Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

On 1 May at the Sydney Town Hall, well over a thousand people gathered to farewell a great man and a great Australian. It was a fitting day—1 May, May Day—the day that Labor movements around the world commemorate the struggles that working people have fought to build a better society. It was a fitting venue—the Sydney Town Hall—the town hall where Neville Wran had dominated party conferences for so many years, alternately charming and, you would have to say, sometimes forcing through his views, and the place where he shocked Labor Party members by announcing his retirement well before any of us were ready to see him go. It was a fitting day, it was a fitting venue and there were many fitting tributes on the day from former colleagues, from Labor greats and, most importantly of all, from his family.

I was pretty young in 1978, the year that the 'Wranslide' election happened, but I cannot forget—and I do not think any of us could forget—the feeling of optimism that that Wranslide brought with it and that incredibly catchy jingle, 'Wran's the man'. They had some footage at the service at the town hall of that advertising campaign and kids from different schools singing the words, because it got right into your head and it stayed there—and it stayed there for many decades.

Neville Wran was the outstanding political figure of his time. Bob Ellis said that Neville Wran saved Labor, because he showed New South Wales and he showed the country that Labor governments were responsible, centrist governments; that Labor inhabited the sensible centre and that we could run a strong economy, a decent transport system and a strong health and education system. He made those reforms that recognised the growing population of Sydney's west by moving hospital beds to the west. He was able to manage the state, manage the state economy and manage services professionally in a way that gave people enormous confidence.

But he was also, at the same time, able to push the bounds of what we previously thought possible in politics. His moves on antidiscrimination, gazetting national parks, Aboriginal land rights, consumer protection and decriminalising homosexuality—all of these progressive values were brought into our daily lives in New South Wales by a man who absolutely had the pulse of the people that he represented and governed on behalf of.

Neville Wran was a great leader of the state and he was a great leader of New South Wales Labor. It is said that you could have sold tickets to caucus meetings when Neville Wran was premier. You never knew whether he was going to charm you or dump a bucket on you, but either way it would be effective and it would be entertaining. He absolutely dominated his caucus, and yet he had the ability to say when an issue was going wrong, 'Okay, well this is something we have to reconsider.' He was a great leader because he was able to set a direction that the party followed and that the state progressed along, at the same time as taking people with him.

As well as having that discipline that he insisted on from the Cabinet and from the party, he was also able to capture the public imagination—and I have spoken about the ability he had to both govern in the sensible centre and to progress us and take us forward. He could talk to anyone. He had a connection with voters that was truly extraordinary, and I suppose in some ways—although many of the speakers at the service at the town hall spoke about the enigma of Neville Wran—his ability to connect across the board probably represents something about his own journey in life.

He grew up in very difficult circumstances in Balmain. Famously, he said that Balmain boys do not cry. When you know a little bit about his history, as his very good friend the member for Wentworth does and as people, particularly Rodney Cavalier, spoke about at the Sydney Town Hall, you see the toughness that comes with growing up in difficult circumstances but surrounded by love and the advantages that the support of his siblings and family gave him, despite the difficult economic circumstances that he started with.

Through his intelligence, application and hard work he was able to succeed professionally. He could have done literally anything. His very successful business career after politics shows that too. That journey through his life really gave him the opportunity and the ability to talk to anyone and to relate to anyone. It also I think made him absolutely determined to inhabit the sensible centre of politics. He was asked about capital punishment after a particularly terrible crime and he said, 'Hanging is too good for the bastards,' or something similar. I think that story shows both his ability to understand the impulse that we have after a particularly terrible crime to wreak vengeance but also the intellect he brought to the question of capital punishment. It is a terrific example of how he dealt with many of the controversial issues in public life.

He did not give up on trying to change the country for the better after he retired from politics. He stayed involved and was a sounding-board and very wise captain on the journey towards an Australian republic. His contribution there will continue to have an influence well beyond his life.

I want to finish by saying that his state, New South Wales, and the nation will miss him terribly and owe him a deep debt of gratitude. His friends of course will miss him more and his family most of all. I want to particularly give my condolences to his wife, Jill; his daughter Kim; his son Glenn; his daughter Harriet Wran; and Hugo Wran, his son. They were magnificently brave at the send-off for their father and were magnificently brave during the last years of his life that were very difficult for Neville and took a toll on his family too. We will miss him. He made a great impact on us. He was a great man.

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