Kym Richardson (Kingston, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today in support of the Prime Minister’s condolence motion for my South Australian colleague and friend Jeannie Ferris. I stand here today proud to remember a friend whose life was nothing short of inspiring but also saddened by the knowledge that she was taken from us far too soon. Jeannie’s contributions to this parliament, to our home state of South Australia and to our nation were remarkable. Jeannie’s dedication to rural Australia, her tireless work on women’s issues, particularly in relation to gynaecological cancers, and her inspirational battle against her own cancer have stamped her memory on our hearts and our minds.

The remarkable thing about Jeannie was her strength of character. I remember very clearly the Sunday evening when we arrived in Canberra to the sad news that Jeannie had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. While a sombre mood overcame the South Australian camp, it soon become blatantly evident to us that Jeannie would not be tolerating pity, nor would she be feeling in any way sorry for herself. Jeannie attacked her battle with ovarian cancer with the same tenacity and ferocity with which she did every battle in her life, the sad reality being that this was one of the very few battles she actually lost.

I would like to pass on my heartfelt sympathy to her sons, Robbie and Jeremy, who battled not only with the loss of their mother but also with the tragic loss of their father within a week. As a father and for that matter as a son, I can only imagine the trauma and sadness which they must be suffering. While I do not know the boys personally, I have been informed that they are handling their grief with the strength and dignity that their mother was famous for, and I am sure she would be exceptionally proud of them.

I would also like to take this opportunity to pass on my sympathy to her staff—Robyn, Bronte, Simon, Vickie and Angela—who lost not only a boss but a dear friend and mentor. She spoke of them often with great pride and they have conducted themselves with the utmost professionalism while dealing with their own personal grief. Their handling of her death is testament to the lessons she imparted to them during her life.

As a new member of parliament, I was fortunate enough to have the benefit of Jeannie’s guiding hand when I first entered the parliament, and I learned very quickly to run when I heard her booming voice shouting, ‘Kym Richardson, I want to talk to you.’ Invariably that meant I had done or said something that the good senator did not agree with. I felt better when I discovered that I was not the only one on the receiving end. In fact, it was her genuine honesty and willingness to tackle anybody about anything which served her well as the Government Whip in the Senate. But it was also Jeannie’s beaming smile and genuine interest, particularly in how new members were coping and settling in with the challenges of parliament, which made her such a valuable teacher, mentor and friend.

Jeannie also served the Liberal Party exceptionally well, and we Liberals and particularly the women of our party owe her a great debt. Many of them may not realise it today and they may never come to realise the extent of the path that she has forged for them in this place and in the South Australian division of our party. Jeannie was a personal mentor to one of the female staff members in my office, and it was through this role that I truly came to appreciate the legacy Jeannie was leaving.

She was determined to make sure the young women of our party were given every opportunity that the men were given, and she worked just as hard to make sure that they maintained their desire and ambition to be involved in the political process, despite the difficulties, which she was all too well aware of, that came with being a woman, a wife and a mother as well as a parliamentarian. My staff, like me, have been moved not only by the tragedy of her death but by the triumph of her life and are grateful for the time they too were fortunate enough to spend with such an infectious and inspiring Liberal.

Jeannie managed to achieve what all of us entering the parliament hope to achieve. She in fact changed the world. Jeannie changed the world for those struggling in rural Australia. She changed the world for women suffering with cancer and, most importantly, she changed the future for a generation of Australian women who will now be vaccinated against cervical cancer. In closing: when South Australia received drought-breaking rain last week, I found it a little more than coincidental—I guess it did not take Jeannie long to start lobbying an even higher power on behalf of the South Australian farmers, and they could not have sent a better advocate. As I bid a final farewell to a dear friend, I note that our loss is heaven’s gain.

Tony Smith (Casey, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to associate myself with the condolence motion and follow the remarks of the Prime Minister, senior South Australian ministers, in particular, in the House, and others who have spoken here in the Main Committee before me this day. Jeannie was known and well regarded not only by all members of the coalition but, as has been made clear in discussion on this motion, by many members of the opposition and the minor parties in the Senate. Many have spoken before me about her great characteristics—her feistiness, her dedication to the policy causes she believed in, her wonderful personality. I saw all of those firsthand here, as a member of parliament. But I wanted to talk about my friendship with Jeannie, which began many years ago, before I was elected as a member of parliament, when I worked as a staff member for the member for Higgins, now Treasurer. I think we started work together on the same day in this building. I remember trying to find my way around—it was a fair while ago; I would have called myself young in those days, in 1990. I had just started work with the member for Higgins and Jeannie had started work with Ian McLachlan.

