Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to congratulate shire residents acknowledged in this year’s Australia Day honours list: Marcus Baker, Les Bursill, Ron Gibson, Tom Iceton, Terry Smith, Alison Thompson and Pieter van Breda. Particularly tonight I am sure members would join me in congratulating my predecessor as the member for Cook in this place, the Hon. Bruce Baird, for his award as a Member of the Order of Australia for services to the Parliament of Australia and to the community of New South Wales through a range of business, tourism and welfare organisations. Congratulations, Bruce. Bruce served in the House of Representatives as the member of Cook for three terms from his election as a member of the Liberal Party on 3 October 1998 until his retirement from this place at the last election in November 2007.

Prior to entering federal politics, Bruce was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from March 1984 until April 1995. During this period he served as the Minister for Transport for more than seven years—indeed, he was our finest ever Minister for Transport in New South Wales—as well as serving for periods as Minister for Roads, Minister for Tourism and Minister Assisting the Premier and Minister Assisting the Treasurer. I would say that Bruce would be the greatest Premier New South Wales never had.

Bruce played a significant role in the New South Wales Fahey government’s Olympic bid as the minister responsible, serving in that capacity between 1990 and 1993. And while much attention was focused on many others at the time of winning the bid, the true architect and the true driver over many years, working closely with Rod McGeoch, was Bruce Baird.

After leaving state politics, Bruce continued his involvement with the tourism and transport sector though his time as Managing Director of the Tourism Council of Australia, where I worked with Bruce for a period of time, and as chair of the National Rail Council.

As a member of the House of Representatives in this parliament, he had a very active record of participation in committees, serving as Chairman of both the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission and the Joint Select Committee on the Retailing Sector and, most significantly, as the Chair of the House Standing Committee on Economics, Finance and Public Administration. Bruce participated in many parliamentary delegations and was privileged to be given the opportunity to be a parliamentary adviser at the United Nations General Assembly in New York between September and December 2006.

As Member for Cook, Bruce made a very special contribution to our community but none was greater than his efforts to heal the wounds caused by the disturbances in Cronulla in December 2005. Bruce initiated contact with community leaders from both the Sutherland Shire and the Sydney Lebanese community in the south-west. This group became known as the inter-community dialogue and worked to avoid further violent disturbances between these communities and to promote understanding and mutual respect between each of these different groups.

The Living in Harmony project that was launched by Bruce sought to bring young Australians from diverse backgrounds together through the surf-lifesaving movement. This initiative was supported by our Prime Minister at the time, John Howard, and the Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, John Cobb. The effects of that hard work and effort carries on today and has flowed on into the spirit of cooperation across this chamber, evident last year when I joined with my friend the member for Blaxland to track Kokoda with these same groups of young people from our two communities.

Since retiring from the parliament, Bruce’s abilities have not gone to waste. He is currently serving as the Chairman of the Tourism and Transport Forum advisory board. In addition to this work, the Rudd government recently appointed Bruce as Chair of the Refugee Resettlement Advisory Council. This role certainly fits in with Bruce’s well-known and longstanding interest in the area of refugee and humanitarian resettlement policy issues and the respect that all sides of politics have for his fine work on this very sensitive but important area of public policy.

Further demonstration of the high regard that many people in Australian public life have for Bruce has been clear from his recent invitation from the Deputy Prime Minister to undertake a review into international education in Australia. Bruce has been charged with the responsibility to review education services for overseas students and to report to the government and I am confident, knowing Bruce, that he will undertake the job in a fine and fearless manner. We look forward to his report.

As I said in my maiden speech in this place, Bruce is a man of compassion, faith and integrity. I congratulate him sincerely this evening on what is very due recognition and I particularly extend my thanks to his wife Judy and his family, who are wonderful people. I thank them for the extraordinary contribution they have made to enable Bruce to be of such great service to our great country.

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