James Stevens (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Government Waste Reduction) Share this | Hansard source

I, too, rise to pay tribute to Senator Linda White and pass on my condolences to her family and friends and, of course, her colleagues, particularly within the Labor Party room here in Canberra, at her passing. I served with Linda on the National Library of Australia Council. There is a representative from the House of Representatives and a representative from the Senate that serve on that council. The convention is that a member of the government and a member of the opposition have one of each of those positions. Soon after Linda's election, she was appointed as the Senate representative from the Labor Party. In reading her CV, we very much welcomed her selection by the government, given her service in a number of board roles, including, I think, with the MCG Trust in Victoria and a number of arts organisations. It was very much welcomed that we were receiving her experience to serve on the council. Regrettably, that was a much briefer period than all of us would have hoped. But, in the meetings that she attended after her appointment, she made excellent contributions and very insightful contributions. I would particularly like to put on record, on behalf of myself and all members of the council of the National Library, our deepest condolences at her passing and our deepest appreciation for her service to the National Library.

I've been listening to other contributions from members, and they've talked about the work that she did in raising budgetary matters with the ministers that she had excellent access to. With decisions that were made in the last budget that related to the National Library, I'm sure Linda was a very important part of achieving those outcomes, and the council very much appreciated the fact that she, within the government, was a great advocate for the Library, and all of the collecting institutions. I've learnt, through contributions, how much more broadly she was influential within the Labor Party insofar as cultural policy and arts policy were concerned.

I also note, in learning more about her contributions to the labour movement, the Labor Party and the union movement, as someone who has some similar history of having a deep involvement in my own political party, that I think we don't do a good enough job of acknowledging that it's actually quite significant and something to be proud of when someone has served their party in organisational capacities. I understand that Linda was the longest-serving female member of the National Executive of the Labor Party. That's very significant and something that shouldn't be in in any way downplayed. I think it should be promoted and celebrated, and it's an opportunity to acknowledge all the people that serve in significant roles in our political parties.

We are a great, vibrant democracy, and it's thanks to the strength of the political parties that participate in that democracy. The two major parties in our democracy, the Labor Party and the Liberal Party, have been continuously forming stable government in this country since the Second World War. I pay tribute to Linda White's contribution to her party and acknowledge that it's quite significant that people make those sorts of dedicated contributions to the organisation of their parties, because the strength of our parties is the strength of our democracy.

I very much regret that we won't have Linda's ongoing contribution at the National Library. That was the particular interaction that I had with her in her all-too-brief career in the Senate. We very much acknowledge and thank her for her contribution in that way. I associate myself with the remarks of so many other people on the other significant accomplishments of her life. Her time in this place was regrettably cut short, but it was nonetheless a significant contribution. Vale, Linda White.

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