Gary Hardgrave (Moreton, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was there too!

Tony Smith (Casey, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Indeed, the member for Moreton was there as well. She was very friendly, sought me out—she had never met me before—and said, ‘We’ve got to get together.’ Of course, Ian McLachlan and Peter Costello were old friends and had worked on so many cases together in the industrial relations field, and Jeannie had worked with them in her previous role at the National Farmers Federation. She was a great help to me in making me feel at home back in the early 1990s. She was a wonderful influence.

Her background, having worked as a journalist and in politics—and, I think the member for Moreton would agree, in agri-politics, if you could call it that, with the National Farmers Federation—stood her in very good stead and ensured that she did a very good job working with Ian McLachlan. I think I was 22 or 23 at the time. I was astounded by the way Jeannie always knew what was going on, as a result of her experience and contacts. We would often catch up around news time. It was pretty obvious to me that she was a very knowledgeable lady.

Jeannie entered the Senate after the 1996 election, and that is where most people in this parliament know her from. She had a very distinguished career as a senator. When people look back on Jeannie’s career, and they look back at her contribution, there will be no denying that she is somebody who always stood up for what she believed in. She was prepared to argue for the things she held dear. She was prepared to argue against her friends—and she was prepared to argue very strongly. We saw that particularly over the last couple of years in some key debates in the Senate.

I did not always agree with her. Sometimes I did and sometimes I did not, but she would always put her case very forcefully. If you had a difference of opinion after she had put her case forcefully, she was always cheery, always happy. Many in this debate have spoken about her wonderful smile and just what a happy disposition she had, and that is how we will remember her here in this place. Her untimely death has affected many of her close friends, particularly those from South Australia. I know she was particularly close friends with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for Finance. In debate on this motion we should recognise her wonderful contribution and remember the wonderful person that she was.

Gary Hardgrave (Moreton, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It may assist the committee if I take a couple of moments to also reflect on Jeannie Ferris. I agree with the member for Casey. I know the member for Blaxland would agree too: as former parliamentary staffers, you get a feel for a variety of things across a wide spectrum.

Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Were you a parliamentary staffer?

Gary Hardgrave (Moreton, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was, member for Fisher, and we are delighted that you have joined us for this debate. I enjoyed my time in that capacity, having been in the media myself for many years in Brisbane radio and television, after having started my radio career at my MacGregor State High School, which is now in my electorate. But when I met people such as Jeannie Ferris and Tony Smith, the member for Casey, there was a deal of common ground, although I suspect that they probably viewed me with a bit of suspicion because who I was working for was probably sitting on the other end of the pew in the Liberal Party broad church. But there is no doubt in my mind that Senator Jeannie Ferris was never afraid to speak her mind. I sat immediately behind her in a fairly integrity-ridden corner of the government party room. The member for Fisher is there, the member for Mitchell is there and the member for Murray is there.

Tony Smith (Casey, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I must shift!

Gary Hardgrave (Moreton, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, you must shift, member for Casey. It is a very good part of the world. David Fawcett, the member for Wakefield, is there and we have the member for Kalgoorlie behind us. The member for Kalgoorlie and I have a timbre in our voices which seems to travel a little further, no matter how we try to whisper a comment or two.

Michael Hatton (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have noted that in respect of both of you.

Gary Hardgrave (Moreton, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker. I simply record with an enormous amount of public humiliation that I was rebuked on a number of occasions by Jeannie Ferris, who was also known to make comments about a few people on occasions. But I think the only thing that I can say very clearly for the record is that Jeannie, as the member for Casey said, did take differences of opinion in her stride and with good humour. She saw a lot of those things as a challenge in the robust cut and thrust of this place. No matter how many times I was rebuked—about three or four times; and I sort of fell into a shell, believe it or not, each time I did it, because I did not want to upset her by any measure. From the time I first met her at coalition staff meetings in the early nineties to the time I last saw her six or seven weeks ago, there was no doubt she stood for something. I think no matter which side of politics we happen to be on, and which particular part of our sides of politics we adhere to, standing for something is an important element in this place.

