Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I very much want to be associated with this condolence motion. I served with David Jull for all of the time that he was in the parliament, as member for Bowman between 1975 and 1983 and member for Fadden between 1984 and 2007. I saw him last on 28 July this year. It was an occasion when those of us who had served with John Howard in his ministry came together in Brisbane. There were some 20 or more of us present on that occasion. David was not well and that was fairly obvious, but it gave us all an opportunity to share another moment or two with him. He was a person who had served Australia very soundly. I might say it was always obvious that he might do so. I was interested in a piece in About the House magazine in March 1987 because it told us something of David and his personal qualities. He was a journalist. He was the member for Bowman and then the member for Fadden. He spent most of his school life at 'Radcliffe' in Queensland. Then it says:

He left the Church of England Grosvenor School to become a radio cadet with Macquarie News Brisbane, where he was mostly involved with news programs and did the state parliamentary round—

at the age of 14!

Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Nineteen.

Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It says '14' here—a typo, in About the House Magazine! I am glad to have it corrected. David then moved to Channel 10—or 'Channel 0'; you'd correct that, too, I am sure—where:

… he was over ten years a newsreader, journalist and Show Host (he even compered "New Faces") …

Why do I mention these matters? He had the most resonant voice in the parliament that I have ever heard. Gary Hardgrave's may have come close, but certainly I do not think his had the same quality that David Jull's had.

More importantly—and this will be reflected in some other remarks I make—this journal records:

His attractions to Liberal Party philosophy dates from when as a boarder, he was given leave to steer a campaign speech delivered by Sir Robert Menzies in the Brisbane City Hall. The contrast between "Ming" Liberalism and the ideas of … John Gorton led Jull to join the Liberal Party in 1969.

When I went to David's maiden speech, I thought it was important to note some of his observations because they say something of him as a Liberal, and that is something to which I very much related. He said this:

We as a government have a very real responsibility for small businesses throughout Australia, because it was the small businessman, the Australian who was prepared to get out and have a go, who was prepared to work hard, who helped build this nation and who made it great. Even today some 42 per cent of the population is employed by small businesses …

He was saying this in 1976. He spoke about the importance of encouraging the private entrepreneur and noted that, if you were going to keep unemployment at low levels, it was very important to have productivity. This is what you might regard as being the traditional Liberal approach. But he went on to say:

An electorate such as Bowman, because of its nature, has more than its fair share of social problems too.

He was a person with a social conscience, and one of those who reflected, I think, the Liberal view that if you are going to be there to build a bigger Australia it is to ensure that you can bring along with you those people who have needs who cannot necessarily well provide for themselves.

David got involved very early in his public life here in Canberra in tourism. I thought it was of note that he had the opportunity to serve on one of the early committees of review from 1976, the House of Representatives Select Committee on Tourism. In later years he had a role in the Queensland Tourist and Travel Corporation between 1983 and 1984—that short time that he was out of the parliament. And he brought all of that experience not only to serve the electorate that he represented but to highlight the needs of tourism in Australia, in a way which I think few have been able to do in the time they have been involved in public life.

I very much relate to David Jull because of the length of his service. There are not many who have had the opportunity to serve as long as he had the opportunity to do. I noted in his last speech he said:

This is … the 371st speech I have made since 1981 … I suppose you could add 100 on to that—so we are probably getting very close to the 500th speech …

What that really tells you about David Jull is that he was a substantial contributor to the public life of this nation. I do not believe I have seen, in a very long time, a list as long as that which is before us of those who will be contributing to this condolence debate today. That says something about David Jull and our friendship and our love for him. In concluding, my leader said that he mourns David's passing and he expressed deepest condolences to David's former wife, Erica, his brother, Peter, his sister, Gwen, and his sons, Stephen and Andrew.

Mrs Prentice interjecting—

I am being helped by my colleague again. I am not familiar with all the family members. Would you like to speak up? Who have I forgotten?

Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The sons are Michael and Jay. Steve and Andrew are his nephews.

Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

His nephews. I am glad to be corrected and I hope Hansard will note that.

Sid Sidebottom (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am sure they will note that.

Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

All of us had a great affection for David for what he stood for. He was a great Liberal and we miss him a great deal.

Anthony Byrne (Holt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today on this motion of condolence and commend the member for Berowra for his eloquent comments about his former colleague. I wish too to pay tribute to David, who lost his battle with cancer recently. In reflecting on David's life, we know he was born in Kingaroy, Queensland, and was previously the member for Bowman in this place from 1975 to 1983 and the member for Fadden from 1984 to 2007. We also reflect on his service as Minister for Administrative Services from 1996 to 1997.

