Daryl Melham (Banks, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to remember a genuine and independent man who contributed much to this place and the electorate he represented. He was a man who, in the words of the member for New England, was ‘the conscience of the parliament’. Peter Andren was born in Gulargambone in 1946 and spent his early life moving around the countryside with his family. He eventually moved to Sydney, where he studied at Macquarie University and Alexander Mackie Teachers College. Peter taught for three years and then changed careers to move into journalism. It was during the time of his next career change that I came to know and admire Peter.

Peter was elected to the federal parliament in 1996 as an Independent. At that election he received 29 per cent of the primary vote, while the ALP received 28 per cent, the Nationals 22 per cent and the Liberals 15 per cent. After preferences, he received 67 per cent of the two-party preferred vote against the Nationals candidate—a remarkable victory in what people have described as a conservative electorate. What is even more remarkable is that Peter continued to increase his primary vote in every subsequent election such that there was no need to go to preferences by the 2001 election. The seat was described as ‘safe Independent’.

In his first speech, on 9 May 1996, Peter laid down his marker—as do many people entering this place, as we have seen in the past two weeks. In Peter’s case, there was no doubt as to his commitment and honesty and his intention to well and truly represent the people of Calare. He stated in part:

In a world that is becoming more confusing, more threatening, far more violent and less personal by the day, people need leadership from politicians who will hear their calls regardless of the political implications.

Peter Andren provided that leadership not only to the people of Calare, to whom he was staunch in his representation, but also to the broader community.

The seat of Calare, while Peter was its representative, was in the central west of New South Wales and included the towns of Bathurst, Orange, Lithgow, Oberon and Blayney. As the member for Calare, Peter did not always share the views of his electorate; he considered each issue on its merits and then made his position known. The electorate obviously respected him, even when they did not necessarily agree with him, and his polling results bear testament to that. One of his staff, Tim Mahoney, described him in an interview with the Western Advocate as:

... a man of great integrity, a principled human being. More often than not he was referred to as a parliamentarian because he was above being a politician. He avoided politics. He dealt with issues on their merits.

Like Peter, his staff focused on resolving issues for the constituents of Calare. That was the heart and soul of his role as a local member. His first speech focused almost exclusively on the needs of his electorate and of regional Australia more generally.

On the broader political stage, Peter took great pains to think matters through so that he could arrive at the right decision. In recent years we witnessed his stand against the previous government on the war in Iraq, its treatment of asylum seekers and the sale of Telstra. Peter continued a campaign against what he saw as politicians’ perks, arguing against salary increases, and he felt that they were out of line with community standards. He felt that incumbents were unfairly advantaged in election campaigns because of this—and I think he would have been pleased with the government’s decision last week. In his obituary in the Sydney Morning Herald on 5 November 2007, a story was told about a cartoon Peter had on the window of his office in Parliament House. It is worth recounting because it is indicative of the man. The cartoon depicted:

... a man being kicked out of Parliament with a speech balloon coming from inside the building declaring: “The cheek of him! Coming in here representing the mob.”

Peter Andren brought with him to this place a rare dignity, honesty and integrity. I offer my personal condolences to his family: his first wife, Jenny; his partner, Valerie; and his sons, Greg and Josh. I also offer my commiserations to his staff, who were as committed as Peter to the work that he did. It is appropriate, as I head to the end of my contribution today, to use Peter’s own words—a worthy epitaph for any member in this place. These were his words a few weeks after he announced his decision to retire from the House of Representatives:

I look back on the past 11½ years with great pride, having forever silenced the sceptics who say an Independent is a wasted space in the political system.

Peter did prove his sceptics wrong. I, for one, favour the two-party system. I am not necessarily a great fan of Independents because I believe stability is brought to government if one side or the other is in control. I do not like the idea of Independents holding the balance of power. Peter Andren, however, was a rare exception because you knew that he could not be bought. If he was to decide that a government was to fall or survive on his vote, it would be on the merits of the vote not on what was in it for him or what was in it for his electorate. I think those of us who had dealings with him saw that integrity shine through. That integrity is there in other members of the House; it is not unique to Peter.

I went to Peter’s funeral, together with the federal member for Reid, Laurie Ferguson. The member for Calare, Mr Cobb, and the former member for Macquarie, Kerry Bartlett, were also there. So both sides of the parliament were represented. I think the Independent member Tony Windsor was there as well, and Senator Bob Brown gave a eulogy at the funeral. So the parliament was well represented in the middle of an election campaign, as it should have been.

Another of my experiences with Peter was when he opposed the preamble to the Constitution that was proposed by the then government in 1999. He opposed it at the time because of the lack of consultation. Whilst the Labor Party supported it in the end in the referendum, it was Peter, because he voted against it in the House, who was able to, in effect, help write the ‘no’ case for the preamble in that constitutional referendum. I had some discussions with him in relation to that, and during that campaign I spoke out against that preamble because of its lack of consultation, which I was entitled to do as an individual member of this place. In the end, less than 40 per cent of the people voted for that preamble, as against 46 per cent for the republic, which was the second question in the referendum. Peter got it right there as well. Even though the major political parties were supporting the preamble—and the Labor Party at a federal level did support the preamble—less than 40 per cent of the people supported it, and it failed. I think that is an indication of how Peter generally had a knack for where the people were.

