Alex Somlyay (Fairfax, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I first met David Jull not when I was an MP but when I was a staffer back in 1975 until 1980. There were only three ministers from Queensland at that time and of course Queensland as usual was underrepresented on the front bench. We all got to know each other pretty well. The ministers, ministerial staff and all the members travelled together up and down to Canberra from Brisbane and David was one of the characters of the new set—bearing in mind that after 1975 there was only one Labor member from Queensland. The member for Berowra will remember; I think that was Bill Hayden at the time. We formed a very closely knit club of people who travelled together up and down to Brisbane.

One thing about David Jull, even in those days, was that he had a wicked sense of humour. He could make something serious sound so funny and that was a way of getting his message over. You would never see anger in David Jull but you would see a lot of humour and a lot of seriousness at the same time. I was reunited with him in 1990 when I was elected to parliament in the seat of Fairfax. At the time I was Australia's northernmost Liberal, and David mentored and helped me as a new member of the parliament. He was the shadow minister for tourism and aviation; that was his passion. Sir Frank Moore, who was head of the QTTC and of radio station fame, took David under his wing, and he worked for the QTTC during the period he was out of the parliament. When I came in he made me chairman of the tourism and aviation committee, the backbench committee. So I worked very closely with David for the six opposition years under John Hewson, Alexander Downer and John Howard.

In 1996 David was very happy to become a minister. It is the ambition of everyone who comes to parliament, I think, to have the title of 'The Hon.' and to earn it. It is a great thing to be proud of—the fact that you have played for Australia—and David did a great job as Minister for Administrative Services. It was an absolute tragedy, in my opinion, that circumstances led to David leaving the ministry. It doubly impacted on me, because I replaced David in the ministry when he had to leave. While I was very happy to be elevated, I was not happy that it was at the expense of a great man like David Jull. I served with David until 2007. I was on the ASIO committee with him. He was also a very good member of the Joint Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee.

David had a passion for Thailand. When I first came to parliament, David Jull used to put out a booklet called A Visitor's Guide to Thailand, so any MP who was visiting Thailand could take Jully's document and find anything in it: how to greet the Thais, what they expect of you, their customs, their laws and a shopping guide. The shopping guide was very valuable. When I walked into a shop he recommended in Thailand with my wife and produced David Jull's card, I was treated like royalty. You have never seen anything like it. The reputation that he had overseas as well as in Australia was second to none.

It was an absolute tragedy when David was diagnosed with lung cancer. It was the same year that I had my second round of open heart surgery, so we used to share stories across the corridor about who felt the worst. When David had his operation and had his lung removed, he had a lot of difficulties but he stayed on in parliament. He would catch the 9.35 plane back to Queensland on Friday mornings, and it was very difficult for him, with only one lung, to actually walk up the aerobridge. It was also difficult for me because a year before that I had been sawn in half as well. We had a lot of young members of parliament then who were very anxious to get off the aeroplane as soon as they could when they got back to Brisbane, and I used to try to get poor old Jully's bags down and we would struggle up the aerobridge and laugh about it.

He will always be remembered by everyone in this House with respect. You cannot sum up 30 years of service and dedication in a few minutes in the Main Committee or in the main chamber. David's funeral is being held on Friday, and I am sure it is going to be one of the biggest that Brisbane has ever seen. I offer my condolences to his family. I, along with the member for Berowra, was at the lunch which we had in Brisbane because we knew that David was extremely ill and that it would probably be the last time that we saw him. That in itself was a memorable occasion. I thank the House.

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