Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the House record its deep regret at the death on 13th October of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand and offer its profound sympathy to the entire royal family and the people of Thailand.

For the people of Thailand, and indeed the thousands of Australians of Thai heritage, this is a time of intense sadness. It is a day they knew must come but in their hearts they hoped never would. To our Thai friends: we understand your deep sorrow, and I acknowledge the presence here with us today of Thailand's Ambassador to Australia, His Excellency Chirachai Punkrasin.

His Majesty Rama IX, the ninth monarch of the Chakri dynasty, was crowned on 5 May 1950. Honourable members may reflect on the extraordinary changes in our world across those seven decades, perhaps most spectacularly the economic transformation of Asia. Through it all, His Majesty was instrumental in ensuring Thailand became the successful and prosperous country it is today, providing a calm and steadying leadership despite the challenges and difficulties of political upheaval and momentous social and economic change. Through it all, His Majesty maintained with his people that strong sense of national pride and identity.

His Majesty continued the work of his illustrious forefathers to introduce modern ideals to Thailand. He was passionate about science and what it could do to boost the living standards of his people and to grow the Thai economy. He was rewarded by the United Nations Development Program with the first ever Human Development Lifetime Achievement Award.

His Majesty was also a friend of Australia, and we sincerely value the deep relationship between our countries, which His Majesty helped foster. In 1962, King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit visited Australia for 18 days. The Canberra Times reported that 5,000 people went to the airport to welcome their majesties, and 7,000 more lined the route from the airport to Government House. There were already, of course, many Thai students in Canberra under the Colombo Plan. At the welcome ceremony, the RAAF band played works composed by the King himself—a keen musician and jazz aficionado. After the visit, His Majesty wrote to the government, saying that he and the Queen found heartwarming the goodwill and friendship of the Australian people.

That goodwill continues to this day. The royal visit inspired the formation of the first Australia-Thailand associations in Sydney and Melbourne. Our trade, historical, academic and people-to-people links are extensive. Of course, Thailand continues to be a beautiful and welcoming destination for Australian travellers. But we must not forget how we shared with the people of Thailand the tragic impact of the 2004 tsunami. Twenty-three Australians in Thailand lost their lives in that disaster; so too did a member of the Thai royal family, and of course many other citizens of Thailand and other countries. Together we grieved that shattering loss of family and friends.

Another of the most powerful spiritual connections between our countries is the memory of Hellfire Pass and the more than 2,700 Australians who died as prisoners of war in the construction of the Thai-Burma Railway. One of the greatest of our war heroes, Edward 'Weary' Dunlop, returned to Thailand regularly, and, after his death in 1993, some of his remains were consecrated in a Buddhist ceremony on the River Kwai. His Majesty marked his great respect for Weary Dunlop only weeks before his death, when bestowing on him the Knight Grand Cross (1st Class) of the Most Noble Order of the Royal Crown of Thailand, Thailand's most exalted order.

At this time of national mourning, I extend to the Thai royal family and the people of Thailand the condolences of the Australian government and the profound sympathy of the Australian people.

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Labor joins the government in offering Australia's condolences to the people of Thailand on the death of their beloved king—for so many, the only monarch that their lives have known. For 70 years, the King of Thailand bore on his shoulders the hopes of his people, their affections and 800 years of tradition. He was a unifying force in moments of division, a calming influence in times of tension, a voice of compassion in an era of change.

At the age of 23, when the young king was returning from his studies in Switzerland to take the throne, a military coup stripped the monarchy of its constitutional powers—an inauspicious start but, as some have speculated, a blessing in disguise. Moving the crown above politics, it set the pattern for the next seven decades: different groups of citizens swearing different loyalties to a rapidly shifting political order, but the King commanding, enduring, with universal respect.

Yet there was more to this man than the stern visage in the portraits which hang in almost every shop in Thailand. Denis Gray from Associated Press, one of the few journalists to ever interview the King, penned an obituary which spoke to the qualities and the paradoxes of the man:

There was the king's rigid adherence to tradition and his modern informality, the severe demeanor and ready humor, his simple lifestyle and his reported status as the world’s richest royal …

In Bangkok, surrounded by marble and silk, in golden robes or a uniform bedecked with medals, the King embodied the ritualised, impassive formalities of his ancient court. But he could also play jazz on the radio and lend his sponsorship to charity. In the hills up-country, in army boots and open-necked shirt, he would enthuse with locals about dams and irrigation, soil quality, crops and fertilisers. In Bangkok, courtiers would, as is custom, come seeking an audience on their hands and knees, but in the villages the King would sit in the dirt with the locals, poring over maps. This Thailand—a place of farmers and forests, of simple huts and small villages, people tending their crops and caring for one another—was the country that the King idealised. Yet in his reign so much of this gave way to industrialisation, to urbanisation, to a new generation of entrepreneurs capitalising on surging tourism. But, for all this change, the respect, the affection and the regard in which the King was held by his people never dimmed.

This is a solemn time for the people of Thailand as they mourn a loss they have long feared. I would urge Australians who are in Thailand or headed there soon to be mindful of the national mood and to pay all due respect to the dignity and the solemnity of the occasion. We salute the King of Thailand's long life. We offer our sympathies to his family and to his people. May he rest in peace.