Adam Bandt (Melbourne, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

These are clearly not the circumstances in which parliament wanted to gather here today, and we are all the poorer for not having Peta Murphy here with us. Parliament has heard heartfelt tributes from across all sides today, and they all ring true. In the public sphere, she fought for equality, and her values and her accomplishments in her time in this place are many—and they've been amply and ably demonstrated by the Prime Minister and her colleagues. And also, as has been noted, while she was going through her treatment, she turned it into advocacy, not just for reform but also to be an example herself, and she inspired many in so doing.

As a Victorian who used to practise as a lawyer, I had the privilege of meeting and knowing Peta before she entered parliament. At one social event, a mutual friend of ours, who had previously supported me in my endeavours, pulled me aside and said, 'There's someone I really want you to meet,' and brought me over to introduce Peta. He said: 'You might not like this, Adam, but she's just been preselected for Labor for the seat of Dunkley. I couldn't be happier and I'm going to give her my full support.' And he leant over to me and said, 'Adam, you need to know that she's one of the good ones.' And he was absolutely right. When people have said today, previously, that her work here was a continuation of a lifelong determination to fight for her Labor values and social justice, they were right. She used her skills before coming to this place to stand up for people who were doing it tough, and she fought to improve not only their individual lives but to change the world so that things would be better for them.

The skills minister has referred to the time that he was workplace relations spokesperson and minister, and she worked with him. I was, at the time, also the Greens workplace relations spokesperson. I say this with absolutely no disrespect to the skills minister, but I was always very pleased at any time when he said, 'I'll send Peta around to talk to you,' because that was an opportunity for a conversation with someone who not only had values that you could see on their face but who was whip smart, and who you could put nothing past. It was always not only an enjoyable conversation but her humour, as others have remarked on, made any encounter with her enjoyable.

We have lost her far too soon and the grief that people, especially in the Labor family, are feeling is heartfelt and it's real. On behalf of the Greens, I want to extend our support and our thoughts for what is, as many have said, not only a difficult time now but one which may be a difficult time for some period to come. To her close family and her friends: we are thinking of you in this most difficult of times. We are all the poorer for not having Peta Murphy with us. Vale, Peta Murphy.

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