Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I join with the Prime Minister in giving an address of condolence on the death of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, on behalf of the Australian Labor Party. Prince Philip was always part of the picture. By the time any of us here in this place was born he was already a veteran of royal duty, a veteran of war, a veteran of life. In his near century His Royal Highness knew conflict and peace, empire and Commonwealth, turbulence and tranquillity. He was such a familiar face of the establishment it was easy to forget that as a baby his family smuggled him out of his native Corfu and into exile concealed in an orange crate. From there his childhood was an unrelenting cascade of chaos and loss. He was abandoned by his father. His mother went into psychiatric care. His beloved sister was killed in an air crash. He was shuffled between countries and schools and languages, left to depend on the support of relatives. Even though he was a royal he understood what it was to be an outsider. His cousin Alexandra, the Queen of Yugoslavia, remembered the young Philip as, 'A huge, hungry dog, perhaps a friendly collie, who never had a basket of his own,' and yet he rose.

In the Navy he found a sense of home. When the war came, bringing with it an enemy that was as relentless as it was merciless, he showed courage and clear thinking. He found love with Elizabeth, a love that survived and thrived even after they were thrust into the strange limelight of royal power far sooner than either of them had ever anticipated. During his many decades devoted to his Queen, his nation and the Commonwealth he also became an enduring part of the story of our nation. His first visit to Australia was in 1940, a midshipman aboard a battleship that escorted Australian troops from Melbourne to the Suez. He eventually became a regular visitor to our shores, not least of which was his extensive visit here with the Queen in 1954, as well as his opening of our Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956.

Just as he shared in our joys and our triumphs, he shared in our sorrows, seeing with his own eyes the awful devastation wrought by bushfire. Throughout it all he developed multiple connections here and ultimately built the lasting legacy in the form of the Duke of Edinburgh's award scheme. It gives great encouragement and support to young people as they grow into adulthood, both making them aware of their potential and equipping them with the means to reach it. Nearly 800,000 young Australians, my son Nathan included, have participated in and benefited from this scheme, amongst the more than eight million across the world who have participated so far.

He also took keen interest in other aspects of our great continent. As an avid birdwatcher, he was captivated by the rediscovery of the noisy scrub-bird in Western Australia. So it wasn't just an academic exercise; he campaigned to create the Two Peoples Bay Nature Reserve to give it a fighting chance at survival. As he once told the BBC, 'The power that humanity wields over other species is something that must be exercised with a moral sense.'

It is true that perceptions of him often threatened to harden into caricature. But, as even British newspaper the Observer noted, there was a gulf between the media coverage and the reality of the man. Prince Philip, being Philip, was philosophical about this, offering the thought: 'Safer to not be too popular; you can't fall too far.' It was certainly my observation when I met him and the Queen during the first G20 meeting, during the global financial crisis, at Buckingham Palace. He was someone who showed that attention to duty, and could be very charming indeed.

Throughout it all, of course, there was his Queen Elizabeth. Prince Philip's death brings to an end one of the most remarkable and enduring partnerships of our time. Queen Elizabeth often found ways to describe the central place Prince Philip occupied in her life. Indeed, she once said that she owed him 'a debt greater than he would ever claim or we shall ever know'. It was such a poignant image of the Queen at the funeral—so sad. Amid the solemn pageantry, in the end there was just her, alone—a human being without the partner who had been her great counterweight in the adventure of life. We mourn Prince Philip but we also celebrate a long and truly remarkable life. On behalf of the Australian Labor Party, I extend my condolences to Her Majesty and to the royal family.

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