Peter Andren retired from this place as an Independent. He was not defeated, so he picked his own manner of leaving. That, again, is testament to an Independent because the truth is that, as much as most of us might think we represent our constituents and are popular or whatever, very few people can get elected to this place as genuine Independents and not as refugees from a major political party. Peter was one of those people. He kept getting re-elected with bigger majorities. I salute him. I will miss him and his contributions to this place. I was very pleased to see the cross-party support, the cross-party attendance, at his funeral during an election period. That says a lot as to how we in this place felt about him.

John Cobb (Calare, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Like the member for Banks, I rise to speak about Peter Andren. For somebody without a political power base he was extraordinarily well known not just in his own electorate of Calare but throughout Australian politics and far beyond his ability to influence things—although he certainly exerted that whenever he could.

The electorate of Calare, which I am very proud to represent, is today a very different electorate. Instead of being one of the smallest rural electorates in New South Wales it is now the largest. The Calare that Peter represented had a little more than half the constituency of the new electorate of Calare that I represent, even though, funnily enough, it had only about five per cent of the total area.

Peter Andren was generally well known and very popular among the people of Calare—I am not worrying about the people in this place for the moment—probably because he dedicated himself to the individual rather than to the big picture. He certainly did that. He was very popular. He certainly took up the cause of individuals from the central west in a very strong fashion with whichever minister or organisation they had issues which needed addressing. As to the big picture of politics, Peter and I quite often disagreed. The one thing we certainly did agree on was dedication to the people at a local level. As the member for Banks just mentioned, Peter was born at Gulargambone and lived at Molong before he became the member for Calare. Funnily enough, while Peter and I are obviously from very different ends of the political spectrum, as it were, I too grew up at Gulargambone and lived at Molong prior to becoming the member for Calare—even though it was only a few months before.

Peter Andren entered parliament in 1993. He served four full terms in the 38th, 39th, 40th and 41st Australian parliaments. He had chosen to stand for the Senate in the 2007 election but he resigned from that ambition once his medical condition became known to him. As I think the member for Banks also said, as an Independent he could do those things whereas the rest of us are probably a little more constrained by the organisations we represent on a wider basis.

Peter Andren represented the Calare electorate, which then included Bathurst, Lithgow and areas right up to the Blue Mountains. I think it is a measure of your sincerity when those who support you do so in a fanatical way. Peter’s close friends and supporters did that. Even into the last election and after he had died, Peter’s partner, Valerie, tried to carry on where he had left off. All those involved with him were very close to him and thought the world of him. They were people from very different walks of life. There were people from all over the old electorate of Calare at his funeral, and they were from all walks of life.

As I moved around the area prior to the election I found that, whether or not people actually voted for Peter, they were very supportive of Peter and felt that he had their best interests at heart. As a politician, you cannot ask for much more than to have people who do not support you in the ballot box still think you are a good person. You cannot beat that.

I speak today not so much as a political colleague but as somebody who now has the honour to represent the same seat and more than 50 per cent of the people whom Peter had represented. It is an electorate that, I believe, still needs to be represented in this forum today. On behalf of the people of the new and old Calare electorates I offer the sympathies of the people of this House to Valerie and the rest of Peter’s family. Without doubt, he will be remembered for a long time in that region.

Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too rise to speak to the condolence motion marking the passing of Peter Andren, an outstanding Independent politician who served in the House of Representatives with such distinction. I strongly endorse the comments made by other members, particularly the member for Banks, who spoke very clearly on the role that Peter Andren fulfilled not only in the parliament but in the wider community and identified the quite significant political achievements that Peter was able to deliver in his career as a working politician.

I want to convey my sympathy and condolences to Peter’s partner, Valerie, and his sons Josh and Greg. I know Valerie and I knew Peter well before I came into the parliament. He was always engaged in a genuine way with the political process. He had a great concern for the welfare of what are sometimes described as the ordinary people but are really the community of Australia. He was a grassroots politician par excellence. When he eventually wrested the seat of Calare, he did so with a significant vote in his favour. It was the most outstanding example of a true Independent politician gaining the necessary support from a community to represent them in the House of Representatives—which is effectively still a two-party system. That achievement, in and of itself, marked him as a person of considerable ability and a politician of distinction.

As well as that, he was able to marry what I think are two of the most necessary attributes in political life and in public life but which quite often run into one another, particularly once you are in the parliament—that is, matters of conscience and matters of policy. You have to reflect those in your own actions, decisions, views and positions on issues and also maintain that connection with your community, which gives you the legitimacy to speak on their behalf in the House. As a consequence, while representing what is essentially still a rural seat, Peter Andren recognised the importance of issues to do with the delivery of telecommunications services and rural infrastructure and spoke strongly and constantly and represented his electorate very effectively on those issues. At the same time, he was a man of highly developed conscience. As a consequence, he spoke on issues such as the war in Iraq and our treatment of Indigenous people. Clearly, in the past he was a strong voice concerned about the treatment by the previous government of asylum seekers in the region. He brought into this House the twin capacities of someone of conscience and an effective representative on the issues in his electorate. He operated very effectively and was liked and respected by members on both sides of the House.