I was very fortunate and also very pleased and very honoured to work with David on the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security for a brief period of time before it became that particular committee and for two years afterwards. David was chair of this parliamentary committee and was also chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation from 1997 to 2002, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on ASIO, ASIS and DSD from 2002 to 2005 and its successor, in which I shared the bulk of my time with David, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security between 2005 and 2007.

It is of note that David served as chair on this committee, particularly in that tumultuous period of time and with the introduction of legislation that was introduced to combat the emergence of the terrorist threat. It was at a time when, as a consequence of 9-11 and events afterwards, the intelligence and security services were expanded massively to cope with the threats of and the war on terrorism. David, in his work on that committee, played a key role in terms of the legislation.

What I particularly found about David was that he was always impartial. He acted in a very fair and impartial manner. We served with each other on various committees and various manifestations of committees and I certainly saw the equanimity that David had, and his unflappability, particularly in dealing with some pretty difficult subject matter and sets of circumstances and with some pretty complex pieces of legislation.

The committee itself we cannot really talk terribly much about, but I certainly saw in David's discharging his service as chair of the committee someone who was eminently suited to the task—and it was a substantial task, particularly with some of the reports that he oversaw as chair. Immediately after 09-11 David chaired two important reports, the first being an advisory report on the Intelligence Services Bill 2001 and the Intelligence Services (Consequential Provisions) Bill 2001 and certain parts of the Cybercrime Bill 2001 in 2001, and the second being an advisory report on the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Legislation Amendment (Terrorism) Bill in 2001. As I said, in reading through a number of the reports that David oversaw in his capacity as chair of that committee in its different manifestations, I was particularly struck with the work that he did on the Intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction report in 2003—an absolutely seminal report which dealt with the realignment of our intelligence agencies and a report that certainly, in terms of its recommendations, resulted in the betterment of our national interest and national security.

As chairman of the parliamentary committee on ASIO, ASIS and DSD, David also led an important review into the operations effectiveness and implications of ASIO's questioning and detention powers in 2005. This review supported authorities to have expanded powers so they could detain people on reasonable grounds for questioning, in order to obtain intelligence that is important in relation to a terrorist offence. Another important report that he led as chair of the committee was the Review of security and counter terrorism legislation in 2006. This report proposed a series of modest refinements to improve specificity, clarity and fairness in a way which we believe is consistent with Australia's antiterrorism objectives. In particular, a recommendation arose out of that report as to an independent reviewer of terrorist legislation; that is now the National Security Legislation Monitor. The first report that recommended that was the report that David chaired.

I made some inquiries with the staff who had worked with David when he was chair, particularly in my period of time. They were all very deeply saddened to hear of his passing. What they—this was Margaret Swieringa, Jane Hearn, Donna Quintus-Bosz and Cathryn Ollif—wanted to say, particularly to David's family, was how much they had enjoyed working with him and how deeply sad they were to hear of his passing. As I said, this particular committee is not an easy committee to be a member of. It requires a very special person—a person of character, a person of substance.

In closing, can I say, in my remarks to this condolence motion, that, on behalf of the Labor members of the current intelligence and previous intelligence and security committees, I wish to pay my respects to David and his family. They should be very, very proud of what he achieved in this role, as we are, because what he has done has resulted in better terrorist legislation working in the national interest.

Alex Somlyay (Fairfax, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I first met David Jull not when I was an MP but when I was a staffer back in 1975 until 1980. There were only three ministers from Queensland at that time and of course Queensland as usual was underrepresented on the front bench. We all got to know each other pretty well. The ministers, ministerial staff and all the members travelled together up and down to Canberra from Brisbane and David was one of the characters of the new set—bearing in mind that after 1975 there was only one Labor member from Queensland. The member for Berowra will remember; I think that was Bill Hayden at the time. We formed a very closely knit club of people who travelled together up and down to Brisbane.

One thing about David Jull, even in those days, was that he had a wicked sense of humour. He could make something serious sound so funny and that was a way of getting his message over. You would never see anger in David Jull but you would see a lot of humour and a lot of seriousness at the same time. I was reunited with him in 1990 when I was elected to parliament in the seat of Fairfax. At the time I was Australia's northernmost Liberal, and David mentored and helped me as a new member of the parliament. He was the shadow minister for tourism and aviation; that was his passion. Sir Frank Moore, who was head of the QTTC and of radio station fame, took David under his wing, and he worked for the QTTC during the period he was out of the parliament. When I came in he made me chairman of the tourism and aviation committee, the backbench committee. So I worked very closely with David for the six opposition years under John Hewson, Alexander Downer and John Howard.

