Peter Hendy (Eden-Monaro, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Productivity) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to pay my respects for the life of the Hon. James Joseph Carlton AO and offer my deepest sympathies to his wife Di and their children and their families.

Jim dedicated his life to public service and began his political career as a student politician at University of Sydney where he was president of the Liberal Club and Student Representative Council. After a successful business career in Britain, Jim served as the General Secretary of the New South Wales Liberal Party from 1971 until his election to parliament in 1977 as the member for Mackellar. Jim was one of the fortunate few parliamentarians to exit at the time of their choosing at his retirement from parliament in 1994.

During his 17 years in this House, Jim served as the Minister for Health and Minister Assisting the Minister for National Development and Energy in the Fraser government. Jim was very influential at a turning point in our party's history. He was one of the economic rationalists, leading the argument for pro-market economic reform during the Fraser government. While the Fraser government lost the 1983 election, Jim had captured the temper of the times, and the move to liberalise the Australian economy was taken up by the Hawke, Keating and Howard governments which followed.

I knew Jim personally from 1987 onwards, shortly after he had been the shadow Treasurer. I had started work with the then deputy leader of the Liberal Party, Andrew Peacock, and had many conversations with Jim to discuss economic and taxation policies of the coalition. From then until 1993, when I departed Parliament House, those conversations continued.

Jim was a deep thinker about policy issues. At the time he had a strong interest in following the lessons of the postwar Germany economic miracle and the influence of the Freiburg School of economists, who helped guide the pro-market policies of that country. In a very practical sense, I learnt from Jim a lot about the hard work of formulating economic policy in a tough political environment. And yet he did all that with a great sense of humour and fun. While he might not have been aware of it, I regarded him as an important mentor of mine.

Following his retirement from federal politics in 1994, Jim gave generously of his time and energy to humanitarian aid efforts in Australia and overseas. Jim served as the Secretary-General of the Australian Red Cross from 1994 to 2000, and in 2007 he was awarded the Henry Dunant Medal, the highest honour of the International Red Cross. I kept in contact with him over this time and I last spoke to Jim late last year at the funeral of his younger sister Vonnie, whom I also knew and was one of my constituents in Tathra.

Jim will be remembered on both sides of this House as a decent warm-hearted and generous person. He was a genuine contributor to Australia's economic development. Australians may not know it but they owe a lot to Jim Carlton. May he rest in peace.

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