Josh Burns (Macnamara, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I acknowledge the very nice words of the member for Flinders. About six months after the last election, I was on my way to the Albert Park branch of the Labor Party to give a report of what the new Albanese Labor government was up to and to have a discussion about the upcoming Victorian state election. It was an ordinary branch meeting, of course. No branch meeting in Macnamara is ordinary, but the Albert Park branch is a great branch in Macnamara. Attending just like any other branch member was the former leader of the Australian Labor Party, Simon Crean. That was Simon. He loved the Labor Party. Every Labor member mattered to him, and he felt that, in and of itself, being a part of the Labor Party and doing his duty as an ordinary Labor member was something that he held very dear to himself. We were very lucky in Macnamara to have Simon Crean there with us in our local campaigns. I'm grateful for this opportunity to speak on the motion on the passing of the Hon. Simon Crean, Labor member for Hotham for 23 years, cabinet minister under four Labor prime ministers and Leader of the Opposition from 2001 to 2003.

Simon's unexpected death in Berlin was devastating not only to his family but to the whole Labor family. Simon devoted his whole life and his enormous talents and enthusiasm to the great Labor cause. He was born into a Labor family and campaigned for Labor from boyhood, and he was still campaigning for Labor at the last election. I know this because Simon was campaigning for me. He stood on a booth for about six hours and handed out cards on election day, and then, in those 10 days where Macnamara was still not called, Simon Crean scrutineered for me day in and day out in a cold Port Melbourne hall.

It was a massive, cold hall in the middle of May, and I remember there was some Greens scrutineer who was there. It was one of their first times scrutineering, and they had to come up against the might and the experience of the former leader of the Labor Party. But that was Simon. He just was happy to be part of the team and happy to do his bit.

Simon was a constituent, and on one day in Middle Park I was on a bit of a roll door-knocking and I door-knocked a home. Carole Crean answered the door. I hadn't met Carole before. She said: 'Josh, we're fine. This is the home of Simon Crean, but, if you'd like to stay for a few minutes, Simon will be home any minute.' I stayed, and Carole gave me a bit of food and some drinks, and then Simon and I kicked off our friendship that day. He was always interested in our campaign. He was always interested in what was going on. From the moment I became the candidate, he often had one or two asks as well: things and causes that were important to him—never things that had any benefit to him at all, only things that mattered to our local community.

Simon was born into Labor royalty, and that Labor royalty was central to my local electorate and my community. The Crean family has been central to our Labor history in Macnamara ever since Frank Crean, Simon's father, was elected for Albert Park in 1945. Frank went on to represent Melbourne Ports, now known as Macnamara, for 26 years and was Treasurer and Deputy Prime Minister in the Whitlam government. He was a much-loved figure in our community. I am proud to be one of the six members for Melbourne Ports or Macnamara, and Frank was one of the others. Simon's brother David was the Labor Treasurer of Tasmania as well.

Simon served as the national secretary of the storemen and packers union before becoming the ACTU president in 1985. He was one of the architects of both the Labor Unity faction and the accord between the ACTU and the Hawke government, which has delivered enormous benefits for Australian workers. Elected for Hotham in 1990, he entered Bob Hawke's ministry immediately and held senior portfolios under four Labor prime ministers.

As I said before, Simon loved our local community and he loved the organisations within it. One of the first calls I got from Simon when I became the candidate for Macnamara was advocating on behalf of the Australian National Academy of Music. It's a great organisation that not only builds some of the best musicians in Australia but creates some of the best musicians in the world. Many graduates of ANAM go on to play for orchestras such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic and, of course, our great orchestras here in Australia. They are extraordinary musicians. They require extreme discipline. Simon understood this in his work as minister for the arts and, I think, as someone who just appreciated the importance of harbouring Australian talent.

There is a big project going on with ANAM at the moment about how they set themselves up for the next 30 years, and Simon was integral in all of that. Upon hearing the news of Simon's passing, I got a call from the Australian National Academy of Music saying they would be honoured, if the family was open to it, to play at Simon's funeral. There were two performances by musicians from the Australian National Academy of Music at the extraordinary sendoff for Simon. I thank the Crean family and those musicians who paid tribute to Simon. Simon would have absolutely loved it. He would have been extremely chuffed that they did that. There was no bigger fan of the Australian National Academy of Music than Simon, and I thank the ANAM for that kind sendoff.

Simon was the minister for primary industry, energy, trade, science, education, industrial relations and the arts. He was a versatile and hardworking minister, the kind a long-serving Labor government needs. But he had no luck as Labor leader, coming to the position at a very difficult time for our party. He made brave decisions, such as one we've all talked about: opposing the war in Iraq. But in 2003 he willingly stepped aside. Not everyone in politics gets the rewards their talents merit.

Simon Crean was not just a Labor warrior, although he certainly was that. To me, above all, he was a friend. He was one of my favourite constituents. He was a giant of the Labor movement. My last memory of him will be of a chilly election day in 2022, seeing a former Labor leader in a red T-shirt cheerfully working as a booth captain for our local campaign.

I send my deepest condolences to Carole and the whole Crean family. I thank them for lending Simon to public life. They can be proud that he made enormous contribution not only to our party but to our nation, and we miss him dearly.

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