Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

on indulgence—The member for Groom spoke about the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing, and there is no doubt that it would not be underway had it had not been for his advocacy and determination. But the range I want to talk about, in respect of the member for Groom, is not the Second Range Crossing; it is the long range.

The member for Groom has always been a long-range thinker and a big thinker—a thinker and a dreamer as big as the country from which he sprang. As the member for Brand described, he laid the foundations, working, as he said, with his counterparts in the Labor Party, often with the bipartisanship that is, as he said, all too rare. But he did that with the long range in mind, to set Australia up not just for next year, not just for the next election, not just for the next decade but for the next half century.

The member for Groom has, as much as anybody in this place, built Australia's prosperity and future. He saw the long range and he went for it. He is a great Australian, a great friend, a great parliamentarian. He will be sorely missed when he does not return to this chamber after the election. But his patriotism, his commitment to Australia, his passion for the long range, the big view and the big vision—his passion for the big country which he loves so much—I am sure will see him making an enormous contribution to our nation and its people for many, many years to come. We salute you, Ian, and we thank you for your outstanding service to Australia.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

Debate adjourned.

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