Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment and Water) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you so much to the member for Makin for those lovely words about the former senator Rosemary Crowley.

I'm rising today to honour the life and legacy of the late Dr Rosemary Crowley AO, a trailblazer in Australian politics and a dedicated advocate for social justice, for women's rights and for the welfare of children. Rosemary was a woman of fierce intelligence, deep compassion and an unshakeable commitment to making Australia a better, fairer, kinder place.

Like so many women of her time, she had a thirst for social justice that was first awakened when she was a student of the nuns in Melbourne at the Kilmaire Brigidine Convent. A brilliant student, she became a doctor and moved with her then husband to Berkeley, California, from 1965 to 1969. What an amazing time to be in Berkeley California! Rosemary Crowley came back with a burning desire to be more involved in politics in Australia.

When she returned to Australia, she joined Whitlam's Labor Party and was particularly interested in the antinuclear and peace movements at that time, as well as, of course, the women's movement. Within the ranks of the Australian Labor Party she had an extraordinary career and made an enormous difference. As a senator from South Australia from 1983 to 2002, Rosemary was one of the first women to serve in the federal parliamentary Labor Party, and she was, of course, the first female Labor minister from South Australia.

Her work in government left an indelible mark, particularly in the areas of women's rights, child care, nuclear disarmament, health care and sport. She also led the government investigation into women, sport and media, which resulted in the creation of the women's sports unit within the Sports Commission, Canberra.

As Minister for Family Services and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women in the Keating government, Rosemary championed policies that improved the lives of Australian women and their families. She was instrumental in shaping early childhood education and childcare policies, understanding that the access of children to quality early learning was of benefit for those children. Of course, it supported their families and their working parents, but it also gave children the very best possible start in life. She was a tireless advocate for women's rights, always pushing for greater equality, better workplace conditions and stronger protections against discrimination and protections against violence.

Beyond her ministerial work, Rosemary Crowley was a very important mentor and inspiration to many women in politics, including me. I first knew Rosemary Crowley when I worked on the Senate side for Senator Bruce Childs. Rosemary Crowley and Bruce were very good friends, and I saw a lot of Rosemary Crowley in those years. She was enormously encouraging to me and to my involvement in politics at that time, and I was fortunate enough to serve with her. She left the Senate and in 2002; I was elected in 1998. So, as well as knowing her when I worked for Senator Childs, I was a caucus colleague of Rosemary Crowley for those years.

She was a terrific mentor and support to me and to many, many others, including through her support of EMILY's List. She knew how difficult it could be to navigate the halls of power as a woman, and she was always generous with her wisdom, encouragement and support. She led with both strength and warmth, providing a great example and showing that good policy and good politics come from listening, from understanding and from acting with integrity.

I was friends with her loyal staffer Susanne Legena. I contacted Susanne earlier this week to ask her to share some of her favourite memories as one of Rosemary's former staff. She said:

Rosemary had a wicked, sometimes bawdy sense of humour, was a yoga enthusiast and maintained friendships and care for people from both sides of the chamber. Her office was decorated with the work of women artists including a life-sized sculpture of a woman with a hat that sat proudly in the entrance to her office and scared more than one visitor or Parliamentary staffer.

I know that Susanne and Rosemary Crowley's staff will be thinking of her in the weeks following her death and remembering with fondness many of Rosemary's quirks and characteristics, including, as Susanne mentioned, quite a bawdy sense of humour. I think people who didn't know Rosemary Crowley well would have seen her as a senator, as a former doctor and as a very well put together and very nice lady. When you got to know Rosemary, there was a real sense of mischief under that and a sense of humour that I sometimes found shocking and surprising.

After leaving parliament, Rosemary Crowley continued to serve her community, particularly through her work with children's charities and advocacy groups. Her dedication to the welfare of Australian children never wavered, and she remained a champion for equity in education, healthcare and social services long after she left the formal political stage.

Rosemary Crowley was a fighter for fairness. She believed in a society that uplifts the vulnerable, supports working families and gives women an equal place at every table. Her legacy will live on in the policies she helped shape, in the lives she improved and in the countless women she inspired to step up and lead.

I think it's fitting that, during her first speech in May 1983, she used the suffragette phrase 'bread and roses' which inspired the song, 'Bread and Roses', which she also quoted on more than one occasion. This phrase symbolised her belief that Labor could help ensure people had access to the basics but also access to life's joys and pleasures. She said in her first speech:

To me the rose is a symbol of strength, of beauty and of passion. It is the symbol of the Socialist International. It represents vigour, depth, power and justice and it has its thorns as well as its flower. It says that what it represents must not be trivialised. One of the roles in our society which is constantly trivialised is mothering. To me mothering is very much about strength and passion, and about thorns as well as flowers.

As a mother of three children and a grandmother, Rosemary Crowley was a reminder to many women considering a career in politics, including me, that you don't have to choose between being a parent and being an active participant in politics. For that as well I think my generation of female politicians owes Rosemary Crowley its thanks. To Rosemary's family, friends and colleagues, on behalf of the Australian Labor Party and indeed on behalf of our parliament, I offer my deepest condolences. May she rest in peace knowing that her work has made this country a better place.

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