Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Industry and Science) Share this | Hansard source

As has been evidenced by many contributions during this condolence motion—it seems now a bit obvious to make this statement, but I think it's important to say it—Simon Crean was a man of courage and conviction. It is, frankly, an honour to have the opportunity to stand in this place today to remember a life well lived—a life lived in service to a country that he, and we, love deeply and a life lived in service to the working men and women of our nation.

Simon Crean, you could safely say, was born into the Labor Party, and he was one of our party's great stalwarts. He was a trade union leader, a member of parliament, a community advocate, a minister and a leader. Simon Crean spent his working life bettering the lives of other working Australians. He also spent a great deal of time bettering the country to ensure our nation would reach its full potential. Nowhere was this more evident than in the work he did in the portfolios he held. As Minister for Industry and Science, it would be remiss of me not to reflect on the fact that Simon Crean's first ministerial appointment was as the minister for science and technology. In that role, Simon was a great champion not just of Australian science in general but particularly of Australian research and of ensuring that Australian research could be harnessed in the national interest.

On 14 March 1991, Simon announced one of the most enduring legacies of the desire to fuse our research know-how with Australia's economic success. On that date he announced the first tranche of the Cooperative Research Centres program. For over 30 years, the CRC program has been a critical part of Australia's innovation architecture. It's a proven model that suited Simon Crean because it uses industry-led collaborative research to solve problems by working together to deliver real outcomes. It spans industries as diverse as manufacturing, agriculture, recycling, artificial intelligence, aerospace, energy, health and mining, to name but a few, translating homegrown research into commercially viable products and services that will generate new businesses and new jobs.

The numbers speak for themselves. Since Simon Crean launched the first CRCs back in 1991 the program has committed over $5 billion of grant funding to support the establishment of 236 CRCs and over 200 shorter-term CRC projects. Collaborative partners from industry, research, government and community organisations have all matched this funding, with commitments of close to $17 billion in cash and in-kind contributions. On announcing the first group of CRCs, Simon said:

Australia must match the technology push provided by its strong research base with the demand pull of industry and other research users …

He said the CRCs:

… reflect the balance between longer-term strategic research and short-term, market-oriented projects that is essential to forging the links we need between science and industry.

The centres will also play an important role in training in science and engineering research, providing the skilled people we need to be internationally competitive into the next century.

That's the task Simon Crean set for the CRCs, and they've delivered on it many times over.

The CRC program is a great example of what is possible when we back Australian know-how. When we get industry-research collaboration and cooperation, we get things right. It's a task that still faces us as policymakers today. It's a task that this Labor government is keen to continue. We are keen to build upon the work that Simon Crean started.

On another matter, a lot has been mentioned in this place about Simon Crean's courage and humanity, especially in disagreeing with the Iraq War. That was a particularly difficult stand to take at that point in time, considering the pressures that he would have faced in making that very big call. Today I want to mention another little-known example of Simon Crean's courage.

On September 11 2002, the first anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Simon was invited to speak at the service to honour victims. However, for whatever reason, the government of the day decided and determined that the readings would be made from one holy book at the commemorative service, despite the fact that many different people of many different faiths were victims in that horrific attack. Simon Crean decided we could be bigger than that. So, first, he read a message from the Bible that he'd been asked to read by the organisers, and then he did something that reflected his utter humanity. He said:

And if I may add a further brief text.

"Oh, mankind, we created from you a pair of a male and female and made you into nations and tribes that ye may know each other, not that ye may despise each other."

That too is from a Holy Book, The Koran. Chapter 49, verse 13.

As one of his former staffers and someone I'm proud to call a friend, Kirsten Andrews, wrote years later:

Despite the political risk for modern politicians in pointing out the obvious - that Islam is a religion of peace, he—

Simon—

decided he couldn't let the opportunity pass him by. It was a small, underreported moment in the life of a politician, yet it was also a moment of true leadership.

That innate goodness, that ability to recognise the humanity of others, was a manifest part of the Simon Crean I knew and worked with in this place.

Post politics, he continued to serve. He made the case for Australian science and research and know-how, through his work with Monash University, as its Deputy Chancellor; the Korean Australian business chamber; and, most recently, the European Australian Business Council.

He wasn't just a great Labor stalwart. He was a great Australian who served his country and his community with deep passion. If all of us in this place could serve our country half as well as Simon Crean did, we would achieve a great deal.

My condolences and wishes go out to his wife, Carole, their daughters and wider family. May you rest in peace. Thank you for your contribution.

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