Alan Griffin (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tonight I want to recognise and celebrate the contribution to this parliament, to Australian academic life and to journalism of Sarah Miskin, a former member of the Parliamentary Library staff, who recently died of breast cancer.

Sarah was born on 18 November 1965 in Rangiora, New Zealand, a small town north of Christchurch. She was the second child of six to Beverley and William Sands. The Sands family were a loving family environment, but their life was rocked when William was killed in a forestry accident in April 1981, leaving Beverley to raise the six children.

Sarah left home in January of 1982 and at 16 became the youngest person to be admitted to, and complete, the Wellington Polytechnic journalism course. This high achievement set the pattern for the rest of her life, as Sarah was a high achiever to the end, never satisfied until she knew what was over the next horizon. She returned to Christchurch in 1983 and began work as a journalist for the Press, the biggest daily newspaper in the South Island.

In 1986 she married Ben Miskin, a man she first met on the journalism course, who was to be with her until the end. While they had no children of their own, in 1994 they became the guardians of Briony Sands, Sarah’s little sister, and helped raise and guide her through life.

Not completely satisfied with her journalism career, academia called. This led to a degree, followed by honours and then her master’s at the University of Canterbury, all the while working nights at the Press and helping raise her sister. The achievements kept coming. A Fulbright journalism exchange in 1994 saw her working in the United States. In 1995 there was a Reuters Fellowship to study at Oxford.

Then, in 1997, Ben and Sarah arrived in Canberra. Full-time study at the Australian National University led to a doctorate in 2004 for her thesis, entitled The OECD: ideas, institutions and social justice. Sarah was a major contributor to the corporate life of the political science program and to postgraduate matters, as vice-president of their association, representing them on faculty boards and committees and editing their journal. As her husband, Ben, has wryly commented, ‘Anything to avoid full-time study.’

Sarah continued to be involved with academia and was book review editor for the Australian Journal of Political Science, a role that benefited greatly from her capacity for good judgment. Whilst completing her doctorate, Sarah also worked part time as a subeditor at the Canberra Times, where her outstanding skills for writing and editing were invaluable. But, most importantly from the point of view of this place, in 2002 she joined the staff of the Parliamentary Library, from where she made a particularly distinguished contribution to the parliament.

As those familiar with the work of the Library will understand, Sarah’s day-to-day responsibilities included responding to all manner of research inquiries—anything from whether Prime Minister Gorton opened the Woy Woy swimming pool in the 1960s to more detailed political science analysis in areas as varied as political philosophy, advertising, opinion polling and campaign techniques. Sarah developed a particular expertise in the field of funding and disclosure, which was much sought after and appreciated by the Library’s clients. Sarah approached all such inquiries with diligence, independence, wisdom, intelligence and, most importantly, enormous enthusiasm. I know on the many occasions I harassed her for assistance she always went out of her way to help. I always valued her opinion and her willingness to assist. Beyond all the unattributed assistance to MPs, Sarah was responsible for producing 16 highly acclaimed research papers in her own right, particularly in the area of political finance, which are widely referred to in the academic literature.

Sarah was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2008. After surgery and a gruelling round of chemotherapy, she returned to work in 2009. In perhaps the last professional accolade she received, Sarah was awarded a place in the prestigious Congressional Fellowship Program and left for Washington later that year. However, in January last year the cancer returned in multiple locations. As a result, she returned to Canberra for further treatment. The effects of this treatment meant that she could no longer continue with the Parliamentary Library, and she and Ben moved to Melbourne in August to focus on her treatment and to be nearer to her sister, Briony. By last November, it was clear that the cancer was not responding and Sarah decided to cease all further treatment. She enjoyed her final months in the company of her close family and died peacefully, with Ben by her bedside, on the morning of 19 February.

Sarah developed a wide circle of friends, both personal and professional, in the worlds of academia, politics and journalism, both here and overseas. Her determination to achieve ever greater heights was established at a very young age and never waned. She had great ambition and potential for further achievement, cut short by a cruel and untimely death.

Our thoughts and condolences are with Sarah’s family, particularly her husband, Ben; her sister, Briony; her brother-in-law, Jonny; and her friends and colleagues here in the parliament, at the ANU, in Manchester and Washington. She will be sorely missed.