In 1996 David was very happy to become a minister. It is the ambition of everyone who comes to parliament, I think, to have the title of 'The Hon.' and to earn it. It is a great thing to be proud of—the fact that you have played for Australia—and David did a great job as Minister for Administrative Services. It was an absolute tragedy, in my opinion, that circumstances led to David leaving the ministry. It doubly impacted on me, because I replaced David in the ministry when he had to leave. While I was very happy to be elevated, I was not happy that it was at the expense of a great man like David Jull. I served with David until 2007. I was on the ASIO committee with him. He was also a very good member of the Joint Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee.

David had a passion for Thailand. When I first came to parliament, David Jull used to put out a booklet called A Visitor's Guide to Thailand, so any MP who was visiting Thailand could take Jully's document and find anything in it: how to greet the Thais, what they expect of you, their customs, their laws and a shopping guide. The shopping guide was very valuable. When I walked into a shop he recommended in Thailand with my wife and produced David Jull's card, I was treated like royalty. You have never seen anything like it. The reputation that he had overseas as well as in Australia was second to none.

It was an absolute tragedy when David was diagnosed with lung cancer. It was the same year that I had my second round of open heart surgery, so we used to share stories across the corridor about who felt the worst. When David had his operation and had his lung removed, he had a lot of difficulties but he stayed on in parliament. He would catch the 9.35 plane back to Queensland on Friday mornings, and it was very difficult for him, with only one lung, to actually walk up the aerobridge. It was also difficult for me because a year before that I had been sawn in half as well. We had a lot of young members of parliament then who were very anxious to get off the aeroplane as soon as they could when they got back to Brisbane, and I used to try to get poor old Jully's bags down and we would struggle up the aerobridge and laugh about it.

He will always be remembered by everyone in this House with respect. You cannot sum up 30 years of service and dedication in a few minutes in the Main Committee or in the main chamber. David's funeral is being held on Friday, and I am sure it is going to be one of the biggest that Brisbane has ever seen. I offer my condolences to his family. I, along with the member for Berowra, was at the lunch which we had in Brisbane because we knew that David was extremely ill and that it would probably be the last time that we saw him. That in itself was a memorable occasion. I thank the House.

Laurie Ferguson (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My first knowledge of David Jull actually preceded my coming into the House. Back in the period when the Australian newspaper was indeed a quality publication with excellent coverage of international affairs and the national election results around the world—you could even find out how many tries Wynnum-Manly scored against Redcliffe in the Queensland rugby league premiership—there was a front-page story in the Australianabout this Liberal member of parliament called David Jull, who I had never heard of up that point. He had taken up the rights of underpaid workers in a sawmill in Queensland. Basically a company there had picked up derelict homeless men, paid them extremely substandard wages and here was this Liberal member of federal parliament campaigning for those workers. It really struck me. I do not want to be too stereotypical in my views of the opposition, but to see somebody from that side of politics campaigning for workers rights really struck me.

I then had the advantage of spending a period in the state parliament where, it being a smaller building, people live on top of each other and friendships across the house more readily arise. Coming here, he was an extremely friendly person on the other side of politics. I cannot recall him saying a bad word about anyone. He was extremely cooperative and helpful to people. On the foreign affairs committee that I participated in with him, he was always a person who worked to get a consensus and see if we could actually come to agreement about any report that we were undertaking. I know that many members do that, but I think he had a particular propensity for it—seeing whether there was a possibility of getting conflicting views on the one line.

People have referred to his interest in tourism. I recall going to Thailand with him on a foreign affairs delegation. I am often assailed for my dress sense, but I recall him taking virtually the whole delegation to a place there and buying suits. He knew were to go in Bangkok to get suits for everyone and arrange it all. I said that despite my image with regard to suits. That was probably one of the better ones I have purchased.

Tony Smith (Casey, Liberal Party, Deputy Chairman , Coalition Policy Development Committee) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I just said it was probably the last one!

Laurie Ferguson (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, probably! He was always great to have on those delegations. Since the member interrupts, I will recall another foreign affairs delegation. This is something that perhaps the opposition should bear in mind. I was with Bob Halverson, who was later to become the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Bob was there with us. He was making phone calls to Australia every five minutes. He confessed that he had been a close supporter of John Howard but had actually told him that he should get out of politics because his career was over, that he should go back and become a suburban solicitor again—ironic how things occur in politics in this country.

