Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Peta Murphy always asked why—often, I thought, inconveniently! Peta was always someone seeking to understand, so she asked the questions that others wouldn't. In this place, and in all the places in which she participated, she needed to get beyond the surface to the essence of a matter. When I've been thinking about Peta in these past difficult days, I've been thinking about this characteristic, which was one of the many ways in which she defined herself to me: someone who never rested until she got to the truth.

I want to start my remarks by speaking a little bit about what knowing Peta Murphy means to me and having had the privilege of working with her in this place and of knowing her for sometime prior to that—two lawyers from Victoria who came to represent seats in Melbourne in this parliament. But, of course, my knowing Peta is the smallest part. What I believe matters in this debate is to, in Australia's parliament, seek to recognise Peta on her terms and to highlight the impact she made on all of those around her, on her community and in public life. I hope, in this light, that the perspective I bring isn't a selfish one but one that might illuminate this a little further—add something to what's already been said so well by many.

I think of the powerful and emotional remarks of the Prime Minister starting this debate this morning. I think, amongst many other contributions, of the minister for skills, who knew Peta so well, and her dear friend—my dear friend—the member for Jagajaga too. Like them, like all of us, today I stand here overwhelmed by a sense of missing Peta. Her absence here is a gaping and, indeed, aching hole in this building—a place in which she really belonged; a place in which, as the Prime Minister said, she really should have had the opportunities to do so much more, because it is incredible to think of what Peta Murphy might have achieved, extraordinary indeed as her achievements have been to date.

But what I would say is this: what she did, everything that Peta did, and how she did it matters. All the things that Peta did in life she did well. She was exacting and demanding both of herself and of those of us who came into contact with her. And her contribution in public life really does speak to this, from the detailed policy work that many have spoken of to how she connected with and advocated for her constituents—something I saw firsthand in some of the communities that make up the Dunkley electorate, something I have experienced since becoming a minister and dealing with her representations.

I think, as everyone else has been doing in this debate, about Peta's courage. The thing that I really want to convey in reflecting on this is how she managed something quite extraordinary in that Peta was never defined by that insidious disease, but nonetheless was such a powerful advocate in respect of combating it. That is a very unusual combination, and a powerful one. She showed that courage at other times too. I'm disappointed—devastated too, I would say—that she was elected to this parliament in 2019 when I believe she should have been elected in 2016. The circumstances of that election and some of the things that she was subjected to in the media were awful. They were awful and they were things that would have held a lesser person back, but they did not hold her. And when she was elected, she showed no rancour ever, no sense of resentment for what had been denied her, only a determination to make every moment count.

And in that I think too about how effectively she worked with her colleagues, and I'm incredibly privileged to have been one—not just her Labor colleagues but across the chamber as a true parliamentarian rather than someone who saw herself as a politician. And far more than anything I can say, the conduct of this entire debate is a testament to that: the words which have been spoken, the words which will be spoken, and the depth of feeling behind them from so many devastated colleagues in mourning.

Others have spent some time setting out Peta's achievements, her achievements in work before she came here, in this place and her achievements in life too. I won't repeat them, but I will instead say this: Peta, I'm so much the better for knowing you and, I hope, too, that I am better at doing my job. I know, too, that we are all, all of us in this place, better with this awful, powerful reminder not to waste a moment as, to be honest, we all too often do. All of us here, every day, have chances to make a difference, and these are chances that this week I've been reflecting more than ever can't be spurned. They can't be spurned if we are to honour her memory and her legacy. And, similarly, chances to tell the people around us who we love and who we admire that we love them and we admire them can't be spurned either.

I'm sure I'm not the only person in this place who wishes that they had made more of their last moments with Peta. I'm consumed with regret about this. I'm sure she would be rolling her eyes at hearing me say that, but I hope she does hear me say that because I wish that, over the course of our friendship, I could have been clearer about how much I looked up to her, about how every opportunity I had to sit in her office—sometimes with a cup of tea and sometimes with a gin and tonic—meant a lot to me and about how much I look to her example in how I go about my work and how I conduct myself. I didn't say these things, but I'm thinking about them now. I'm thinking about what an extraordinary person Peta was as a public person. I'm thinking how privileged I was to know her a little bit as a private person.

Lastly, I'm thinking about those most affected by this—those who don't sit in this chamber. I'm so glad the Prime Minister touched on Peta's staff. They've carried a burden for a time, and I hope they get all the support that they need right now. I hope they see that all of us here, all of us who know how important our staff are to us, are thinking of them and doing everything we can to support them in the coming days and months. I'm thinking about Peta's family: her parents, her sisters and their kids. I wish I had more to say than that you are in my thoughts and that I hope this debate provides some measure of comfort in these darkest hours. Lastly and most importantly, I'm thinking of Rod. Speaking for myself and for Jill too, in recent days we've been thinking about you. I know you are an extraordinary human being. I can only imagine the burden that you have been carrying. But I know, too, that you knew better than anyone what an extraordinary human being Peta Murphy is. Rest in peace, Peta.

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