Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

on indulgence—It is said about parliament that it is hard to get here but even harder to leave here. I would like to add that if you can leave on your own terms, with the respect of your peers and the love of your family, that is the hardest accomplishment of all. So it is with the warm wishes of the entire opposition that I rise to thank the Deputy Prime Minister and the member for Goldstein for their service to this parliament and to the nation.

In preparing words about the Deputy Prime Minister, I found myself drawn back to the speech he gave in this place in October 2014 in tribute to the life of Gough Whitlam. It would have been easy for you, on a day when so many Labor people had so much to say in sadness, to perhaps be impersonal—to just recite the bare biographical facts. But you did not. On that day, you reflected on how Gough had inspired you to become involved in politics:

He did give me my first chance to be involved in political activities when he appointed me to the National Rural Advisory Council.

And:

He undoubtedly encouraged me—though he did not wish to do so—to be engaged in the political process. I joined a political party too, but it was not the Labor Party.

Instead you joined the mighty Country Party. You arranged bus loads of farmers to come from all over Australia to help educate Gough on the error of his ways. But the reason why that moment stayed with me is because it spoke for so much of what I identify as your personal qualities: you are warm, you are dry, you are often self-deprecating, you have a great sense of humour and you have an ability to craft a meaningful empathetic response.

The Prime Minister has spoken at length—and I am sure many of your colleagues will—about your policy and political achievements. We look forward with some great interest and no little trepidation to your likely successor's contributions. In particular, I would like to commend you for the dignified way that you have handled the ongoing unfolding sadness of MH370. I am sure that the families of the missing would echo those thanks.

In listening to your words today about your journey, I am reminded of that opening of Heather Ewert's documentary A Country Road. She said:

There's no other political party in the world quite like The Nationals. Its roots are on the land and in the blood.

You have served that unique tradition and you have fulfilled it with honour.

I think you also leave this place with a most unique distinction—being the only Australian politician to be mentioned on the US TV show Lost. There is a character named Sawyer. He is dragged before a detective with an extremely unconvincing Australian accent. He is told he is being charged with involvement in a bar fight, to which he protests that this is a badge of honour in Australia, at which point the detective leans in to tell him the bad news, 'You headbutted the honourable Warren Truss, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, one of the most important people,' Sawyer interrupts, 'He headbutted me!' For some reason, I am just not sold on the image of Warren Truss, bar room brawler. The man that we know and pay tribute to today is a kinder, gentler soul.

Warren, you have been a tireless servant of your constituency, a proud advocate for country people and a strong leader of the party that you have always loved. You have earned a fulfilling, peaceful and healthy retirement with your loving wife, Lyn. We wish you both well for what the future brings you.

Now I turn to the member for Goldstein. He leaves this place in the same quietly effective way that he has gone about his work. He has, as has been said, lived a rich and diverse life prior to entering this parliament. A proud holder of a diploma in Ag. from Dookie and an economics degree from La Trobe, he was a distinguished servant of the National Farmers' Federation and the Cattle Council—quite the union representative—and one of the principal architects of John Howard's 1996 election victory.

Not all of those who rise to such heights within their party behind the scenes feel compelled to stand on the national stage in the glare of the unforgiving spotlight of public life, but you did. You came to this place. You signed up to the fickle vagaries of electoral fortune because you believed that you had more to offer your party and, more importantly, your country. No-one in this place 12 years later can dispute that conclusion. I want to thank you for being willing to work constructively with Labor on important issues. That will be a skill set perhaps missed when you go.

I am sure that many others will also pay tribute to your courage that you showed in overcoming the cloud you fought most mornings. I would only add that—while managing any mental health issue is an act of resilience, resolve and strength—being prepared to discuss it with such a frank and forthright manner, as you did, as a person in elected office, is incredibly important. What you did—your example and your honesty—has helped break down some of the counterproductive and ill-informed stigma that afflicts many who suffer in silence. Because of you and your honesty, other people will have better lives. There is not much more that a member of this parliament can claim to do.

You have flown many miles in the service of your country—in particular in these past 2½ years. For a strong family man like you—someone who loves Maureen and your children Tom, Jo and Pip very much—I know that this time that you have spent overseas has not just been hard on you but on them. We sometimes talk about relationships with people across the political divide. Perhaps they are not as frequent as they should be, but nearly all of us will have experienced the odd glimpse of conversation—a moment of reflection when, in fact, we are not just trying to finish each other off but rather a shared reflection about family—moments, perhaps, when we search for a topic in common rather than a topic on which we disagree. I have had the opportunity to talk to you in those 'glimpses' here and overseas. My wife, Chloe, who has got to know you, sends you her absolute best.

I am not sure that families always hear about what their parent's say, but anyone who knows Andrew Robb knows how incredibly proud he is of his kids—and they deserve to hear that, because in every minute, I am sure, that you have been away, your love of your children and your wife has been one of the strongest features that has enabled you to be as distinguished as you are, and they should know how much you love them. On behalf of my party and my wife, Chloe, I wish you and your family every happiness in the years ahead.

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