David was a much-admired and respected person in the House. He was person who, more than most, was able to form friendships across both sides of politics. I think he was essentially a liberal, progressive and fair-minded person. I join with other members in recognising his contribution, particularly in the area of contacts with overseas countries, relationships and knowledge of the world. Perhaps it is more common these days, but back then he was probably at the forefront of people who had an interest in Asia. These days you can do everything on the internet, but in those days he had knowledge of where to get the cheapest fares for every trip around the world. He advised members on both sides of politics in relation to that. I join with other members in wishing the best for his family in this very difficult period and in recognising his contribution to the Australian parliament.

Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

David Jull was a good friend of mine. Indeed, I knew him for more than 35 years. He was a good principled man who served our country well. 'Jully,' as he was fondly and widely known, will always be remembered for his absolute dedication to his electors. The truly outstanding aspect of his work as a member in his electorate was that he was just as dedicated and just as effective in his final term as he was in first. As has been widely reported, he served in the federal parliament for more than 30 years. When he underwent major lung cancer surgery during his last term between 2004 and 2007, he did not reduce his electorate work, he just restructured it to take account of his reduced capacity to physically get around. Even in his final years here as a member, he would do what he did just about every Saturday morning: drive to one of the shopping centres in his electorate, sit in a prominent place at one of the coffee shops or cafes and talk to his residents. Then he would visit as many shops in the centre as he was physically able to.

When members gained access to modern communication mediums with their electorates, such as email and the internet, David embraced them. But he did not diminish his personal face-to-face contact with his electors or the many schools, churches and community groups within his electorate.

Anyone who is aware of David's upbringing would not be at all surprised at his personal attention to the needs of his electorate and the community. His father, the Reverend Canon Stephen Jull, was a much-loved clergyman in the Anglican church. David was born in Kingaroy, where his father was a rector. His father spent many years as the rector at Redcliffe, where the parish centre is named after him. His mother, Olwyn, was world president of the Anglican Mothers Union, and a trailblazer for women in the church. David often told the story that he was only able to attend the Anglican Church Grammar School in Brisbane because his father's position as a parish priest enabled him to secure a substantial reduction in fees.

Before politics David had a career in radio and television, both on air and in administration; first, in commercial radio and then as the first face seen on the new Channel 0, now Channel 10. What probably sparked his interest in a political career was when at the age of only 19 he became the Queensland state parliamentary roundsman for Macquarie Broadcasting Services when Nicklin was premier. An old friend, Peter Farrell, recalls him as a young publicity manager at Channel 0. Peter was writing the Veritas TV column, and recalls that those were the days of Number 96 and The Box, big publicity budgets, promotional junkets and many long lunches. As Peter says, David was a man of principle, good humour and loyalty.

At the end of his time in parliament, David was back on radio—community radio in Logan City, where David shared his favourite music with the wider community. As part of his arrangements with the station he negotiated the right to play his choice of music, which was of course dominated by Dionne Warwick, Motown and classical music—an eclectic mix.

In his early days David had a commitment to community service that his parents obviously instilled in him. That commitment encouraged David to seek Liberal Party nomination for the seat of Bowman prior to the 1974 election. He was successful in winning nomination and, after losing in 1974, he won the seat in 1975. It was a seat which he held until the 1983 poll. Less than 18 months later he returned to parliament as the member for Fadden, the seat he held for 23 years until his retirement four years ago.

Fadden became a rapidly growing and changing electorate between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. At each redistribution—and they were frequent, given the population growth in South-East Queensland at the time—the boundaries of Fadden changed radically. It began as a seat centred around the south-eastern suburbs of Brisbane, then became a Logan City seat and ended up being a northern Gold Coast seat.

Despite all the boundary changes, David assiduously served his electorates and the organisations within his electorate. I am told he moved his electorate office three times as member for Fadden to ensure it was able to service the changes the redistributions caused. He began in Upper Mount Gravatt in suburban Brisbane, then moved to Springwood in Logan and finally to Coomera in the Gold Coast City Council area. As far as David was concerned the electorate came first. His personal convenience or inconvenience was irrelevant.

The electorate rewarded him with increasing majorities. Appropriately, his last election delivered the strongest majority in his long career. In the 2004 election, David's primary vote in Fadden was 60 per cent—a swing in his favour of more than six per cent when compared with the 2001 election result.

The other hallmark of his long career as an elected member was the loyalty of his electorate office staff, resulting in what must surely be the lowest turnover in an office, especially given the long period he served. Anne Quinlan, or 'Quinno', as David always called her, served as his secretary from 1975 until she retired in 1997. She had previously been his secretary when David was an executive at Channel 0 in Brisbane.

