Robert McClelland (Barton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I compliment the speakers to the motion and the member for Riverina. Indeed, Joe Riordan was an old-style Labor representative. But, like so many of his generation, Joe was and remained a true believer, a genuine believer, of the Labor movement and all that it stood for. He was a staunch trade unionist all his life, and he was devoted to the welfare of his fellow Australians. Joe was a legend. He was a remarkable man. His service to Australia and Australians can now be written into Labor's folklore. For his outstanding service to this parliament and Australia he, quite properly, was made an Officer of the Order of Australia. Most appropriately, his AO was given pride of place on his coffin last Friday, and he would have been very proud. No-one could have been more deserving of such an honour than Joe Riordan.

Today I want to speak about Joe, the man who I came to know so well. People before me have already mentioned the tremendous heights he climbed to in his career. Really, that continued until his 82nd year in the service of the people of Australia. Because of time constraints, suffice it for me to say that Joe always remembered his humble beginnings. He never forgot where he came from or who he represented. His enormous achievements are now renowned and we in the labour movement, but most especially his loving wife Pat, his four sons, two daughters and numerous grandchildren, have every reason to be enormously proud of his accomplishments.

Joe left school at 15 years of age and in his lifetime through long experience, hard work and perseverance he graduated with an honours degree from the university of hard knocks. Indeed, may I say, it was touching to see not only every one of his immediate family at our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church at Caringbah last Friday but also the hundreds of others from all walks of life, from former prime ministers Hawke and Keating to an old knockabout from a long way back who Joe had helped in his capacity as a member of parliament to obtain a pension all those years ago. They all came to pay their respects.

I want to speak about Joe as the man I knew. My father, Doug, and Joe were close friends from the 1950s. In the early days of their political lives they did not always agree with each other. They would often sit and discuss various options for the road ahead but they always remained good and loyal friends despite a few areas of disagreement. My dad and mum last visited Joe in Kareena Private Hospital at Caringbah about a fortnight ago. According to them, Joe's short-term memory was poor but his ability to recall longer-term events, they said, was really quite amazing. In talking about the old days, Joe dug out from the back of his mind comments on his old friends like Pat Hills, his predecessor in the seat of Phillip, Joe Fitzgerald, Fred Campbell, Charlie Oliver, Terry Sheahan and also his colleagues from the Whitlam times: Lionel Bowen, Les Johnson, who was also at the funeral, and Bill Morrison and of course not forgetting Gough himself.

Joe rekindled to my mother and father what is now quite a famous story. In the last months of the Whitlam government, Gough went up to Queensland to kick the football off in a game between New South Wales and Queensland—before the formal state of origin clashes. In those dying months it is fair to say that the Whitlam government was not the most popular government in Australia. After Gough kicked the ball off there were resounding boos and cries from the audience. Apparently, on the way back from the stadium, Gough said to Senator Ron McAuliffe, 'Comrade, we will have to look at your endorsement up here. I did not know you were so unpopular.' Joe apparently laughed with great gusto at the tale that he delivered to them. He also talked about the time that Pat and he visited my mother and father when they were residing in England. They were very content that that conversation had brought so much happiness to him.

I am proud to say that one of Joe's sons, Bernie, is one of my closest friends and with our respective families we often meet up and Joe would often attend. He was always very much part of the scene but in any discussion he would never hesitate to communicate his point of view, which was always pretty sound and pretty solid, and you walked away with no misunderstanding of what his point of view was. Terry Sheahan, the former president of the ALP, and Bernie last Friday gave two of the best eulogies I have ever heard and I compliment them on their wonderful tributes to Joe.

The last time I saw Joe was when Bernie was sworn in as a commissioner for Fair Work Australia. I know Joe was tremendously proud of him and indeed of all his children and grandchildren. Joe was also a great friend of my former boss and mentor as a lawyer, Roy Turner, who started up the firm of what became Turner Freeman. In fact they were born and reared not far from each other in Surry Hills. I am proud and privileged to have had both of them involved in my early career as a lawyer. I could not have had two finer mentors than I had in such fine men.

All of us who knew Joe Riordan are going to miss him terribly. People of his strength and quality are hard to find today. As the member for Riverina said, he was genuinely old Labor. His life was one of outstanding service, of devotion to his family and dedication to his fellow human beings. Joe was indeed a deeply religious man. He did not wear that on his sleeve but rather it was self-evident from his character and deeds.

Joe, I know your wife, Pat, and every one of your family loved you. Your friends respected you for your sincerity of purpose, your enormous strength of character and your devotion to your fellow Australians. I thank you for your friendship to me and also for your wise counsel and I thank you for the enormous contribution you have made to Australia. You have indeed served us well.

See this speech in context