Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In May this year, the Labor parliamentary Left Right Out band got a new member; Peta Murphy joined for the Wiggles' performance in this place. I snapped photos of that performance, Peta with a huge smile, banging away on the xylophone. She confessed to me afterwards that she didn't really know what notes she was playing, but she didn't care and neither did we. That typified what I saw in Peta from the day she arrived here: full of energy, fiercely independent in her thinking, and in a hurry to make a difference. She was also the first to take the mickey out of herself and, to be fair, out of those opposite, too—very effectively.

I saw Peta embrace opportunities here, making the most of the unpredictability of this place, and operating with a determination to simply make the most of each moment, all the while managing cancer treatment and the pain and exhaustion that no doubt went with it, doing so without complaint. She never gave up on fighting for the issues that were important for her, from women's health to gambling reform to women's economic independence, and I think that we will all call on her words as we continue to advocate on issues like breast cancer, which Peta never stopped tenaciously fighting for.

Peta was inspiring to listen to when she took to the floor in parliament. Her speech in 2020 on the previous government's plan for women fleeing domestic violence to use their own superannuation, rather than be provided with any additional federal government support, is one that shows how she could cut through to the heart of an issue in just 90 seconds. It was also really clear, from her 90-seconders and all the constituency statements she made, that she clearly love the electorate of Dunkley. Her passion absolutely shone through. I let Peta know that I was visiting a neighbouring MP not that long ago, and Peta texted me saying: 'Why are you going there? Do you want to stay with me?' I could hear her saying it as the words were popping up on my phone. It was such a tangible example of her belief that Dunkley was the centre of the universe, and Frankston in particular. She had such generosity of spirit, in spite of all her own challenges.

Peta's persuasive powers when speaking on this floor were such that I confess even I was tempted to pick up the squash racket again—just briefly, unfortunately. I know that I would have been on a hiding to nothing against her and her gold-medal achievements. With me, Peta referred very rarely in conversation to being unwell, and that has been remarked on similarly by many of us here on both sides today. Her death this week was a particular shock to me as I was absent from the last week in parliament and had been texting her the week before about typically matter-of-fact details—asking her advice about whether she had been at the United Nations during cold weather, which is what I was about to do. For the record, I took her final fashion advice, which was, ultimately, one word: layers.

I loved conversations with Peta because of her sharp intellect, her quick wit and her blunt words. I knew we could have a really frank and very efficient conversation, unless it was about dogs. It would rarely be without her making a wry joke. The humour was always there. I'm sorry there weren't more of those conversations, but I've been really grateful to hear the people who were closest to her in this place share so many stories today, not just about her time here but also about things that she achieved beforehand.

Peta's community and this parliament have benefited from her commitment, her warmth, her attention, her courage and her energy, while her family—husband, Rod, parents Bob and Jan, and the rest of her very loving family—will have missed out on so much time with her. I thank them for letting us have her here, and her staff, who will be feeling this loss so deeply. I also thank the community of Dunkley for making such a good choice in sending her here to represent them. Her death leaves us very sad, but her contributions will endure, and I feel really lucky to have travelled in her orbit for the last few years. Vale, Peta Murphy.

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