Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

When Peta Murphy was asked in January how she kept going, how she kept working so hard being an MP while enduring treatment, she told the Today show, 'What are you in politics for if it's not to make a difference and make a difference in other people's lives?' No statement better defined Peta. She was brave, passionate and determined, and a warrior for justice. She worked tirelessly, a champion for her local community. And I'm proud to have called her my friend.

We're accustomed in this place to the parliament pausing proceedings and to paying tribute to former members from time to time—good people who served their communities and then lived full lives before passing away in their old age. It's absolutely devastating to me, as I know it is for all of us, that we have lost someone who just days ago was sitting among us, just over there, at far too young an age—someone we admired deeply, someone we loved, and someone whose passing is a loss we cannot comprehend.

I'm pleased to say that we had a chance to tell Peta how much she was loved and admired at her 50th birthday party just last month. Her family, friends and many colleagues from her life in politics and the law joined Peta for a celebration of her remarkable 50 years. Sadly, as we learnt on Monday with the devastating news from her husband, Rod, it was also the last time we were able to celebrate the birth of this amazing, brilliant woman. I know her passing will be felt deeply by so many. To know Peta was to be impacted by her indelible spirit.

Peta Murphy first entered this place in the mid-nineties, as the political fortunes were turning and more than a decade of Labor government was about to become a decade of Liberal government. Peta has always had a fighting Labor spirit. She came into this building as a young staffer—in her mid-20s—in her first political job, working in a two-person office for Duncan Kerr, to enjoy for years the trenches of opposition. Duncan was then shadow minister for immigration, and later environment, justice, customs and the arts. No wonder some thought it was too much for a young staffer on her first outing, and there were genuine concerns that she would not be up to the task. But, of course, as no-one here now will doubt, Peta was made of tough stuff. She—and those around her—soon discovered that she was just as good, if not better, than many of those around her.

Her confidence shot up as the praise followed, and what Duncan describes as the 'smart, sassy, confident Peta' emerged. Just how confident was revealed on the squash court. While some junior staffers might have considered it a wise career move to let the boss win, Peta's competitive streak allowed no such mercy, and time after time she thrashed Duncan. Duncan tells me his proudest moment on a squash court was when he managed to score six points off Peta in a 9-6 defeat. Duncan was right to be proud. In later years, Peta was the Australian and US Masters squash champion and won the gold medal at the World Masters Games. Her sporting talents didn't end there. She also played softball in the national league and narrowly missed out on representing Australia at the Sydney Olympics in handball.

It was during her time working for Duncan that Peta met her husband, Rod, a fact which became apparent when people noticed that another Labor staffer seemed to be spending an inordinate amount of time in Duncan's office instead of looking after his own boss. It was a partnership that became a marriage. Rod's support, love and wisdom helped guide Peta through her time as a political staffer to a successful career in the law and then into parliament.

Given the impact she quickly made with her intelligence, wit and passion, it was a source of great surprise and disappointment to the Labor Party when Peta announced she wanted to leave politics. Having experienced how rapidly the highs in politics can turn into lows, Peta sensibly decided she needed a fallback career and became a lawyer. As with everything she did in life, she succeeded. She worked as a senior public defender at Victoria Legal Aid, as a solicitor with Rob Stary & Associates and as a barrister at the Victorian Bar.

As many here will be well aware, the cab-rank principle means that all barristers are ethically obliged to represent those who brief them. Barristers don't determine guilt; their job is to represent their clients to the best of their ability, and Peta had ability in spades. She was always prepared to act for anyone who asked and to fight for her clients. She understood that, in a country that respects the rule of law, everyone has the right to be represented, and she practised that principle, particularly in serious criminal cases.

The Liberal Party recognised immediately the threat Peta posed to them in Dunkley and sought to end her career as an MP before she had even started. In the final days of the 2016 campaign, with Dunkley on a knife edge, Peta had to contend with an absolute pile-on from multiple front pages, editorials and columns by all the usual suspects, denouncing her previous work as a lawyer, with demands that she be disendorsed. The Labor Party rightly and resolutely stood by her, but, despite a four per cent swing, Peta narrowly lost Dunkley. If there's one thing we know about Peta, it's that when she was knocked down she got straight back up again. So along came 2019, and she ran again. As we all know now, she was proudly elected to serve as the member for Dunkley.

In both 2016 and 2019, and again in 2022, I happily worked with Peta on her campaigns. But what should've been one of the happiest moments of her life was cruelled by the terrible news just a week after being sworn in that the cancer had returned. Peta faced the twin challenge of being a member of parliament while again fighting breast cancer the only way she knew how: head on—with a first speech that the Prime Minister has rightly described as one of the finest ever heard in this place, and by becoming only the second Labor MP to be re-elected in Dunkley and with the second-biggest margin in the seat's 38-year history.

Despite the diagnosis, Peta persevered. With her signature sense of humour and determination, she showed up for her community and her country. She was an exemplary member of parliament who was adored by her constituents. Peta's determination to show up and serve her community every day was steadfast right to the end. She was passionate about the difference that Labor governments can make in people's lives.

She also knew, from her experience, the value of our healthcare system. Peta credited the excellent treatment she had received through Medicare and Australia's fine public hospitals with saving her life, and she then determined that she would channel that experience into becoming a campaigner for the entire health system. She was a particularly strong advocate for women's health, and I know many women inside and outside this building admired her fierce resolve to create change in this important area. Many in this building would know you could rarely attend a women's health related parliamentary event without seeing Peta there or speaking passionately before jetting off to the next engagement she had committed to organising.

Peta made many remarkable contributions to this place through debate, committee work and parliamentary friends groups, and she was driven by an equally fierce devotion to her constituents. The admiration and love for Peta in this place is matched by the love for her among the people of Dunkley. My deepest sympathies to Rod and all who knew and loved her in all too short a time on earth.

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