Kristy McBain (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Hansard source

I was the latecomer to the class of 2019. I was elected in a by-election in July 2020—peak-COVID. This place was a very different and interesting one to come into, because we didn't have people sitting next to us. We were all spread out across the chamber. Giving my first speech, I had to get special dispensation to actually get family members in to watch. When I met the rest of the class of 2019, they quickly added me to their group chat, which I was eternally grateful for. There were a whole bunch of new things that I was trying to get my head around, and what a fantastic group of people it was to be able to ask for help. Peta was one of those people who spoke to me and said, 'I got elected only last year; let me know if you need anything.' She put herself out there from day one and always made sure that I had someone to check in with.

As with the previous speaker, Peta and I were in the same corridor after I got elected. I wandered into her office not long after being elected here and asked for her advice, because, like Peta's, mine was a marginal electorate. She spoke to me about some of the things that she did in her community. I started following her on social media and quickly realised that people in the seat of Dunkley just loved her. She showed up to football games, to netball games, to local businesses and to community groups, and each and every time there were so many comments afterwards saying: 'Thanks for your for work, Peta. We appreciate what you do for us.' People genuinely responded to Peta and the way she went about things, because she was so incredibly down to earth and so incredibly humble—so humble that she'd probably hate what today is all about: people giving her recognition all day about what a fantastic person she was and all the things that she accomplished in her lifetime.

She was, as I said, an incredibly hard worker. She was a ferocious advocate and, as many speakers have said, whip smart. She would have the most fantastic comebacks in milliseconds, and I genuinely loved her sarcastic sense of humour. It was just amazing to witness at times. She was someone that also wanted to make a difference. She reached across the aisle and she worked with whomever she needed to to get things done. I saw her advocate for life-saving medicines to be added to the PBS. I saw her advocate for human rights across the world. I know the trip she took with the member for Gippsland to the UN was one that she genuinely appreciated and loved. You've heard a lot of people talk about her focus in standing up for those less fortunate to make sure that community members from right across the spectrum—the socio-economic spectrum and the educational spectrum—had a fair go at things. And that was exactly who she was. She was someone that wanted a fair go for everyone and was prepared to work hard to achieve that.

When I arrived here in 2020, party politics was something new for me. It was on the back of multiple reports about the behaviour in this place—I think in every Four Corners episode there was a new revelation—but it couldn't have been further from what I saw happening. The night of the debate on the religious discrimination legislation, there were a number of people milling around former Opposition Whip Chris Hayes's office. I was having a chat to the whip at the time, and the member for Macarthur walked in with Peta. He pointed at the Opposition Whip, Chris Hayes, and said, 'Peta is going home.' That is the care and compassion of the place that I walked into—people who genuinely looked out for each other, people who had a real sense of knowing who Peta was. She wasn't prepared to go home and call it an early night. As the member for Jagajaga said earlier on, so many times she attempted to say to Peta, 'You probably don't need to be here this week,' and each and every time Peta would say, 'Oh no; I'm going to be here.' That was who she was. She had so many people in this place and in the Labor Party who loved and cared about her and who wanted the best for her.

She did a lot of work across standing committees, and she'll be forever known for some of that work. I know how much she treasured her two dogs, Bert and Ernie. She frequently showed pictures of them to us and spoke about their antics. She was fantastic at not mincing her words. As many people have said, you always knew where you stood with Peta Murphy, which I genuinely love.

Last week she attempted to launch the Breast Cancer Network Australia report Making metastatic breast cancer count. I heard her on RN last week. She said, 'I feel a responsibility to use my platform for this,' and PK said to her, 'Absolutely, but how are you?' In typical Peta fashion, she said, 'I'll be okay,' and just completely brushed it off because she'd gone on that show to talk about the launch of this report.

In her maiden speech, Peta said, 'Cancer sucks' and joked about whether it was unparliamentary language. She was absolutely right: cancer does suck, but she never let it get in the way of what she wanted to achieve. We'll all deeply miss her presence, her dedication and, as many people have said, her fantastic smile. I want to join the very loud chorus of people acknowledging Rod. I send my condolences to him, to her parents, to her sisters and to her nieces and nephew. Peta, you'll be forever missed.

See this speech in context