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

What possible hope was there for a boy growing up in a house where there was little to read but copies of Hansard? A council librarian was able to steer the young Don Grimes towards broader pastures, but those household Hansards did the job for this son of a nurse, and a fitter and turner. By the time he made his own debut in Hansard as a general practitioner and Labor branch secretary turned senator for Tasmania, he hit the ground running.

It wasn't long until he was combining his medical experience with his political values, going in to bat in the debate on the Whitlam government's two Medibank bills. Health care, he said, was a core element of social security and, as such, ought to be funded from progressive taxation. Bear in mind that, at that time, some tried mounting the argument that the Medibank bills amounted to communism. As his colleagues soon learned, he was not afraid to criticise his own side as well. Nevertheless, this egalitarian, whose sense of politics had been fired by the Vietnam War, eventually became Whitlam's shadow minister for social security. He set out his plans for fundamental social security reform, underpinned by the Labor principle that it was not a privilege but a right that ensured all Australians could live in freedom and dignity.

Throughout the term of the Fraser government, Don embarked on the noble cause of making Labor electable again. With the election of the Hawke government, Don became social security minister, then community affairs minister. He made good on an election pledge by creating the Disability Advisory Council of Australia. He called it a new deal for people with disabilities, one that provided a proper recognition of their rights and dignity and opportunity for the fullest possible participation in the community.

Alongside health minister Neal Blewett, Don was also part of our response to the emergence of AIDS. Don was one of the key reasons that Australia managed so much more humanely than so many other countries. I believe our response was the best in the world, and countless lives were saved.

The years were not always smooth. There were challenges and disagreements from time to time within the party. There was even a heart attack. This, he was at pains to point out, happened after a very good dinner with Bob Hawke, Peter Walsh, Paul Keating and John Dawkins, to which Don added, 'He didn't blame them for it.'

Don Grimes made a difference. Michael Tate called him the 'quiet revolutionary' for his contribution to social policy. Neal Blewett declared him the architect of much of Labor's social reform agenda. Rosemary Crowley said that he was a very strong feminist. As she took stock of all that Don had achieved, Susan Ryan said:

He has done all of those things without great fuss, without pomposity or high-flown rhetoric … he is kind, decent and humane.

He was true to these qualities in his rich life beyond this place, including a stint as ambassador to the Netherlands and fitting recognition as an Officer of the Order of Australia. Throughout it all, he carried with him the sentiment at the heart of his farewell to the Senate when he said:

It is considered fairly old-fashioned to talk about a loving and caring society. In fact, it is fashionable to suggest that we no longer have that sort of society; that it is impossible to develop and improve society in that direction. I believe very firmly that that is not true.

He finished by expressing his confidence that his fellow senators would keep working to improve society. Don couldn't resist adding the qualifier:

… probably even more efficiently in my absence.

Of course, that bit of self-deprecation was not justified. Don was very much loved in our party, and everyone on this side of the House wants to pay tribute to him.

Don was too much of a realist to believe in utopias, but he did very much believe in a better Australia. May his children Roger, Jan, Jenny, Sally and Ben feel consoled by the knowledge that Don used his life to make so much of a positive difference. May he rest in peace.

Question agreed to.

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