Peta Murphy (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My husband, Rod Glover, and I both first met Simon Crean when we were what seems now to be very young federal Labor staffers from 1999 to 2001. That was the first time that I got to see what sort of person Simon was. I was a junior staffer who didn't work for Simon and had some but not a huge amount of interaction with him. Every time he saw me, including after 2001, he remembered my name, he knew why he knew me, he asked me how I was going and he asked me how Rod was because we had started our relationship by then. He didn't need to do that, and, every single time, I thought to myself, 'Wow, Simon Crean knows who I am.'

Rod went on to be one of many people, like the member for Chisholm, who spoke earlier today, who worked for Simon Crean. Of course, that's how we got to know Simon quite well over the last 25 years. As Rod has said to me, when you talk to people who have worked for Simon, many of whom Rod and I count as very close friends, you realise that you become part of the Crean family, a family with a rich Labor tradition, with its Middle Park base over many decades. Simon's passion and generosity invoked in his staff a fierce sense of loyalty, and I've also seen the love that it invoked from his staff to him.

This is what Rod remembers: that Simon worked hard and loved life. He was a champion of Australia's soft-power engagement with our region, where he saw the transformative power of international education and cultural and sporting exchange. He valued relationships with our region and beyond. He was also passionate about these things at home, as those at Monash University, the Tamworth Country Music Festival or his beloved North Melbourne Football Club would attest. Can I say, that going to the Tamworth Country Music Festival with Simon Crean would have to be, I think, one of the highlights of Rod's life. Were you to ask him to list the favourite things that he has done in his life, I'm pretty confident that Tamworth with Simon would come before our wedding! I'm pretty confident!

Rod is now a professor of political leadership, and one of the things he does is talk and lecture about different styles of leaders—the difference between leaders who think and act incrementally and those who think bigger and bolder. And Rod is the first to say that Simon's instincts were very rarely, if ever, incremental. He was always hungry to debate the biggest ideas and tackle the hardest issues. He was always prepared to hear a different view and respect it, and I know that Simon and Rod had some ding-dong battles and conversations in Simon's office—because that's what he wanted: he wanted a robust contest of ideas. He was also prepared to take a position, as many have talked about, even when it was not popular.

My great friend Dr Pradeep Philip, who is also one of Simon Crean's alumni, says this about Simon:

His moral courage is a real lesson for us in leadership roles in both public and private sectors. It goes to duty of public life and the living of a good and ethic life as an individual. But moral stance is not abstract it is real and tangible and this is why his Iraq war position is so resounding—the position was moral and how he conveyed it was practical. That's a great exemplar of public life.

Pradeep remembers in particular two things about Simon that he wanted mentioned. One was attitude, and we've heard people talk about this: every problem has a solution. That was Simon's attitude. You just have to work hard at it, and you need to get the right people around the table to pick it apart and then to solve it. The second thing was Simon Crean's approach: if you aren't at the table, you can't negotiate an outcome, so find a way to get yourself at the table.

As a boss he always let everyone have their say, because if you are heard then you feel included, even if the final decision is not what you had advocated. As Pradeep has said, this is why Simon attracted people around him who stuck with him for a long time, people who worked for him but also well after—because they were part of the Crean family. These were his enduring human and leadership characteristics.

Simon didn't represent Dunkley, as we know. But, after he left politics, he joined my community as the chair of the McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery, which is in Langwarrin. It's hard to remember exactly when, because, as Carole said to me when I spoke to her on Monday, time has changed shape with everything to do with Simon since his sudden passing. But I think it was this weekend or certainly not long, in the weeks to come, that Rod and I were supposed to be having lunch with Simon to talk about McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery—to talk about its future and its sustainability, and to join the dots, to strategise, about how we could make sure that this jewel in my community's crown remains.

The board and the staff of McClelland gallery want to express their great sadness at the passing of Simon Crean. He joined the board in May 2021 and assumed the chairmanship in April 2022. He made an enormous contribution during his service to McClelland through his wisdom, energy and experience. He was a leading figure in the political, industrial and cultural life of Australia for many decades, and as a former federal arts minister be brought to the McClelland board an unparalleled mix of expertise in industry, politics and the arts. I know as the local member I quite enjoyed being able to say to the board, 'You've got the expert as your chair. I don't know if I've got the solution for you, but I'm sure Simon Crean will.'

He was instrumental in the development of the Creative Nation policy, which informed the new Creative Australia policy, and, in his own words:

I've long held a passion for the arts. It's not just the enjoyment they bring, I see the artist as central to us a nation and to securing its future.

The board and staff of McClelland and the people of Dunkley extend deepest condolences to Carole, family and friends, and mourn the loss of Simon Crean. And, on behalf of Rod and Pradeep and all of our friends who admired and loved and worked with Simon, I know that we're going to miss that crinkled smile and the twinkle in his eye, and the 'let's talk about how we can get this done' conversation; and feel truly privileged to have shared a small part of the life of the legend and the man that was Simon Crean. Vale.

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