Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is with great sadness that I rise to say a few words about the passing of the Hon. Simon Crean. Like many on the Labor side and in fact across our parliament, I was quite shocked at hearing that Simon had passed. I knew Simon in my capacity as the federal member for Bendigo, on that very personal level, but I also knew of him well before then. His achievements for both the labour movement in this place and outside of this place have been well documented.

There are just a few things I want to say in memory of Simon. He really, really inspired a generation of young labour activists. He really challenged people's views of who could be a union official and an advocate for working people. He was part of a generation of union activists that came a different path, not necessarily the traditional path from the shop floor up, but he had a deep, genuine and enduring respect for people who did come through the union movement and that pathway. At his core was the belief that working people deserved more than a fair go and that the role of both the movement and the parliament and government was to improve the lives of working people and their families.

I remember stories, being a young activist, about his great days at what later became the NUW and today is my own union, with our unions merging. I can remember catching up with Simon not that many years ago and saying, 'Comrade, we're now in the same union.' In his early days at storemen and packers, it probably would not have seemed possible that the cleaners and nightwatchmen union, the beverage union and the early childhood educators union would one day merge with the storemen and packers union. But it did. The stuff that he achieved at the ACTU and the changes that he was part of cannot be underestimated. It's rarely just a minister or a member of parliament or a prime minister or a government that moves legislation and reform through. There is a group of activists and there are organisations that are part of that forming, storming and putting forward of proposals and changes. That is definitely the role that he did at the ACTU.

I can remember being a young activist involved in the student movement at the time, and I had the privilege to be here in parliament for his budget reply speech when he was Leader of the Labor Party. I can remember sitting there in the gallery as he spoke with deep conviction and passion about the Murray-Darling Basin. From my memory, he was one of the first Labor leaders to really put on the agenda that we needed a Murray-Darling Basin Plan, a national plan that brought the states together—that the Murray was in bad shape, dying, and we needed to have national leadership. The plan that he put forward was so revolutionary for its day. It was 2003, and here he was putting forward a plan to help save the Murray-Darling Basin. It would take many years before that idea would become a plan and, to this day, we're still working on the very proposal that he put forward that many years ago.

He had a deep respect for the regions, and that continued after his time in this place. That's probably where I really got to know Simon Crean as a person. When he was in this place he shared a house with two good friends of mine, Brendan O'Connor and Warren Snowden. I can remember being at dinners, the 'orphan' dinners, that happened on Thursday night at La Cantina, and just the conversations. Whether you called them the 'three wise men' or the 'happy couple', the three of them had a great bond and would quite often debate policy, debate ideas and debate the role of parliamentarians—what we could be doing, should be doing. Of course there were always the stories, or their version of truth-telling, that would come out at those dinners. But it was also an opportunity just to learn, almost through osmosis, the different things that he had learned.

It wasn't just those informal conversations that you'd have with Simon; he was always willing to help out and share advice and support to the next generation. But he did so in a way that was incredibly inclusive. He would quite often not be the first in the conversation; he would hear what you had to say, or he'd ask a question, and then he'd come back with some advice. In my experience he was a very different mentor and leader of the next generation. And he helped out. We heard the current member for Hotham, his old seat in Melbourne, share how he got out and helped out in her council election. That was very much who Simon Crean was; he believed in the legacy and the power of educating, supporting and mentoring that next generation of Labor activists and true believers coming through.

I really want to acknowledge the work that he did with an organisation based in my electorate, FRRR. On many occasions he was here in parliament, post his career, to support the work that they do. He was involved in that organisation. For those who don't know about FRRR, it's a body which receives philanthropic funding and government funding. It has a series of grants and different strands of grant funding to support rural and regional Australia, whether it be for education projects, environmental projects, community resilience and flood recovery projects, or bushfire recovery projects. It's an organisation that reaches to every part of rural and regional Australia, and Simon was incredibly involved in that organisation and a true champion of it and the work that it does. In one event here at Parliament House, I was heavily pregnant with Daisy—my first—and he actually said to me something that will stay with me forever: 'This will be,' as in Daisy, 'the most important and enjoyable thing that you will do. And good on you! But, also, what you do here in your role as being a member of parliament will ensure that she has a great life and it's just as important. Finding the balance can be hard but you can do it.' That was the kind of person that Simon was. He wasn't afraid to tell you his values and to give you that little bit of hope that it could be and would be easier.

We heard speeches that mentioned his post-parliament role in trade, particularly European trade. He was also the chairperson of the Australian Livestock Exporters Council. That was a tough role to take on post the Rudd-Gillard governments, but he did take on the role of chairperson of that council. That's also where I had quite a bit of interaction with Simon post that very chaotic and turbulent time for Labor—and I guess that's the best way to describe it. He wasn't afraid of a challenge and he did the work that needed to be done.

He really was a true champion of the regions and of working people in the regions. He had the ability to bring people together. He didn't believe in the deliberate combative nature of modern-day politics in this place, in the community or in the workplace. He truly did believe in bringing people together at a table and nutting out and getting a deal. He was incredibly intelligent and incredibly inclusive at the same time. Those are rare qualities. When he was dealt the toughest of blows in being rolled as the leader at the time he just picked himself up, got on with it and still made an incredible contribution to this parliament. He wasn't bitter for a day. He just moved on and said: 'What else can I do? What's next?'

I offer my deepest condolences to his wife, Carole, and his beautiful family. I know that many in this place have shared that they truly were generous in sharing their time with Simon with the rest of us. Vale, Simon Findlay Crean. May he rest in peace.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 10:12 to 10:27

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