Peter argued for greater accountability for politicians’ entitlements. That is something which I think, broadly, all of us support. I do not think he did any disservice to the parliament by raising that issue. Additionally, he was a great exponent of the future prospects and causes of Independent politicians, and it is there that he and I probably parted ways more than on any other issue. I think that, whilst there will be on occasions some rare and distinctive personalities who have a basket of gifts such as Peter Andren had that enables them to gain the necessary support to come into the House and to represent as an Independent, they are the exception, not the rule, not only because of the way in which our political system effectively operates but also because it is uncommon to find that match of capacities within one person.

Tony Windsor, his colleague here in the House, said that Peter Andren served as the conscience of the parliament. I think that is true. On more than one occasion I would find myself listening closely to his speeches. They were always given in a deliberate and well-considered way. He clearly not only felt strongly about issues but thought deeply about them. I think that is the mark of a true conviction politician. Peter will be sadly missed. It is entirely appropriate that the parliament should mark his passing with this condolence motion. Again, I offer my sympathies to his family, his extended family, his office staff and friends. I want to put on record my appreciation of the great service that he gave not only to the people of Calare but to Australia.

Alan Griffin (Bruce, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is an occasion where I felt that I really should try and say a few words with respect to the passing of Peter Andren. Peter was a good bloke. I knew him in the time that he was here. I was elected in 1993; he was elected in 1996. We had cause to deal with each other on a number of issues over the years. In fact, over the last few years in this place I sat on the opposition front bench, around near the horseshoe, and Peter sat behind me, and we would often engage on the issues of the day.

I felt that it was important to acknowledge his time here and him as a man and a politician. He was very much a good bloke and a man of strong convictions. I have read his book, The Andren Report: an Independent Way in Australian Politics, which I have with me today. For those who would like to learn more about what it is like as an Independent in this place and in the electorate and also something more about a man whose life has been in its own way quite extraordinary, it is quite a reasonable read. It is very much a stream of consciousness book in some respects, but it does give you an inkling of what motivated him, what put him on the road to this place and how he saw this place and how it operated.

Peter and I would disagree on things on occasions. On some of the issues and some of the stands that he took, I would have to say we parted ways to a degree. The one thing you always knew with Peter was that he genuinely believed what he said. He genuinely held the views that he held. He was forthright about stating them in a manner which was always articulate and strongly held, and with a good deal of passion. He backed that up in his dealings with his electorate and in his public dealings generally. The public rewarded him for that. His results were quite phenomenal.

In the context of Peter’s life in this place, much has been said about Independents in the parliament. I think it is recognised and acknowledged that his achievement in being elected in the first place and being re-elected was in itself quite significant. It is particularly significant when you look at the history of Independents in the House of Representatives. There have only been 10 members elected to the House of Representatives as Independents since 1950. Five of those were originally elected as major party candidates and later switched to being Independents as incumbents. They were Paul Filing and Allan Rocher, who were ex-Liberals; and Bob Katter, the current member for Kennedy. Then there were a couple of ex-ALP guys: Graeme Campbell, a former member for Kalgoorlie; and Sam Benson, back in the sixties, who was a former member for Batman.

One was originally elected at a by-election, being Phil Cleary, who was elected to the seat of Wills after a former Prime Minister at that time, Bob Hawke, resigned from parliament. Phil was elected firstly at a by-election and subsequently at a general election. One Independent had been a major party candidate and was expelled, leaving no official Liberal candidate. That was, of course, Pauline Hanson. There have been two who were existing state MPs who then went federal: Ted Mack and Tony Windsor, the current member for New England. Only Peter Andren was elected as, as I call it, a cleanskin candidate; everyone else had a significant base to work off, one that they had developed through their involvement in parliament—the New South Wales parliament in the case of Ted Mack and Tony Windsor—or there were particular circumstances regarding the focus of a by-election, as in Phil Cleary’s case. So the rest actually came out of the major parties.

So Peter’s achievement in being elected in the first place—and being elected subsequently, but I refer in particular to being elected in the first place—was in fact quite phenomenal. That does highlight the difficulty that faces Independent candidates in federal seats in being able to campaign across large population areas or, as in this case, large geographic areas, and actually be successful. He is the only one in modern political times to have really done it—having done it in the situation of having been completely outside the system. It is true that he had, through his role as a newsreader, a significant local profile in the area in which he stood. Nonetheless, his was a real achievement that ought to be taken into consideration in terms of his success and popularity in the electorate. After Peter got here he stuck to his guns. He held to his views and stood up for those views day in and day out all of the way through his time here.

The parliament is the poorer for his passing. The public debate in this country will also be the poorer for his passing. I know that he was a man who had strong links to his family and I pass on to its members my condolences on their loss. Although having known Peter for just a bit of time, I do understand that their loss has in fact been very great—and with that I wish them all the very best.

Mal Washer (Moore, Liberal 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 stood in their places—

Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Committee.

Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That further proceedings be conducted in the House.

Question agreed to.