Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker, on indulgence: I put on the record my regard for the member for Melbourne, noting his announcement today that he will not be recontesting the next election. I have known Lindsay Tanner literally since I was at school when I stayed at his place in Melbourne with him and his then partner Cindy Hogan. They looked after me for a couple of weeks when I was on an extended holiday in Melbourne whilst attending my first national Young Labor conference. Lindsay Tanner was also someone whom I had considerable involvement with over a long period in the labour movement. When I first came to Canberra I shared a flat with Lindsay Tanner and Alan Griffin. They were sort of like the odd couple, except they were two Oscars and no Felix in their flat in Queanbeyan and I very quickly made a decision to gain my own premises.

Lindsay Tanner has made an extraordinary contribution to the Australian Labor Party, to the labour movement and to the Labor government. He in opposition held a number of portfolios, some of which related directly to my electorate. As the shadow minister for transport, he visited residences in my electorate adversely affected by aircraft noise and was always prepared to listen to their concerns and, indeed, he made the first commitment to have Fort Street High School insulated from aircraft noise.

He has considerable policy ability. He has an ability also to engage across a broad spectrum of the business community right through to grassroots community based organisations. He is extremely well respected and I am sure that he will have a good career outside politics. His speech today reminds us of the sacrifices that we all make in terms of our families, and the fact that he is making the decision to spend more time with his two young children and also his two older children as well as his wife Andrea is a courageous one for him and I wish him well. I thank him for the mentoring that he gave to me as a new member of the parliament when I arrived in the House of Representatives. I look forward to continuing to enjoy his friendship for many years to come.

Tony Smith (Casey, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker, on indulgence: I would just like to join with the Leader of the House to make some remarks about the member for Melbourne. As someone from Victoria, albeit from a different political party, I have obviously got to know the member for Melbourne over the years. I just want to say here in the House that I think he handled himself with great eloquence today and the decision he has made has obviously been one that he has been considering for some time. I have worked very closely with the member for Melbourne. I worked with him when I was the Chair of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit. As you know, Mr Deputy Speaker, there is so much work that is done at a level that the public do not see and he was a very active and productive member of that committee.

In more recent years, I have had the opportunity of sparring with him on TEN’s Morning News on Friday morning on a regular basis. Despite political differences and the fact that we are engaged here in this parliament and in the public arena in verbal combat, I have always found him to be personable and tough but fair in all his dealings. I do wish him very well for the future. If my memory serves me correctly, he was elected in 1993 and served a first term, obviously as a backbencher and for a long period in opposition, before becoming a very senior minister as the now Minister for Finance and Deregulation. Helping put together a federal budget is an enormous task, and being a member of parliament and a member of this House for 17 years is an enormous contribution. I wish him all the best in his future endeavours and I wish his family all the best in having more time with him at home, as he goes about the next stage of his life and career.