Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Skills and Training) Share this | Hansard source

Can I firstly acknowledge the eloquent and touching sentiments of the Prime Minister and the opposition leader. Peta Murphy was a passionate fighter who was always on the side of the underdog, the outsider, the less fortunate. Whether she was providing legal representation in court for the powerless or the disadvantaged on the margins of our society or she was advocating on behalf of a local constituent or a community group, she put every ounce of effort into those individual fights and those local battles. They mattered to her.

But she also had grander plans. Peta understood that federal politics was the battlefield where the big issues were contested and determined. Whether it's the challenges of climate change, attending to insecure work or striving for gender equality, it's in this place that the big things are won and lost, the most gains can be made and the contest of ideas for shaping the nation's future are played out, and she wanted to be part of it. It's why she threw herself headlong into policy work in so many areas, as the Prime Minister and the opposition leader referred to. Only this year she tabled the parliamentary committee report on the insidious adverse social effects of online gambling, highlighting, in particular, the industry's targeting of children. It's why, last Wednesday, she was here—unbelievably—in Canberra, to launch a Breast Cancer Network Australia report entitled Time to count people with metastatic breast cancera way forward. Then, sadly, she was unable, because she was too unwell, to launch that report, but her involvement, her advocacy, had already elevated this matter nationally. And, of course, she was right: as a nation we can and must do better to increase testing and ensure earlier diagnoses of all cancers. That's what she would have advised me to say today.

I know what else she would have advised me to say: not to carry on about her, not to talk her up too much. I can almost hear her interjecting, telling anyone today extolling her virtues to calm down. In her first speech she paid tribute to her parents, describing them as the 'most humble, principled and selfless people I have ever met'. Well, they definitely managed, if that is the case, to hand down those very traits, as they describe the Peta Murphy I knew to a tee. For someone who achieved so much in work and in sport, she was ridiculously humble. She was not comfortable with praise or being the centre of attention—which is a funny thing for a politician—unless it was for a cause bigger than her. She was principled and she was in a hurry to change things, but her work was always accompanied by compassion and integrity. Her selflessness was on constant display both privately and publicly—not just recently but for as long as I've known her and until the very end.

But it would be wrong of us to think that her life can be summed up solely through the prism of her recent battles or that Peta would want to be remembered only for her fight against an illness, however tenacious and courageous, because she was much more than that. Peta was great company. She was great to be around. She was irreverently hilarious, self-mocking and cheeky. She had a fast wit and a merciless put down when the need arose. Peta was very direct with her advice and her views. She was—well, let's just say that I didn't have to read her mind! Her self-deprecation was not a glib affectation of false modesty but her natural default position. She was her own harshest critic in her effort for excellence in everything she did.

I had the good fortune of asking her to join my office not long after the 2016 election. She had run as the Labor candidate in Dunkley, a seat held by the Liberals for 20 years, and she gave it a crack but just fell short. I needed someone to fill the role of chief of staff. I held the workplace relations portfolio, a significant and contestable area of public policy, I have to say, where seemingly everybody has a personal view, especially in the Labor Party! I was very grateful when she accepted the offer. Interestingly enough, it wasn't Peta's policy area of expertise, so I was astonished by the speed with which she acquired an intimate understanding of this complex area of law with a combination of an unparalleled work ethic and a forensic mind, matched only by her deep empathy for those in workplaces not getting their fair share. Her great contribution to Labor at that time was invaluable and reveals itself in the IR legislation this government is advancing this term.

As the 2019 election edged closer, she was having to resolve a dilemma—whether to secure a state seat with a likely fast promotion to ministry, as she was very much inside-running on that matter, or have another shot at the more difficult federal seat of Dunkley. Against the advice of some, and so typical of Peta, she took the harder path for a grander goal: a federal Labor government. She prevailed, but Labor fell short—but not for very long. As the Prime Minister said last year, Peta achieved her goal of being a member of a federal Labor government: the Albanese Labor government.

Peta was a feminist, a trade unionist and Labor to her bootstraps. The pride she felt in being the first woman to represent the constituents of Dunkley was palpable. The fact that the seat was named after Louisa Dunkley, who more than a century ago fought for equal pay and to put an end to discrimination against women, was the cherry on top.

As it happens too often in life, not everything turns out fairly. The random injustice of Peta's illness cut short what she set out to do, but each and every day she was working to make her constituents, the Labor Party, this place and her country better. Peta reminds us that it's not the length of time each of us sits in this place, but it's what we do with the time when we're here. She left an indelible mark as a lawyer, as a political staffer, as a parliamentarian and, I have no doubt, as an inspiration, and will continue to do so to all who sit in this place and beyond.

On behalf of her staff and to those of mine in particular who worked with Peta, I pay tribute to our beautiful friend and colleague Peta Murphy. I extend our deepest sympathies to her husband and best friend, Rod; to her mum and dad, Bob and Jan; to her sisters, Jodi and Penni, and their partners; to her nieces and nephew; to all of her many, many friends; and to her constituents of Dunkley. We are so much richer for having known her and will miss her each and every day. May she rest in peace.

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