One area David embraced with enthusiasm at every opportunity was tourism, and despite being on the opposition benches he did enjoy his role as shadow Minister for Tourism and Aviation. While not a great fan of our national airline, which he referred to as the 'flying red rat', he nonetheless had an encyclopedic knowledge of every aircraft flown domestically by Qantas and Ansett, and the history of individual planes. He was always generous with his travel advice and assistance. When friends and colleagues were questioned about their travel plans they regularly responded confidently that they had nothing to worry about as they were flying 'Jull Air'. This usually meant that David had either suggested the itinerary or, in many cases, had made the bookings for them. David Jull was also the highly respected chair of the parliamentary committee on the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation 1997 to 2002 and of its successor, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security formerly the Parliamentary Joint Committee on ASIO, ASIS and DSD since 2002. In this capacity he presided over the committees inquiry into the performance of the Australian intelligence services in relation to Iraq's weapons of mass destruction in 2003-04.

David was not just loyal to his electors, not just committed to his parliamentary and committee duties he was also loyal to the party that enabled him to seek to represent them in the first place, the Liberal Party. He was a member of the Liberal Party and more recently the LNP for over 40 years. He believed in the Menzies tradition of the Liberal party. He embraced the reasons why Sir Robert Menzies wanted his party to be known as the Liberal Party, not the conservative party. David was a moderate in its proper meaning. He could not tolerate people who stood on the extreme. As an initial instigator and the unofficial moderator of the Liberal Forum known by its members as Black Hand, Joel used all of his influence and humour to ensure that his Liberal colleagues and friends did not become too full of themselves. He did so with the generosity of spirit and with a firm conviction that Liberals were in fact Liberals.

Even when David lost his ministry in circumstances many, myself included, regarded as unfair and unjust, he did not complain. His loyalty to the Liberal party remained unquestioned. When the Liberal and National parties merged in Queensland, he remained loyal to the new entity the LNP. Until his final illness prevented him from doing so, David was helping the LNP candidate in this local state seat Ian Walker with his campaign for the forthcoming state election.

On a personal note, Jully had a wicked sense of humour and was not constrained by any sense of political correctness. He did not need these constraints because his own values and principles were based on common sense and decency. I can still recall, as those members who served with him would recall, his satirical send-ups and of course his iconic bowling set. Simply put, David Jull was a genuinely good bloke. As he said in his final speech to the House four years ago in December 2007, 'some of my good mates in this place come from both sides of the House'. Tragically, the wishes of the Speaker at the time that it was 'the view of all members that the honourable member deserves a very long and healthy retirement' were not to be. I know the state president of the LNP Bruce McIver and the party organisation across Queensland join me in acknowledging David's outstanding service to the nation, his outstanding service to the parliament and his outstanding service to his electors over 32 years as their member and the LNP and the Liberal party.

Steve Gibbons (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise also to pay tribute to the life of David Jull. I first got to know Jully, as everybody called him' as a new member of this place. I got appointed to the then Standing Committee on Transport, Communications and the Arts of which David was a member along with that wonderful old character from Corangamite Stewart McArthur and Paul Neville, who was the chair of the committee. The member for Barker might have turned up occasionally too. That was a great eye-opener for a new MP because I had not set foot in this place prior to being elected so I had little understanding of the processes or the way that it will work. You could not get a better apprenticeship from the other side of politics than from those three blokes. We became good friends and still are. Unfortunately we lost David last week. One of the things I remember most about those three blokes, David in particular, was that they never played any party political games on those committees that I served on with him. I can remember David and the others say on a couple of occasions when we were preparing a report, 'The minister is not going to like this.' Nevertheless, they wanted in the report because that was the evidence we had gathered. That was a great influence on me. I have not tried to play party-political games on committees, have I?

Opposition members: Never!

That was David Jull's influence—and, I must say, that of a lot of people on my own side too, of course. We had a great time. He was great company, as indeed they all were, and I will never forget him for that.

I also remember quite fondly a trip to the Middle East, when the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade were en route to Afghanistan on a goodwill visit to our troops there. I was participating in an Australian Defence Force parliamentary program that involved being in the Navy, serving on the frigates Melbourne and Arunta on blockade duty. We all flew over on the same piece of equipment, a Russian Aleutian 77, which was altogether a hair-raising experience, and then the other group moved onto Afghanistan. I was with the ex-member for Wannon, David Hawker; the member for Moncrieff; and another good friend of mine, the member for Farrer. I must say I have made a lot of good friends on the other side, more so than on this side, and I think, on that basis, it is probably time I gave this caper away! On the other delegation were Senator Marise Payne, the member for Maranoa and my good mate Graham Edwards. We all met back in Dubai, when the two attachments finished, and it happened to be Senator Payne's birthday so Jully organised a party at one of the restaurants in Dubai. It was a great night and I remember it fondly. In his inevitable style, he got up and compered our little table—we had a separate room—and gave a running commentary on the participants not only on both sides of the houses but also on that delegation, and it was hilarious. He was great company and one of the greatest storytellers I have ever come across.

