Trent Zimmerman (North Sydney, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I hadn't intended to speak on this motion, but I have to say that listening to the excellent contributions that have been made in memory of Andrew Peacock this morning has triggered some memories from my formative years in politics. It was during the 1980s that my interest in politics was taking shape and form. I have to say that one of my great inspirations in that journey was my grandmother who lived in Brisbane. It's fair to say that she was (1) an avid liberal; and (2) an equally avid Peacock person, if I can put it that way. With all due respect to one of my greatest constituents, former Prime Minister Howard, my grandmother was always fond of saying, 'Voters want to vote for someone who looks good, and that's Mr Peacock.'

It was an incredible period in Australian politics. In fact, I recall—I stand to be corrected—that the very first polling booth I worked on was in 1984 as a 15- or 16-year-old. I just wandered up to my local Stanmore Public School and offered my services to help the rather thin array of volunteers in that dead red area of Sydney who were handing out for Mr Peacock. I had the privilege of doing so again in 1990, when I was then a signed-up member of the Young Liberals. On that occasion I was sent to a polling booth in the middle of the Glebe public housing estate. I have to say, it wasn't a booth that recorded a high vote for the potential prime ministership of Andrew Peacock!

But it was also that election in 1990 when I think I attended my first major public campaign rally. It is worth reflecting on the fact that, in those days, election campaigns were more rambunctious and more open to community engagement. We saw our leaders in that day hold mass public rallies—or we hoped they were mass public rallies, depending on your success in getting people along. I vividly recall attending a public rally in Hurstville Westfield that Mr Peacock spoke at, and then subsequently one in Martin Place. It was events like the public rally in Martin Place which probably brought around their demise—which followed, I think, soon after the 1993 election, where we saw the difficulties of those big rallies. In Martin Place I vividly recall some Wilderness Society protesters dressed as koalas jumping on stage, attempting to bowl Andrew Peacock over, only to be thwarted by the then shadow minister for the environment, Senator Chris Puplick, who, in an usual display of physical prowess, managed to hold back those koalas from taking over the stage.

It was an extraordinary time in Australian politics and an extraordinary time for the Liberal Party. I recall that even as a teenager. It's fair to say that it's often overlooked when we think about the legacy of the Hawke government, regarded as one of Australia's most popular prime ministers, that in fact in 1984, just a little over a year after his election, Andrew Peacock almost achieved the unthinkable, and that was to successfully at the ballot box depose Prime Minister Hawke. In 1990 it showed the variation around the country, because, again, Mr Peacock did exceptionally well—I think, from memory—in Victoria. If that vote had held across the country, he would have become Prime Minister in that year.

But it was a difficult period for the Liberal Party because it was a decade where leadership divisions held back the party's potential. It was a salutary lesson for all of us, one I think has sadly been lost in more recent times, but hopefully remembered again. It also reflected a philosophical debate within the Liberal Party about its future direction, a debate that probably, after the end of the Fraser government, needed to be had.

I want to conclude by saying that I think Andrew Peacock's contribution over the lifetime that he was involved in politics is one that's hard to see replicated again in this era, (1) because of its longevity; and (2) just simply because of the depth and breadth of interest that Andrew Peacock had. It was also unusual to see someone elected to public office and to have been involved in the Liberal Party at such a young age. I remember, as a New South Wales Young Liberal president, admiring the fact that he was originally a Victorian Young Liberal president himself, but went on to become state president of the Victorian division, still in his 20s, before he was elected to parliament not long after. That, to me, stood out as an extraordinary achievement.

I also reflect on the fact that his career was not just a parliamentary one. He did go on to serve Australia with such great adeptness in the United States as our ambassador, in that extraordinary act of, I think, reconciliation and generosity on the part of Prime Minister John Howard to appoint him to arguably what is Australia's most important diplomatic role. Of course, he had a deep and strong affection for the United States because of its significance to Australia.

He also had a deep and strong affection for Americans themselves, sometimes famously so. Of course, he was to spend his last years with the love and in the care of his American wife, in Texas. But, as one of the previous speakers alluded to, he was also famous for his relationship with a very prominent American actress, and I'll finish by telling this story of a federal council meeting in the early 1990s. I think it was held at the Sheraton in Brisbane. Much to the excitement of federal council delegates, Andrew Peacock arrived with Shirley MacLaine. There were a lot of celebrity-spotters hoping for the opportunity to meet this great legend of the United States. For reasons which I won't even guess at, Andrew Peacock and Shirley MacLaine checked into the Sheraton in Brisbane and were not seen again for the rest of federal council!

I want to conclude just by saying that all of us have a lot to learn from the incredible example set by Andrew Peacock across his career. I know my predecessor Joe Hockey knew him closely and particularly reaffirmed that relationship during his own time as ambassador, and I am sure he would want to be associated with this motion as well. Rest in peace, Andrew Peacock.

Debate adjourned.

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