Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I take the opportunity to say that I very much wanted to be associated with this motion, being the only member of this parliament, I believe, who in fact served with Clyde Cameron. He was a member of this parliament from 1949 until 1981, when he retired. I was elected in 1973, and I had the opportunity as a very junior member of parliament to relate very much to him. I wanted to take this opportunity to first say to his wife, Doris, that we miss him and also to send our considerations to Warren, Tania and Noel, his children.

It was interesting to me to take the opportunity to read his maiden speech. It is not the sort of maiden speech you would see today. It is very much one of somebody steeped in the trade union movement, steeped very much in the adversarial approaches of his time. I found more fascinating, however, his valedictory speech when he left. In a number of respects I could relate to it.

He went on to say that he had had a very good innings. He had won 13 elections. I have done one better than that at 14. He also went on to say that he had achieved something that I have never achieved—that is, he was twice re-elected unopposed. That is an extraordinary accomplishment.

But what is more important is his comments about his life being steeped in politics, remembering it as though it were yesterday; poring over his father’s weekly copy of The Australian Worker to study the political cartoons. He could still see the cartoon called The Blood Vote as though it were yesterday. He was only three years of age when he first saw the cartoon.

What was important to me was to read his commentary on the towering figures of his time. He spoke partly of me but not by name. He said, ‘It was very rare that one finds a person who is a good politician as well as being a great parliamentarian.’ He said that Whitlam was a good parliamentarian but a hopelessly poor politician, and there he referred to the Parramatta by-election which I won in 1973. Anyone who could see the merit in announcing that he would build an airport at Galston, while the Parramatta by-election was at its height could not be called a terribly bright politician.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Before the division, I was drawing attention to some observations the late Clyde Cameron made about some of his colleagues in his valedictory speech of 18 September 1980. His first observation that I drew attention to was in relation to Gough Whitlam, but the second was in relation to one of my predecessors—the member for Parramatta, Sir Garfield Barwick. His observation was:

Barwick, however, was a good politician, but he was a poor parliamentarian. I take issue with David Marr who wrote the book Barwick in suggesting that Barwick had no merit as a politician. He has this merit: He always met with, talked with and mixed with the rank and file of his party, the backbenchers. His door was always open. Had he been here when Holt was drowned, Barwick would easily have been easily elected to lead the Liberal Party and he would have become the Prime Minister ...

The Prime Minister of Australia. Clyde Cameron’s observations were quite perspicacious. Barwick had a reputation that Cameron recognised was quite worthy. He went on to say:

In just the same way, if the Prime Minister (Mr Malcolm Fraser) were to fall under a bus—I do not wish that on him—I believe that the present Treasurer (Mr Howard) would … get up to take away the leadership of the party … The Treasurer is the only one who seems to realise that whilst the Prime Minister can select all the Ministers in a Liberal Administration, when it comes to the position of Prime Minister … the rank and file are equals and every vote from a rank and file member is equal to any vote from a Minister.

He congratulated him on his good sense. Of course, he was very close to people like James Killen. Elsewhere in his valedictory speech, one will find observations about the importance of linkages across the political divide. I think that is something that is not always pursued, but it was quite clear in Clyde Cameron’s time that there were people who had very civilised and very close relationships across the political divide.

As I said, I was only a young member when he left, but I did have later contact with Clyde Cameron. It was not something I spoke about; I would not have wanted to diminish him in the eyes of his colleagues. I had the opportunity of visiting him at his home at West Lakes. We talked about immigration issues, in which he—I was minister—continued to have an interest. I was gratified to have the opportunity of meeting with somebody of his experience, background and sensitivity who was willing to talk about the issues, sometimes difficult issues, that I had to grapple with in my time as the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs.

He was a person steeped in politics, as he outlined in that valedictory speech he gave. It was something that never left him. It was something that he continued to take an interest in in his retirement. I was glad to have the opportunity to know him and to hear his perspective on matters that I had to deal with at difficult times in my career. I send to his widow my commiserations, and I am thankful that I had the opportunity of knowing him.

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