I think the biggest sword I ever crossed with Jeannie was about my constant and ready rebuke of the other place being the B team. When the red lights flash, as they are in the chamber right now, people touring in this place say, ‘What does a red light mean?’ I say, ‘When the red light flashes something is stopping generally; when the green light is flashing something is going.’ Jeannie hated hearing all of those things: ‘You have no idea how very hard we have to work to secure the government’s agenda through the Senate.’ As the Treasurer always said, on a good day we might have a majority—and Jeannie Ferris, as the government whip in the Senate, had that responsibility. There could not have been a better person to vest that heavy responsibility in and the Prime Minister was right to appoint her to that position.

As can often happen in these condolence motions, there has been a little bit of levity in my contribution which Jeannie would have enjoyed. I think the one thing she would not have enjoyed is the fact there was no time limit imposed because, for Jeannie, it was all about the bells, it was all about the time, it was all about getting there and always adhering to the standing orders and the procedures of the parliament. As I think all the whips in this building know, Jeannie often instructed, ‘Do not use the elevators during divisions; use the stairs.’ Jeannie was very motivated to serve, and serve she did. To her family, to those closest to her and to her staff, I just want to add my voice of sadness and enormous respect for Jeannie Ferris.

Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I do not intend to delay the chamber for long, but I do want to place my condolences on the public record. I had a very high regard for Senator Jeannie Ferris. As the honourable member for Moreton indicated, I sat very close to her in the coalition party room. In fact, I do not know whether your own party room in your capacity as a member of the Labor Party, Mr Deputy Speaker Hatton, has an order of where people sit. In our party room, although no-one is ever given a particular place to sit, everyone knows where he or she should sit. I am in the front row next to the Attorney-General and often I would find that my seat had been usurped by Senator Jeannie Ferris and there was a bit of to-ing and fro-ing. It did not particularly worry me and it did not particularly worry her, but it was often an opportunity for both of us to participate in a little frivolity in the party room. If you arrived five minutes late, you would find Jeannie sitting in your seat.

Gary Hardgrave (Moreton, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Your innovation was the spare seat that was put in, wasn’t it?

Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There was a spare seat put in and then the problem evaporated subsequently. Having said that, on a very serious note, the loss of Senator Jeannie Ferris is a grave one not only to the Liberal Party and rural Australia but to the parliament of Australia as a whole. Jeannie was a robust, direct lady who never hesitated to speak her mind and, like the honourable member for Moreton, on a number of occasions I have been told to discontinue—

Gary Hardgrave (Moreton, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To shut up, generally.

Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

To shut up, I suppose, as the member for Moreton says, would be a more direct way of getting across the message that Jeannie Ferris was trying to convey because she, of course, was trying to make sure that all of us were paying the attention that we ought to have been to the very serious proceedings taking place in the party room.

It is on the record that Jeannie Ferris was a very fine Australian. She was a devoted family woman. I would like to pass on my condolences to her sons, Robbie and Jeremy, who, as was indicated, had the double tragedy of losing both of their parents in the one week. I pay tribute to Senator Jeannie Ferris and to her family.

Some people might say that the Liberal Party of Australia is not entrenched in rural Australia. Without wanting to cast any aspersions on any other political party, it ought to be recognised that the Liberal Party of Australia is undoubtedly the largest rural party in Australia. Senator Jeannie Ferris, as Chair of the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee, was always a keen advocate of rural people. Her involvement with the National Farmers Federation and her work with former minister Ian McLachlan indicated that, at the core of her being, she had a desire to assist rural Australia. She had an empathy for and an understanding of people in rural and regional Australia and the particular challenges that they face on an everyday basis. Although Senator Ferris, like me, was to the conservative side of the Liberal Party, she had a range of different views and, I found in some cases, surprising views on some issues. I disagreed with her on a number of the conscience votes that we have had in the parliament in recent times. But, having said that, I will go publicly and strongly on the record to say that Jeannie Ferris ferociously always stood up for what she believed in. She was a woman of absolute integrity. If you disagreed with her, she did not hesitate to tell you that she disagreed with you, but you could not help but respect her. Her loss to the Liberal Party is enormous. More importantly, the loss to her family, the parliament and the people of Australia is enormous. I place on record condolences on my own behalf and on behalf of my wife, Inge, to Senator Ferris’s family.

Michael Hatton (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I understand it is the wish of honourable members to signify at this stage their respect and sympathy by rising in their places.

Honourable members having risen in their places—

Ian Causley (Page, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the committee.

Don Randall (Canning, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That further proceedings be conducted in the House.

Question agreed to.