The last time I saw David was at a Birregurra branch of the Liberal Party dinner in Geelong two years ago—

Tony Smith (Casey, Liberal Party, Deputy Chairman , Coalition Policy Development Committee) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What were you doing there?

An honourable member: I ask the same question constantly!

Steve Gibbons (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I see that has raised a few eyebrows across the room, but please let me explain; it is all legitimate! As I mentioned before, that wonderful old character the former member for Corangamite, Stewart McArthur, was a good mate of mine, and the Birregurra branch of the Liberal Party had organised a testimonial dinner for him. I was invited and more than happy to attend. I was fortunate enough to be seated at David Jull's table. Accompanying David was a bloke named John Crook, who was a Bendigo television identity back in the BCV8 days. He had moved up to Brisbane and had obviously become good friends with Jully. It was really entertaining listening to stories from both men about their early days in broadcasting. Jully told me some wonderful stories about his background in radio. He used to play music—I think it was called being a disc jockey in those days—for one of the big popular music stations in Brisbane, and it was the most popular station. Because of his role there, whenever the big, international rock acts came out to Australia and played in Brisbane, he would inevitably get the job as compere; and, as happened if you got the job of compere at these big rock concerts—I am talking about acts like the Rolling Stones and other really big-name acts—he was always invited to the after-concert parties, and that is where the stories got very, very interesting. I do not propose to go into any of those stories for obvious reasons: a lot of the central characters are still alive, which in itself is a remarkable achievement, given some of the stories that David Jull told us!

So it was a great night. I remember that, when I walked in and was ushered to Jully's table, I saw the whole room was decked out in green and yellow balloons, and I said to Jully: 'My God, McArthur's jointed the National Party!' He was quick to point out that, no, he had not joined the National Party; the balloons were the colours of the McArthur tartan, hence it was the colour scheme for the evening. It was David, John Crook and a good friend of mine, the former member for Corio, Gavan O'Connor, who was also a good friend of David Jull's, at that dinner, as well as Stewart McArthur, of course. It was a great night and we all had the opportunity to speak. It was great.

I guess that is as good a last meeting as you can get with somebody, being in that environment. I know he was not well, and that was apparent during the night. You all know what it is like when you meet up with people you like, you are friends with and you have not seen them for a while—appointments are made, 'Next time I'm in Brisbane, we'll catch up for lunch,' and all the names and addresses are taken down. I have been to Brisbane once since then and never had time. Now, of course, it is too late and, boy, do I regret that. He was a wonderful man, a wonderful bloke and a great credit to his party. He never had the tunnel vision or the fanaticism of some of the younger and newer members of the other side of politics. He was always a fair man but he was a fierce supporter of his own political side and its philosophy. I think the Libs will certainly miss him and I think the nation will miss him. I think he was a great servant to his country and a great credit to himself. My deepest sympathies go to his family and his friends.

Patrick Secker (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Bendigo for his input to this debate. I think it very well reflects the fact that David Jull made friends wherever he was—not just in parliament. In parliament he made very close friends with some people whom you might have thought would be enemies. I think that was very much David Jull's approach to life.

We all know that he was a long-serving member—11 terms in parliament. I certainly do not wish to emulate 11 terms in parliament, but David Jull liked parliament as an institution—and he was an institution in this parliament. He represented the division of Bowman from 1975 to 1983. Unfortunately, he then lost his seat due to the Hawke landslide, but it was not long before he was back in the parliament in 1984. He started off with a marginal seat and ended up with quite a safe seat. That does not happen unless you are doing your job in the electorate and you have the respect of the people in the electorate. He served until 2007 and indeed when he actually left the parliament he was the fourth longest serving member of parliament ever, out of over 1,000 members of parliament. That is a pretty extraordinary record.

We know that he had lung cancer in 2005. That was a sad time for all of us—the fact that he had it and that he had to have a lung removed. But, true to the spirit, he said, 'I am going to make sure I get back to parliament.' And so he came back. He obviously was not quite as strong, we all knew that—his big, booming voice was not quite so big and booming any more. Like the member for Bendigo, I last met him at David Hawker's 25th year celebration—that was about two years ago, when we were in opposition. It was great to catch up with him. He had not changed. Obviously, though, he was not quite as fit as he had been.

