Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Makin says, 'Come to South Australia!' I hear you loud and clear! I assume that you are talking about Labor; not the National Party. Anyway, we digress.

Much has been made of the retirement of the member for Griffith, Australia's 26th Prime Minister. As the member for Mayo indicated earlier, you do not get to be the Prime Minister unless you are an extremely talented person. Whatever your politics, it is fair to say that Kevin Rudd's contribution to this place has been historic. He will be remembered for many years to come. In his retirement statement to parliament last Wednesday, 13 November, Mr Rudd praised Australia's enduring egalitarianism and the fact that he as the son of a dairy farmer in Queensland could make it to the top of Australian politics. This is certainly true.

Just recently, I attended a presentation evening at the Batlow Technology School in my electorate. While I was there, the principal, Michael Rathborne, gave a tremendous speech, one which I think the Prime Minister's statement last week embodies. Mr Rathborne's advice to students was simple: because I am from Batlow I can. This statement sums up perfectly the Australia we live in today, the one which allowed the former Prime Minister, growing up in Nambour in country Queensland, to assume this nation's highest office. It is a statement that is true of all our regional communities. For the former Prime Minister it must be said that it is because he was from Nambour that he could. The former Prime Minister was from a country family, too. His father, Albert, was from the community of Uranquinty in my electorate, about 15 kilometres south Wagga Wagga. When visiting the city of Wagga Wagga in 2008 for a family reunion, the community, as they always are, were very welcoming of the then Prime Minister. I know that he remembers the Riverina, the region of his father, with pleasure. After his speech the other day I walked over, as did all the coalition members in the House at that time, shook his hand, warmly bade him farewell and wished him all the very best. I reminded him of his family's Uranquinty origins. He remembered and said, 'Yes, wish them well.' That was nice; that was good.

While it is notable that Kevin the dairy farmer's son made it to the very top, I like many other members, believe that it was Mr Rudd's apology to the stolen generation which means the most to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of this nation. It is important that this legacy is the one that we remember the most. Members will be aware that my electorate has a large and proud Wiradjuri tradition. They are a people that I feel very proud and honoured to represent in this place. Like many communities, the city of Wagga Wagga was an Aboriginal mission during the stolen generations. Mr Rudd's apology meant a tremendous amount to the people who were part of or affected by the stolen generations. Like many communities, we salute Mr Rudd for his historic apology on 13 February 2008. I certainly echo the words of the current Prime Minister, the member from Warringah, from his speech at the opening of this, the 44th, parliament on Tuesday, last week. The welcome to country, facilitated by Ngambri elder Matilda House-Williams, is a fitting, appropriate, right and proper way for this parliament to open, and it was the member for Griffith who made that part of the ceremonies of the opening of the Commonwealth Parliament of Australia.

But it would be remiss of me not to mention that some of the Rudd government's policy changes had an impact on the Riverina that was not all that desirable. I refer particularly to the decision by the former Prime Minister's government—and Mr Rudd was certainly very much conspired with by the member for Watson—to abolish the single desk for wheat in June 2008. The Nationals considered this decision not to be in the best interest of wheat growers and reacted accordingly. Then, as now, it is the National Party that people in rural and regional Australia can rely upon to stand up for their interests.

However, we come to this place today to acknowledge the role Kevin Rudd played. I mentioned Kay Hull earlier. I mention her again in as much as on 24 June 2010, that dark day when Kevin Rudd announced that, having been tapped on the shoulder the night before, he would not be continuing as the Prime Minister of Australia. He came into question time that day—and that was a brave and bold decision by him, as the just ousted Prime Minister—and sat up in the back benches. That must have been terribly embarrassing, and hard for him to do, but he was gutsy; I'll give him that. He sat up in the back benches and Kay Hull, the member for Riverina and Nationals Chief Whip, stood up, wandered over to the government side and sat beside Kevin and asked him to sign the children's book he wrote. I am surprised more has not been made of Kevin's children's book, because he is a children's author of note. She got him to sign the book Jasper + Abbyon behalf of her grandson, Ashton Hull. And, not an hour ago, Kay told me that that book—that great children's book—is a treasured part of the Hull household library. Certainly, little Ashton, who has grown up a bit now, absolutely loves that book. That will be a treasured piece and, I am sure, a family heirloom in years to come. Kevin wrote in the book: 'Be a good boy for your mum.' That shows the warmth and humanity of this fellow. It also shows the warmth and humanity of Kay Elizabeth Hull that when Kevin was sitting there desolate and alone, she would get up and go over to him. I suppose some of her colleagues probably thought, 'well, you know, we have had a change of leader and sometimes you leave the isolated wildebeest there for the jackals to devour'—but not Kay Hull. She went over and sat beside Kevin and offered him encouragement. Certainly, that was very much appreciated by Kevin. I know Kevin said in his farewell speech to us in this place, 'be gentle with each other'. I think that those words are also something we should take on board. I see Tony, the member for Makin, Andrew, the member for Fraser, and Kelvin, the member for Wills, opposite—and I will use their Christian names—and I think, we do form good relationships in this place; it is not all about the argy-bargy and the adversarial nature of the place. We form friendships in this place. I think Kevin, by his words and his actions and his deeds, formed a lot of friends in this place on both sides of politics. That is a good thing. May that long continue into the future, and may Kevin Rudd's legacy—the member for Griffith's legacy—live long into the future.

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