Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

It may come as a surprise that someone like me from the other end of the continent, from a different era, from a different chamber and from a different side of politics would seek to speak on the condolence motion for Ken Wriedt. Ken Wriedt was one of the people who helped me to establish an interest in federal politics—although I suspect unwittingly so. Ken Wriedt entered the Senate on 1 July 1968 as a senator for Tasmania. In 1972 he was elected to the Labor ministry, and Prime Minister Whitlam appointed him to be the Minister for Primary Industry. It would be fair to say that farmers were outraged by his appointment. He was a sailor-cum-insurance salesman, and he was appointed Minister for Agriculture. Farmers were used to having an agriculture minister who was steeped in the traditions of farming and probably a farmer himself.  So to have someone coming completely from outside the industry and, what is more, a senator from Tasmania—in fact, he was the lowest ranked minister in that first ministry—certainly provided a shock to the farmers of Australia. It was seen as a snub by the Whitlam government to agriculture. It was seen as the beginning of a whole series of insults by the Whitlam government towards Australia’s agricultural sector.

However, Ken Wriedt had a moderate temperament, he was personable and he won a lot of respect from Australia’s farmers. He was seen to be easy to get on with. Indeed, his appointment became something of a model for Labor Party agriculture ministers in the future. He was undoubtedly a left-field choice but, because his term as agriculture minister was perceived to be somewhat successful from a political perspective, I think subsequent Labor appointments of agriculture minister have come out of the same mould. They have been people with whom farmers have been able to identify, and they used a strategy of saying, ‘I stuck up for you in the cabinet, but all those city members would not back me and, therefore, I wasn’t able to achieve everything that you would have wanted.’

In fact, one of his successors as an agriculture minister from the Labor Party once said to me—and I will not identify who it was—that it was always easier for Labor Party ministers for agriculture because no-one ever expected them to do anything. So if in fact nothing much happened there was a degree of forgiveness. He sympathised with me as an agriculture minister from which everything was expected because our side was expected to be friendly to farmers. On the other hand, he suggested that the position of industrial relations minister in the Labor government was perhaps a similar type of role. It is almost impossible to be a popular industrial relations minister if you are from the Labor Party because you are expected to achieve all sorts of things which you simply cannot deliver. I am not saying that Liberal industrial relations ministers were popular, but at least not much was expected of them, so there was not so much disappointment.

This was quite a turbulent era. The Whitlam era activated many people to join a political party or become politically active. Country Australians were outraged at the way they were treated by the Whitlam government, and they mobilised to protest that treatment. Many of them joined farm bodies and political parties. The National Farmers Federation became strong. There were farmers’ rallies. The government itself hosted a major rural summit in Canberra.

Now I get to the story about how I actually got to know Ken Wriedt over subsequent years. I was one of the delegates invited to attend the rural summit in my role at the time as Australian president of the Rural Youth Organisation. I made a contribution to that summit which attracted a lot of attention. Shortly thereafter Ken Wriedt appointed me to the National Rural Advisory Council, which was set up to provide advice to the government on matters affecting agriculture. I think he did this for two reasons: firstly, he wanted there to be some people to give him some alternative advice to that of the National Farmers Federation so that there would be some independent thought coming forward and, secondly, he wanted to have a body that was seen to be independent to be able to back him when he was taking arguments to the federal cabinet to try to achieve some results for regional Australia.

I found the National Rural Advisory Council to be a really challenging experience. I was only about 25 years of age at the time. It taught me a lot about ‘small p’ politics in agriculture and the way in which the political system worked in Canberra. The opportunities that were given to me at that time to meet and to be involved with people certainly encouraged me to take an ongoing interest in primary industry affairs and then, ultimately, to have the privilege of being a member of this parliament.

Ken Wriedt’s achievements in a relatively unpopular portfolio were recognised. He was quickly promoted through the Labor Party and became Leader of the Government in the Senate and then Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. I have no doubt that the way in which he handled what was perceived to be a difficult portfolio like agriculture led his colleagues to the view that this was a man who could rightly be trusted with more substantial responsibilities.

In his farewell speech to the Senate, Senator Wriedt commented about the loss of country seats and how that had in fact led to the demise of the Whitlam government. Indeed, in 1974 at the midterm election the seat of Wide Bay, which had been held by the Labor Party for quite a number of years by a very capable and well-liked local member, was lost. I am pleased to say that it has been lost permanently by Labor since that time. But there was a revolt within the rural and regional communities during the period of the Whitlam but Ken Wriedt always managed to maintain his respect, dignity and acceptance within the regional community.

In particular, he spoke about some of the decisions that were made during that time, such as the decision by the Whitlam government to abolish the super phosphate bounty. He let it be known that he considered the decision to be foolish and that it showed government insensitivity. He was also taken aback in September 1974 when Prime Minister Whitlam announced the devaluation of the currency without even telling him. As he was the agriculture minister, he could have obtained some political credit for something that would be seen as a major advantage. But it all happened without him knowing about it. At that stage, he was rising through the ranks of the party. He found some of those things quite difficult. But he made a significant contribution.

Later, he decided that he would seek a seat in the lower house. That was unsuccessful. But he then had eight years in the Tasmanian parliament. Among his achievements in agriculture he named the reserve price for wool. Some look back on that critically now, but there is no doubt that at that time it was well received by the industry. He also presided over the end of support for butter production. That was somewhat more controversial, bearing in mind that the reason why support was provided for butter production in Australia was that the UK had entered the Common Market and refused to take any more of Australia’s butter. So there was a crisis way beyond anything that the industry had ever seen before or since that had to be addressed.

I join today in paying tribute to Senator Ken Wriedt and his contribution, particularly his contribution to agriculture. I extend my sympathy to his family. His wife predeceased him by only a few weeks. His two daughters will grieve their father and recognise the political contribution that he made in their lives and mine. I acknowledge the privilege of having met and worked with him in that period between 1972 and 1975.

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