Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Hansard source

When you look at the Australian Army website, there on the first page, it has 'Defending Australia and our Interests'. The online page reads:

The ADF provides a formidable military capability built upon expertly-trained personnel and technically-advanced vessels, vehicles, aircraft and weapons. Working in close cooperation, the Navy, Army and Air Force are tasked with the defence of: our nation, its borders and coastline—

Jim Molan.

our people and their values—

That is Jim Molan too.

and our way of life.

Of course, Jim's name is not on the website. I added that in, because each of those three points on defencejobs.gov.au refers to Jim Molan. He was all about our nation, its borders and coastline. Look at Operation Sovereign Borders. He helped stop the boats. He was all about our people and their values. No-one fought harder for those things than Jim Molan in his time in this place. He was one of the fiercest protectors of our way of life, our values, our principles. He was a soldier, a parliamentarian, a leader, a patriot and, most importantly, a dedicated family man and friend.

Jim's passing on 16 January aged 72 left a large hole in the Liberal Party, in the coalition and in our parliament. Indeed, his 72 years were packed with adventure, with a fierce fighting quality. We all know of his love for his wife, Anne; his daughters, Sarah, Erin and Felicity; his son, Michael; his five grandchildren; his extended family; and his loved ones.

Jim filled a couple of casual vacancies. The first in December 2017 was when Fiona Nash, a National, fell foul of that situation where people who were deemed to have dual nationality had to leave the parliament. I see the member for New England here. He had to leave the parliament but he got back in. Fiona Nash chose not to, and Jim filled that vacancy. If you went to the National party room, we would have liked a National to fill that vacancy. But if there was going to be one person to fill it who wasn't a National, it would have been Jim Molan. Indeed, he filled that position until June 2019. Come the 2019 election, Jim was in an unwinnable spot. Perin Davey filled the No. 3 spot on the coalition ticket, as per the coalition arrangements. Jim decided to go it alone. That caused a bit of consternation amongst the Nationals but, again, if anybody was going to win a spot, it would have been Jim Molan.

I was Deputy Prime Minister at the time. I can remember turning up in my own home town of Wagga Wagga. I approached this election booth in the west of the city and there was a sea of blue everywhere. I thought, 'Who can this be? There is no candidate with blue in my home town. This is a Nationals stronghold.' Of course, it was Jim. He had banners, he had corflutes and he had people donned in blue T-shirts who outnumbered the Nationals almost 10 to one. It was like an army. Jim was back in the army and he was fighting for his position. At last count—I stand to be corrected—he got about 132,000 first-preference votes. It was more than anybody in the lower house, more than anybody in the upper house, more than anybody in probably Australian political history. It is a bit of a quirk of the Senate system that he actually did not get elected. I think he needed something like 600,000 votes. But 132,000 first-preference votes in New South Wales shows the popularity of the man, shows the strength of the man, shows how people were willing to go with Jim. As I said, he did not get elected. Perin Davey did and she is doing an outstanding job now as deputy leader of the Nationals federally. But Jim then did fill a Senate vacancy when Arthur Sinodinos resigned. Arthur wasn't well. He went on and did some great things in the US, of course, as our ambassador.

Probably my favourite memory of Jim was at a protest rally, would you believe? It was actually supposed to be the opening of the Merimbula Airport back on 18 December 2019. We had Andrew Constance there as the state Liberal member for Bega, we had now member for Eden-Monaro, Kristy McBain, there as the Bega Valley Shire Council mayor, and we had Jim as the duty senator. As I was trying to make this wonderful announcement as the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development about the upgrade to the Merimbula Airport, there were these climate protesters who thought their voices and their cause were far more important than anything we were doing that day. They were rowdy, they were noisy, they were downright rude, and Jim wasn't having anything of it. You can see in the video Jim sort of moving sideways and edging, in a polite but very firm way, these protesters out of the way so that they couldn't disrupt my wise words. It is just a classic video to watch Jim at his finest. Indeed, the protesters didn't get anywhere near us because Jim made sure of it. He was a fine fellow. I know everybody on this side loved him. We just did, because he said what he thought and he meant what he said.

In this day and age when there are some sensitive Nellies in this place—there truly are people who should not be silent when they ought to speak—Jim would never fall into that category. Jim spoke his mind. When some people were all too scared or all too timid to actually say what they thought about a hot topic of discussion at the time, Jim was the first to lead the charge, just like he would have been in his army career and just like he was when he led Operation Sovereign Borders. Even with his book, Danger on our Doorstep, it was probably unpopular at the time for some to turn up to that book launch, but I did. I'm sure others did. I know the member for New England absolutely would have. I was pleased that the now opposition leader, Peter Dutton, turned up and said some fine words, because we respected Jim and we respected his authenticity. In this day and age where almost too many people fall into the trap of just saying what they think the media wants to hear and probably go along with the flow of what might get them a few likes on Facebook but not really appeal to those quiet Australians, Jim was out there fighting the good fight.

I do offer my heartfelt condolences and my absolute prayers to his family, to the Liberal Party and to the coalition, because we've lost a great warrior. We've lost a great statesman. I know many Australian Army members—I represent Kapooka where all the recruits go through—and I know how fondly he's thought of in the military, as he should be. May his legacy live long in all of those who are honoured and privileged to serve in this place on behalf of the coalition, because there are some fights to be fought and won. May his spirit loom large over us when we have those debates, and may we long remember fondly his contribution to this place and to this nation. Vale, Jim Molan.

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