James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to pay tribute to Peta Murphy, the member for Dunkley. I'll start by commending all the contributions from members. This is a sad day, but it also brings us all together as human beings to take the opportunity to remember that, whilst this is a combative forum—and it should be, in a robust democracy—there are also times to reflect on who we all are. When we suffer a loss, like the loss of our great colleague, it is indeed an opportunity for all of us to reflect on her and her contribution—how we honour her memory and her great strengths as a member of parliament and how we can think about better emulating the example that she leaves to us all.

I first met Peta as a fellow member of the class of 2019, elected to the 46th parliament. It was a very impressive achievement for her to be elected to the parliament in 2019. A lot of new members were Liberal members that had won their seats as part of us winning that election off the Labor Party, and she had won a seat off the Liberal Party in a difficult election cycle for the Labor Party. That was extremely impressive. As I got to know her in the intervening years, I came to understand that it was very much because of her unbelievable personal campaign capability but also her ability to connect with her community. She became more than just a name next to a Labor Party logo on a ballot paper; she became someone who was clearly able, against the tide, to connect with her community so deeply and earn and engage their trust and be elected to this parliament under very impressive circumstances for her personally. Of course, her re-election in 2022 goes to show how deeply she connected with her electorate. I know that her community will be feeling such a deep loss. She was one of those members of parliament that was so ever-present in her community.

I didn't know her at all before parliament—I met her at our induction. Listening to her maiden speech was a great insight into a human being with unbelievable qualities, who had faced such a significant challenge in the battle with cancer, which revisited her within weeks of her election. The way she articulated that in her maiden speech was truly impressive and very touching.

For those of us who served in the 46th Parliament, COVID came along and made it a very different parliament to what would've been usual, particularly for new members to get to know each other and to work together through the committee processes. The physical distance that we had for so long meant that we didn't form as deep and close a bond with each other as would've been common for newly elected members of parliament. I had the opportunity, on a semiregular basis, through the ABC's Afternoon Briefing program, to debate with Peta, both remotely for a few years and, more recently, in person in the studio. Particularly when you're doing it in the studio, you have the opportunity before and after to talk to each other about a whole range and variety of things.

Despite debating on live television, you also learn a lot about each other and have those conversations that start to break down the barriers that some people in the public might think there are between members of the government and members of the opposition. The one thing I'd say about Peta, through those experiences, is that politicians can have reputations that are not deserved, both good and bad. People might watch them on television and think they're a lovely human being and they might be quite different behind the scenes, and vice versa; some might be unfairly viewed. But if you saw Peta Murphy in the parliament, on the television or giving a media interview and you thought she was a genuine, passionate, friendly person, you were absolutely right. I can confirm that she absolutely was that person in real life as well—an absolutely lovely human being.

One of the opportunities I always enjoy in this parliament, which doesn't get as much coverage as I wish it would, is the opportunity we have to agree with each other, particularly when participating in debates which are not arguments but opportunities to raise awareness on important subjects and important topics—particularly on health awareness and wellbeing, and usually in the Federation Chamber through private member's motions. I always take the opportunity when I can to contribute to those debates, and Peta absolutely always did as well. It was always a great experience to hear her use her own personal situation and experiences to desperately implore people to understand and have an awareness of how important it is to think about your health, to take seriously all the modern avenues we have available to us to avoid a lot of potential health issues that, if caught early enough, don't need to end the way they do for some people.

I lost a very dear school friend of mine to cancer, and this was his great obsession, and it was one Peta always took the opportunity to highlight whenever she could: get checked. Women, get checked; men, listen to your bodies. And that relates not just to breast cancer but to so many conditions. Early detection makes all the difference. For me, the opportunity I take out of the tragic circumstance of Peta's passing is to give her the commitment, in front of everyone here in this chamber, that I certainly am going to take the opportunity to think, even more than we already do, about how we seek avenues and ways to promote that great message she always took the opportunity to promote in this parliament: awareness of preventive medicine and to always take seriously our health.

Peta has passed far too soon. But so many speakers have made a point that I heartily agree with, which is that in the 4½ short years that she served in this parliament her contribution has been spectacularly more significant than 4½ years, and probably more significant than many of us will achieve in the parliament for whatever additional years than that that we have. We're so grateful for the time we had with her as a colleague. The legacy she leaves behind is truly significant. Vale Peta Murphy.

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