitude was if he got beaten he got beaten.

Before I became an Independent in this place, I asked the library to check something: up until Ted Mack, no Independent had ever been re-elected in this place, so if you became an Independent you knew you would get one shot at it and that was it. Peter also knew that. I spoke to him before I became an Independent. When I became an Independent he had only had one term, so he was looking down the gun barrel of no more terms. He could have got—and I feel very confident in saying this—a Labor endorsement or a Liberal endorsement at any time. He could have consolidated his position in this place and had that seat forever. But that was not what he chose to do. It was the same as with the issues that I referred to before, Iraq and refugees. For many years Peter refused to take superannuation. He and Bjelke-Petersen are the only two I know of that ever had a real moral position on such things.

Finally, on his decision to run for the Senate, again I was the person that passionately arg-ued with him. I said that he was going to be a contributor forever if he stayed in this place whereas if he ran for the Senate I did not think that his chances were very good. Again that was not where Peter was coming from. It was from a sense of morality and duty. As I have said, in public life, in 34 years as a member of parliament, Peter was a per-son—and Doug Jennings was the only other one that I can think of—that acted at all times out of a very—and I cannot give any other explanation other than to say this—deep love of their country and a very strong belief in doing what is the right thing to do. His position was, and I hope no-one interprets this as a political statement, that until the crossbenchers had the power we would not have a democracy—as he saw a democracy anyway. The argument was put out there and there were people, like me and the member for New England, that adopted that argu-ment. Whether we are right or whether we are wrong is not important, except that he had a perspective different from that which every-body else had and he was prepared to follow that perspective even though it left him with no superannuation and no seat in par-liament. He had no job to go back to and no qualifications to take him back to a job, so at all times he was looking down into his open grave—and similarly with the Senate run.

I must join my colleague in saying I felt very strongly about Snowy Hydro. I am writing a history of Australia. You cannot write a history of Australia without writing about the Snowy. While I had very strong passions about it, there is really no doubt in my mind that the Snowy would have been sold if it had not been for Peter Andren. Australia’s greatest asset would have been gone if it had not been for Peter. Some 80 per cent of Australians believed in that too, but I did not have the confidence to put up a fight while my colleague from New England may or may not have had the confidence. Peter most certainly did. He believed, I suppose, that it was really the right thing to do so he was going to do it and we stepped in behind him and then a whole stack of people all over Australia were leading and taking their own convictions forward.

Having said all of those things, one asks what you say about the life of Peter Andren. I cannot help but say that what leapt to my mind was Ralph Honner, the great leader at Kokoda of the 39th Battalion, which rescued and saved this country. His final statement in his last address on Kokoda Day was that ‘they will always be to me smiling kids forever’. My last image of Peter is this. One of our advertisements was of him in my ringer’s hat laughing at me with his hands open. I think of Peter like I think of those people who saved Australia, the boys up on Kokoda. The image that leaps to my mind is of a laughing kid forever. It is terribly tragic that he has died young, but there is another way of looking at him: a hero that should provide inspiration to every single one of us in this place.

Honourable members having stood in their places—

Debate (on motion by Mr Albanese) adjourned.

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