He was a member of the shadow ministry from 1989 to 1994. When we became the government in 1996, he became the Minister for Administrative Services and served in that role from 1996 to 1997. It was often said—and I repeat: often said— that Jully, as we fondly knew him, was the unluckiest MP in parliament and deserved to serve as a minister for much longer than he did. When he no longer served as the Minister for Administrative Services, he became chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation from 1997 to 2002 and of its successor, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security—formerly the Parliamentary Joint Committee on ASIO, ASIS and DSD—from 2002. So from 1997 to 2007 he served as chair of one of the most important committees. To be the chair of that committee—or even a member of it—you needed to be someone in whom absolute trust could be placed. The fact that he was appointed to that position shows that people respected his abilities.

In this capacity, he presided over the committee's 2003-04 inquiry into the performance of the Australian intelligence services in relation to Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. As the member for Bendigo said, the committee did not pull any punches. The minister may not have liked it, but David Jull was not going to gild the lily. Coming back to him being unlucky, he almost certainly deserved to serve much longer as a minister. I supported him in a vote for the Speaker because I believed he would have served in that role with distinction. I believe he had all the qualities needed for the role of Speaker. He had the experience, there was no doubt about that, and he had the excellence. He had the knowledge of how parliament works—when to use standing orders and, probably more importantly, when not to use standing orders. He had gravitas and he had authority. He had a booming baritone voice. He would not have needed a microphone to rule from the chair.

I had the wonderful experience of sitting directly in front of him for nine years. I do not know if anyone else can claim that. I think it was a blessing to sit in front of him for nine years. I heard every humorous comment that he made. I do not think I ever heard him being warned, because he was clever enough to speak at the right time and just loud enough but not too loud to be called to order by the chair. It was really interesting to hear some of his comments and I will reflect on a few of them. I will not say who they are about because some of these people are still in parliament. He had a comment about every member of parliament. His descriptions included, 'ugly as a robber dog's backside'—that brings up an interesting vision—and 'Bob Hawke's love child'. Another one was 'one of the beagle boys'—as an avid reader of Donald Duck comics in my youth, I knew exactly what he was on about. Others were 'member for Nagger Nagger', 'promoted way beyond his abilities' or 'better as a front-rower than a frontbencher'—I think that was something about rugby. He had many, many more, but they were always very apt. He certainly did have a way with words.

I might reflect on his wine palate because he had one of the best wine palates in the parliament. One night we went out and somebody bought a bottle of '92 Grange—I would never have been able to afford it—and a bottle of '93 Area Red from Langhorne Creek. Not too many people would have heard of Area Red; it is not one of the great wines. But we all agreed that the '93 Area Red from Langhorne Creek was actually better than the '92 Grange. I happen to know the winemaker because I had played cricket with him. It was part of my electorate and also I spent about 20 of my younger years in that area. I rang the winemaker on the off chance that he had some left. Michael Potts, the winemaker at Bleasdale, had made this wine for Vintage Cellars and Michael said, 'No, I do not have any left, but I will try to find if there is any left in Australia.' True to his word, he rang me the next morning and said: 'There are four dozen left in Australia. Would you like them?' I said yes without even thinking. But I did ask how much per bottle and they were only $28 per bottle—actually a bargain. The first thing I did was to phone Jully and I said, 'Do you want half of these?' Jully said: 'Yes, please. When can you get them to me?' At least I was able to provide some pleasure in his later years with a fantastic wine that we had all enjoyed. David Jull, I drink to your memories and toast a champion. Vale, Jully.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 17:59 to 18:14

Tony Smith (Casey, Liberal Party, Deputy Chairman , Coalition Policy Development Committee) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to join in the remarks of all members who have spoken on this condolence motion for David Jull. He was someone who served in this parliament with distinction for such a long period of time. He was someone, as we have heard, Mr Deputy Speaker Adams—and you know this yourself—who had friends on both sides of the chamber. He was a quintessential character in the parliament. He enriched the Liberal Party and the parliament over what was an incredibly distinguished career. I count myself as fortunate to have gotten to know him not just as a member of parliament from the time of my election in 2001 but prior to that when I was a staff member for the Howard government and even prior to that when we were in opposition between 1990-96.

David Jull was so many things. As we know from those who have spoken, he was a good bloke. He was a dedicated parliamentarian. He was a dedicated Liberal. All of the previous speakers have made the point about David Jull's essential decency. His parliamentary career of 11 terms, spanning 32 years less 18 months, tells the story of incredible individual achievement. When people look at his parliamentary career, they see what he did for the parliament as well as the Liberal Party in the years to come. I know that David Jull's memory will go on in this place.

