Andrew Robb (Goldstein, Liberal Party, Chairman of the Coalition Policy Development Committee) Share this | Hansard source

It is a great privilege—and a sad privilege in a way—to have the opportunity to say a few words to acknowledge a wonderful person, a wonderful highly principled life, a highly committed life, that of our friend and parliamentary colleague Senator Judith Adams. I suspect Judith's characteristics and her achievements and her approach to life were captured very much with the way in which she fought cancer for a considerable period of time. It did show enormous strength of character. It did show how strongly she took her responsibilities. It did show that she was a person who did not feel the need to burden others with her problems.

She was, in her own way, quite a remarkable person. She had a very interesting background: born in New Zealand, trained as a nurse, served with the New Zealand Territorial Army in Vietnam, achieved the rank of First Lieutenant and, in 1967, was appointed to the New Zealand surgical team in Vietnam—a civilian unit under the Colombo Plan. She was always a very proud supporter of the Anzac tradition.

Since 1968 Judith had devoted her life to Western Australia and continued to participate in health services, living in regional Western Australia. She held quite a number of positions in the Liberal Party and was very committed about influencing for the good the community in which she lived. Of course that took an even greater expression after being an army nurse and a midwife, a farmer, a wife and a mother. That commitment to Western Australia and Australia took greater expression again by Judith's decision to enter public life. That came about with her election in 2004. To have received the honour of being elected by her colleagues to the position of Deputy Opposition Whip within three years of coming into the Senate was certainly an expression and an indication of the great esteem with which her colleagues held her.

Judith was like a dog with bone with issues. Once she believed in the way things should go she committed herself 100 per cent. She would not be distracted or discouraged by the strength of opposition. She would continue to argue her point in the most effective and committed way until a decision was taken. When whatever decision was taken she would accept that decision but more often than not she was on the winning side of many debates partly because of her effectiveness. We will all remember Judith as a person of great character and great personality, and a person highly principled. She was also a wonderful mother, according to all of her friends and those that have known her for a long time and who know her sons, Stuart and Robert, their respective partners, Anne and Tammy, and her grandchildren, Taylor and Maelle.

It is a sad moment. Judith could have contributed many more years to public life in Australia and could have brought the great depth of experience and judgment that she gleaned over the years to many more public debates. Not only is it a great loss to her sons, their partners and her grandchildren but it is a great loss to this parliament—the early death of Senator Judith Adams, a wonderful person.

Debate adjourned.

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