Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Families and Payments) Share this | Hansard source

Today, we celebrate the life and mourn the passing of Nelson Mandela, a man whose influence stretches well beyond the borders of his nation, South Africa, into the hearts and minds of every person who believes that this world can be better tomorrow than it is today. Mandela's story of moral courage and immense personal sacrifice in the face of oppression is one that has inspired people around the globe. Perhaps his most famous speech, given at the start of the 1964 so-called Rivonia trial, the trial that eventually saw him sentenced to life in prison, summarises what we hear so often about him. I want to quote the one sentence that for me is so significant. Mandela concluded his defence by saying:

During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination.

These were the words that stirred many of my generation. Every person who cared about social change, social justice, social progress was moved. Indeed, many of the people on the progressive side of politics can attribute their political coming of age to Mandela's heroic activism. Tragically, this would be the last speech the world would hear from Mandela for more than a quarter of a century. But, during the 27 long years of his imprisonment, his battle never ceased—a battle that he waged even behind bars against injustice, tyranny and racism in its most overt form. As he continued to stand against the brutal regime that ruled his nation, millions around the world stood with him.

I am very proud to be part of the Australian Labor Party and the broader Australian union movement, both having played a role in opposing that regime. It was the Whitlam government that banned racially selected sporting teams from touring Australia. It was Australian maritime unions that played a vital role by enforcing and organising sanctions against the apartheid government. During Mandela's visit to Australia in 1990, the ACTU hosted an event for him at the Melbourne Town Hall during which he acknowledged and thanked the Australian union movement for the role it played in the liberation of South Africa from racial repression. Recounting the impact of the Australian union movement on the struggle in South Africa, Mandela said:

It was the labour movement of this country—

that is, Australia—

… in the early-50s which supported the dockworkers—

a decision which he said:

… created a great deal of excitement, and gave the people of South Africa in their struggle, a lot of strength and a lot of hope.

Mandela continued:

It was difficult to understand how workers, thousands of miles from our shores, who did take the initiative, the lead, among the workers of the world, to pledge their solidarity with the people of South Africa.

The feeling that we are not alone, that we have millions of workers behind us, is a factor which has prepared us, notwithstanding the most brutal form of oppression which we've faced in our country.

That day at building sites in Melbourne's CBD, the flag of the African National Congress flew proudly from cranes, symbolising the solidarity of the union movement with the struggle for a free and democratic South Africa. It was Australian unions that forged formal links with black African trade unions and directly with the ANC, assisting with funding the establishment of an ANC office in Sydney. Indeed, the ACTU's overseas aid organisation, Union Aid Abroad, played a role in helping exiled members of the ANC return to South Africa during the transition to democracy.

I would like to also acknowledge the work of Malcolm Fraser, who, both during his time as Prime Minister and in retirement, was a strong advocate for sanctions against South Africa and for Mandela's release from jail. I am very proud of the Hawke Labor government's role—the important role that they played in leading international efforts to impose financial sanctions on the South African regime. Those financial sanctions played a pivotal role in isolating the South African government during those crucial years in the late 1980s. Former South African finance minister Barend du Plessis later went on to say that the fall in investment that resulted from the sanctions was 'the dagger that finally immobilised apartheid'.

In recent days, there have been many brilliant tributes made to Nelson Mandela, but one that I would like to share with people today comes from John Carlin, in which he recounts Mandela's first day as President following his inauguration as the first black President of South Africa. Mandela came across an Afrikaner, John Reinders, chief of presidential protocol during the tenure of both the last white president, FW de Klerk, and his predecessor, PW Botha. Reinders was packing up his belongings and placing them in cardboard boxes in his office, when Mandela asked him what he was doing. Reinders responded that he was moving to another job, in the prisons department. To this Mandela responded:

… I know that department ve-ry well. I would not recommend doing that.

Mandela then set about persuading Reinders that he needed his expertise, and ultimately convinced him to serve in the role throughout his five-year presidency. Carlin writes:

Reinders, whose eyes filled with tears as he recalled that story … during the five years he had served at Mandela's side, he had received nothing but courtesy and kindness.

Mandela endured unimaginable personal suffering in the pursuit of justice for his country. That, after more than 27 years in prison, he found in his heart the capacity for genuine forgiveness and understanding of his former enemies and oppressors gives us all hope that, no matter how great our differences, peace and reconciliation can be achieved.

I had the enormous privilege of meeting Mr Mandela during his visit to Melbourne in the year 2000 as part of World Reconciliation Day and I do recall with great fondness receiving a very warm hug from Mr Mandela on that day. Asked about the need for an apology to Australia's Indigenous peoples, Mandela responded:

In Australia here, I have confidence in both population groups that there are competent and able men and women with experience who are able to resolve their problems, and to know how to resolve them.

Mandela's optimism about reconciliation in Australia was validated in 2008, when our Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, said sorry and Aboriginal people said thank you. One of those able men whom Mandela unknowingly made reference to in his answer was Australia's father of reconciliation, Patrick Dodson. In his remarks on Mandela's death, Dodson stated that Mandela's greatest lesson for us was 'to believe that there is goodness in all human beings, irrespective of their colour, their beliefs, their particular ideology'.

The legacies of Nelson Mandela's life will be many, and some will only become visible to us after the passage of time. But perhaps his greatest legacy, to borrow Patrick Dodson's wise observation, is to have demonstrated to future generations the capacity for peace and forgiveness that resides in the heart of every human being. Equipped with these lessons, people around the world will continue to pursue a better world. May he continue to inspire generations to come.

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