Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

URNELL () (): I'd like to take this opportunity to follow a number of my parliamentary colleagues over this sitting week and pay tribute to a true Labor hero. Simon Crean was truly an impressive figure inside the parliament and outside of it too. He was a man who left a lasting legacy for the Australian Labor Party, a political party he dedicated his life to and to leading, although not to victory, through a period one might diplomatically describe as choppy waters for us—during some tough times in the Howard years.

Simon also dedicated his life to the union movement and oversaw a period of transition into what paved the way for some of the reforms that underpin our present-day industrial relations framework. Simon was a man who strived to seek out the 'light on the hill' of his forebears and approached public life with honour and decorum, which is no mean feat in a field of work known for its rough-and-tumble nature, even to this very day, let alone what it has been described as in decades past.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 10:28 to 10:42

As I was saying, whilst I never had the good fortune to have met Simon, I have been so moved by a number of contributions made by my colleagues, both in the House and in the Federation Chamber. I was, to say the least, extremely moved by those on our side of the chamber who knew him best, but most moved by what some on the other side of the chamber and the political spectrum had to say in tribute to the impact and impression that Simon had left on them.

I was particularly moved by the remarks made by the member for Riverina. In my first year in this place, I soon discovered that it is one thing to be generally and genuinely liked by your caucus colleagues—you can gauge the measure of how someone is seen as a political operator. However, when you carry yourself throughout your political career in such a way that the same can be said about you by your political opponents, it is a reasonably true measure of how someone conducts themselves in this building as a person. The member for Riverina spoke of Simon as a man who had the time of day for those who also played with a straight bat. Sometimes we lose sight of the fact that most of us might be travelling in different directions but toward the common goal of bettering our nation. For that matter, I've always appreciated having a chat with the member for Riverina and if I have Simon to thank for instilling those values in him then I know that I am better off for it.

Knowing the profound impact that Simon has had on so many made me think about his place in history, especially the history of our Australian Labor Party and the trade union movement. Being a proud union member, delegate and official for a significant portion of my working life, it was hard to ignore the existence of Simon Crean. This started well before he took his seat on the green leather bench in this building. It is hard to ignore Simon's long, proud career in the Australian trade union movement, especially with his historically significant contributions to public policy on the outside of this building as the President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions. In fact, at the time he became president this building was still three years away from its official opening.

For Simon, taking the top job at the ACTU occurred at a historically significant window, as he found himself in a role where the top job in the government of the day was occupied by Bob Hawke, who, along with his Treasurer, Paul Keating, joined with Simon and the ACTU secretary at the time, Bill Kelty, and the broader union movement, where he played a crucial role in furthering the prices and incomes accord. One of the lasting impacts from brokering the accord was the further expansion of universal superannuation. This is further emphasised by Simon's role in moving our industrial relations system toward enterprise bargaining. Having Bob Hawke, Paul Keating and Bill Kelty to collaborate with certainly created a perfect storm for creating reforms that could be seen as tectonic shifts on the status quo at the time. It is an unavoidable by-product of having a cohesive group of individuals that occupy positions of power and influence that have the mandate and vision to manifest their ideas into reality and have them last the test of time—evidenced by many of the initiatives they brokered together still, in broad principles, being a part of how we do things to this very day. But Simon's time at the ACTU would not last forever, because, just like several others who have held senior leadership positions of the ACTU both before and after his time as president, eventually Simon would leave the role to make a different kind of contribution to public life, and, upon the 1990 federal election, Simon was elected as the member for Hotham.

Upon his election to this place, Simon was immediately appointed as Minister for Science and Technology, as part of the recently re-elected Hawke government. He would hold several ministerial portfolios in his long career in parliament, with a long list of achievements in each role. Many of them, we would all recognise today.

Not long after, Simon served as Minister for Primary Industries and Energy between 1991 and 1993, where he, all the way back then, worked on initiatives related to forms of renewable energy and started early dialogues on the need to transition away from having an overreliance on fossil fuels. As Minister for Employment, Education and Training, Simon initiated reforms which integrated vocational education and training, with the aim of increasing Australia's skill base, which is a playbook that our government has also adopted in a holistic way by way of establishing Jobs and Skills Australia. Minister Crean also worked toward the development and implementation of the Australian Qualifications Framework, which, even to this day, sets a consistent national qualification standard for educators within higher education, vocational education and training and in schools. This could not have been possible if not for the minister's ability to facilitate an open dialogue and foster a workable consensus between himself and the state and territory education ministers at the time.

As Minister for Trade between 2007 and 2010, Simon's achievements in this role were many. In the wake of the global financial crisis, he travelled far and wide and played key roles in brokering a number of free trade agreements. One key agreement that comes to mind is the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand free trade agreement, as it also signified a focus by Simon Crean as trade minister to actively seek stronger ties with ASEAN nations and advocate for Australia to place a higher priority on Asia-Pacific economic integration.

Simon then served as the Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government, as well as being the Minister for the Arts between 2010 and 2013. I particularly note that Simon, as the minister responsible, oversaw the creation of Regional Development Australia. As arts minister, Simon launched the national cultural policy, Creative Australia, a policy framework that the Albanese Labor government has worked on reviving through the launch of our government's national cultural policy and re-establishment of Creative Australia.

It's quite a storied career, full of lasting reforms and achievements. The present-day member for Hotham, the Minister for Home Affairs, gave an extremely moving speech in the House on Monday, describing him as a giant and a mentor to herself and to many others in the Labor Party—although hearing this from the member for Hotham might have come as a shock to the member for Riverina, if he had thought that Simon only mentored recently-elected members of the National Party. But many in the Labor Party have him to thank. We are, as a party, better off for having people come up through the ranks that have had the values and attitudes that have made Simon so widely respected.

I am almost entirely certain that, upon her election to this place after Simon retired after being a parliamentarian for 23 years, the member for Hotham felt she had very big shoes to fill. For that matter, I'm sure presidents of the ACTU feel the same way when they internalise the fact that previous occupants of their job included one Bob Hawke but also Simon Crean. I would only imagine that the member for Cooper would agree with me there. I must say that, despite having been appointed as the minister for many diverse areas of public policy, Simon Crean didn't forget who gave him the opportunity to do so: the people of Hotham. Despite serving as a minister under the Hawk, Keating, Rudd and Gillard governments—four different prime ministers, a feat that potentially no other labour members of parliament in recent memory have been able to obtain—it was a Hotham that put him in the position to serve in ministerial roles and bring about nation-changing reforms.

Simon Crean is truly one of the greats. We are worse off for not having the ability to tap into his counsel as many have done previously, but we can still strive to live by his examples by way of how we conduct ourselves as members of this place. As is so often the case, a statesman is a politician who is no longer in office. Simon was one, an elder statesman within the parliamentary Labor Party and for our nation. Knowing that this doesn't come close to scratching the surface, I'm speaking on what Simon may consider to be his proudest achievements as a minister in one of many Labor governments or as a president of the ACTU.

Knowing that members like him sat in the same party room that we meet in ensures that we truly stand on the shoulders of giants, of which Simon Crean is most definitely one. He was a man of unwavering belief and principles and a minister with the commitment to see through lasting reforms that continue to shape our nation, a man who was a public servant through and through, a man with a life committed to serving the public and the public good—a life well lived. And we are all better for having him make that decision to dedicate his life to the public good.

I express my sincere condolences to a great Australian who accomplished so many great things for Australians. Vale, Simon Crean.

Debate adjourned.

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