Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the members who have participated in this condolence motion and recognise the unusual nature of it. I spoke to Russell Barton, a very close friend of Michael's, this morning, and he summed it up beautifully for me. He said that he and his wife were in disbelief—'in disbelief'. And I suppose—I know—a lot of us are feeling exactly that. So, in that space of disbelief, and what's happened since Saturday morning, and the tributes that have been given so wonderfully regarding Michael, I suppose my address will be directed at young Harry, who Michael was, I think, so, so excited about.

I speak today because I wanted to get out something that I had written—a tribute to Michael when he left the parliament. And I don't think the Prime Minister will mind me telling tales. I wrote this:

Have you ever been hugged by Michael? I have!

I had just delivered an address that began.

"I did not choose this path. This path chose me."

And I walked into my office—in a state of high emotion, I might add—and Michael threw his arms around me. He must have run to my office. He was standing waiting for me.

Halfway through the hug…….I realised I was being hugged by the generations of those who believed in the right, the fair, the truth.

The hug that lingers has its DNA reproduced in the articles that flow out of the pen that creates the picture and emotions that linger on after reading. Michael's best compliment.

Early AM one Sunday I was on the ride-on; the phone rings; it's Malcolm! 'Had to ring you about this announcement before Micky Gordon could get to you.' I said, 'It won't be much of an announcement then, Malcolm, will it?' Well, it wasn't much of an announcement. I was so glad that the threat was that Micky Gordon would get to me first. And then I wished Michael all the best on his adventure, which I knew it would be after he left The Age, and that was just beginning to build.

You know, I will be personal for a moment, because, with Michael, if you knew him, you knew that every contact, every greeting, was a great moment in time; every homecoming, especially to Robyn, was an event; and every personal interaction was a reason for a hug—no matter where you were, public or non-public, a hug. A light went out in Michael, from my point of view—and, yes, it's true; we did speak, probably, weekly; yes, it's true. And a light went out in him when Harry died, but it was kindled to a re-blaze when young Harry was born. Michael was beside himself with young Harry. Life was good; life was expansive. As I said the other day, he was about to work on a project with John Howard and Julia Gillard, and he was like a kid with a new toy, flying.

I learned something else from Russell Barton today that you need to know too. He said to me that, when they used to run marathons together and the marathon finished in the run-up to Parliament House, Michael would make his biggest effort in that last run-up, after all the kilometres. I said to Russell, 'Well, he'd have been competitive on Saturday. There'd have been somebody in that race that he wanted to beat—no doubt about it—and he was within sight of the shoreline, within sight of the finish, so he'd have been doing the Michael Gordon final, final push.'

When you talk about Michael's writing, which I loved, Michael's dad wrote the book about the Hawthorn Football Club The Hard Way, and Michael followed up with Playing to Win. So much has been said in the tributes on Michael, there's nothing more I can add to the brilliance of what those tributes have been. But one thing that has come to my knowledge is this. In Harry's book The Hard Way, Sandy Ferguson, who was the president and doctor of the Hawthorn Football Club, was quoted as saying, 'If you embrace Hawthorn, Hawthorn will embrace you.' Michael carried on by writing the book Playing To Win. The great Hawthorn coach, Parkin, talked the other day about his sacking and how engaging with Michael was able to bring him to a place where he got the message that he had to go at that time. So, if you embrace Hawthorn, Hawthorn will embrace you. I'd say, 'If you embraced Michael, Michael would embrace you.' He would not only embrace you but hug you in a way that you knew you couldn't let go until you got the message—the hug that resonates.

I just want to finish with this. At Harry's funeral, somebody said to me: 'You know, journalism's just a craft. You can learn it.' I said: 'I disagree. It's a gift. You've got it or you haven't got it.' Michael Gordon had it in spades. So, that's your grandfather, young Harry—he had his talent in spades.

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