As the member for Ryan said just a few minutes before the suspension, David Jull started as a journalist. When you look at his career—and I took the time to dig out his maiden speech from 1976—he achieved a lot at a young age. He was a cadet radio journalist at the age of 19 and became the state political reporter. He describes this very well in his final speech to parliament back in 2007. That career was critical in so many ways because it introduced him at an early age to political reporting and to covering great political events as they were in the state of Queensland. In his final speech to parliament, he tells the story of how he gradually became more and more drawn to the Liberal Party and that the critical element was the election of the Whitlam government and then the experience of that. He became a candidate in 1974. Like so many of that generation, he was swept into parliament in the landslide election of 1975, and he stayed until the tide went out in 1983. He was out for only 18 months. His dedication to the Liberal cause and his commitment to our party and to this parliament is illustrated so much by his determination to come back just 18 months later. It would have been very easy for an ex-journalist to have served seven or eight years and put that down as a wonderful experience and then move on to another phase of their life. The reason he came back was his commitment to the cause. He said in a profile in the mid-1980s that, once politics got into his blood, it was like malaria: it stayed there and re-emerged. Look at David Jull's maiden speech and his final speech. It is touching to look at his ambition for the country and his Liberal philosophy. In 1976, he very much laid down the markers that he thought were important. His concluding comments in that speech on 2 March 1976 were:

… one should have a passionate devotion to a cause but I am aware that unless the passion is guided by a sense of responsibility it can be wasteful and indeed harmful to society.

He said:

I know that I am young and idealistic—

and he was young; he was only 31—

but I hope that my stay in this House does not breed that cynicism which has become so prevalent of late.

He finished by quoting the words of Winston Churchill condemning socialism. I think, when you look through all those years, three and a bit decades, he did not become cynical, but he had his ups and downs in politics. The Leader of the Opposition, speaking in the House, made the point that David had been a minister—and, we would make the point, for too short a time—and how his passion was to be a tourism minister. The Leader of the Opposition is right. He would have dearly loved to have been a tourism minister. But I think the strength of his character is marked out by the fact that, from 1997 until his retirement in 2007, he became a quintessential parliamentarian, an expert in foreign affairs and intelligence, and he played a critical role in the parliament on those issues.

We have heard from some on the other side about how Jully—and I can call him that—had friends on both sides, and he did. We heard from the member for Bendigo, who said that they were great mates; in fact, David mentioned the member for Bendigo, and the work they did together, in his final speech.

I got to know David better as a colleague after I had entered this place in 2001. As a staff member I had known him, and his friendliness and decency were always there. He had a welcoming smile and a welcoming hand and he was there to be a mentor to anyone on our side who so desired. He was, from all evidence, a very loyal person. One of his closest friends, the member for Sturt, is sitting next to me, and I know that he was a source of great encouragement, strength and advice to the member for Sturt. They lived together here in Canberra.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

For 14 years.

Tony Smith (Casey, Liberal Party, Deputy Chairman , Coalition Policy Development Committee) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

For 14 years. The member for Sturt entered this place at the very young age of 25, and David Jull was pretty young. The member for Sturt is one of a handful of people whom David Jull counted as very close friends. Despite that, he had many mates in the parliament. When we look back on David Jull we will remember a decent man, a man who came here to make a difference and certainly made a difference.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I endorse the very eloquent remarks from the many members who have already spoken in this condolence motion. To have given this parliament, and thereby the nation, the service the late David Francis Jull did is a measure of the man, his dedication and the ideals for which he proudly stood. It is said a week is a long time in politics. David Jull experienced more than 30 years of the hurly burly of Canberra and represented the Queensland seats of Bowman and Fadden during that time, 30 plus long years—more than three decades of fine public service.

I wish to place on public record the reminisces of the former member for Riverina, Kay Hull, who was deeply saddened when I told her of David Jull's passing. 'He could be raucous and gruff,' she recalled, 'but he was also kind-hearted and an amazing individual. He was an incredibly good politician who was admired and respected by all who knew him on both sides of the political divide. David Jull was a good mentor, a great friend of the tourism industry and someone who will be sadly missed.'

May I say the world is poorer for David Jull's death; this parliament is a far better place for the enormous contribution he made. May he rest in peace.

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker, I beg your indulgence: I know that we are supposed to have this motion until 6.30 but I note that the member for Blair is in the chamber and could potentially begin his debate on his motion. I do not think I will be able to speak on David Jull for two or three minutes and I am wondering whether the government and the chair would give me the indulgence to perhaps start my remarks tomorrow, rather than have them split in two.

Dick Adams (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Member for Sturt. I will actually—

Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education, Apprenticeships and Training) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If that is possible.

Dick Adams (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is possible. It being approximately 6.30 pm, in accordance with standing order 192, the debate is interrupted. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting and members will have leave to continue speaking.