Sharon Bird (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have to say, over the Christmas break it was really sad news for me to hear of the passing of Paul Neville. I wanted to say some words in this Chamber. I worked closely with Paul for many years on the transport committee and I was very pleased to call him a friend. I think it's fitting that this parliament record his service to the nation, to this parliament and to the area that he loved.

Paul was the chair of the transport committee, in its various iterations, while his side of politics was in government, and then, when Labor was in government, I was the chair. We had this ongoing relationship as chair and deputy chair. From working with Paul on committees, I found him to be a person with an extraordinarily deep understanding of the transport policy area and a profound respect for the people who worked in the transport industry—we did a number of inquiries around the safety of road transport, air transport and so forth. Indeed, he was sometimes a bit of a thorn in his own government's side, because he was very passionate about these issues. He had no hesitation in holding any of us to account when he felt that we weren't measuring up on good economic policy through the transport part of our economy to make sure that the regions in particular were serviced and developed. I think that came out of his profound love for his own region. He was of course the chair of the committee when we did The great freight task report, and I think that report is testimony to the comments I've made about his policy work. It has stood the test of time as one of the most seminal, significant reports that has been done on freight transport in this country. I currently again sit on the transport committee, and the report is a reference point from which further reports and reviews have been conducted, and actions have been taken by governments of both sides around the very solid work that he, as chair, led in that report.

I have to say I well remember Paul was always very, very keen for us to visit his own seat as a committee! He was extraordinarily proud to show off the port, road and rail infrastructure, and also, I have to say, many of the excellent restaurants. He was very keen that the committees he was involved with carried that old tradition—which probably sadly is dying a bit in this place—of collegial work, getting together at the end of the day's inquiry, having a dinner together and sharing a respect for each other as parliamentarians, even as we may have debated the issues.

I always smile when I think of Paul. I just remember what a joy he was to be around as a person, even when you were having a bit of a debate about a policy area. He just had an abiding respect for people and a joy in everyday life. I will never ever forget the day he had a question in parliament and somebody—some evil comrade sitting next to him—said something like, 'Tell the frog joke,' or something like that, and poor old Paul got the giggles and the whole chamber was held up because every time he'd get control of it and try to ask the question again, the giggles would break out again. In fact, the whole chamber was laughing along with him at that point. It was a moment of that pure humanity and joy that I think he encompassed and that all of us in the chamber could feel in that moment. So it was a small moment, but I think it sort of encapsulated why so many people across all sides of the chamber really respected Paul, enjoyed his company and saw him as a great example of that old style of parliamentarian; the great respect for this place and the work of all members showed in everything that he did.

I know he profoundly loved his family. The other thing besides boasting about the seat—which the current member would know—was talking about how much he loved his family and how proud he was of them. I extend my sympathies on this occasion to his wife, Margaret, and to his children, Gavin, Gaye, Sally, Peter and Paul. Because Paul and I did so much committee work together, I also did a lot of work with his former staffer, Kate Barwick. I'm sure that she was a great support to Paul in his work, and I also found her to be a really valuable contact person, someone who worked very constructively to see that Paul's work in the committee was successful.

Paul retired in 2013 before that election. I am absolutely convinced that Paul would have squeezed every bit of joy out of every day of his retirement, and I'm glad that he had those years and I'm just really, really sad that he didn't have more, because he certainly deserved them after his years of service. My deepest respects to Paul and his family.

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