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

Mr Speaker, on indulgence, I rise to acknowledge the passing of Anne Deveson AO on 12 December at the age of 86, and I extend our condolences to her son Joshua and her granddaughter Odessa, who are with us today. Josh, please accept our sympathies, particularly in light of the passing of your sister, Georgia Blain, another award-winning author, just a few days before that of your mother.

Anne Deveson, in her own words, led a varied and extraordinary life. Her career took her from broadcast journalist to film-maker to social advocate, in an accomplished and passionate lifetime of work. Her profound appreciation of the humanity of others was evident in her questions to 2GB listeners and in her books on ageing and resilience. 'In essence,' she said, 'we share the same longing for peace and love, the same need for respect, the same fear of pain and suffering, the same desire for joy.'

Anne will best be remembered for the way she helped change the approach to mental health care in Australia. She was fundamental in starting the support network that became SANE Australia and in advocating for the carers and the families of those with schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. Her calling to advocacy stemmed from her eldest son, Jonathan, being diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teenager. Her book Tell Me I'm Here is one of the most thought-provoking and compelling accounts of the life of a person with schizophrenia—as well as the decisions, the fears, the bravery and the medical advocacy that define the lives of the families and friends who love and support them. Anne was made a Member of the Order of Australia for her services to the media and an Officer of the Order of Australia for her work in community health.

I hope—no; I know—that Anne felt the love and respect of the Australian people, who looked up to her as representing the very best in our society: humble, stoic, hardworking and generous. We still have a lot more to do as we address mental illness—something about which there has been a taboo for many years in terms of our acknowledgement and awareness. We have a long way to go until we restore what Professor Ian Hickie has so profoundly called the 'mental wealth of nations'—the profound interest that each of us has in the mental health of every other Australian.

Anne Deveson is, in no small measure, the reason why we are on this journey. She pointed the way. She walked with us with encouragement and compassion. For the progress we have made, she can be accorded considerable credit. Our commitment to continue, our determination to succeed, the leadership she chose to give us and the direction we are taking are her legacy. Josh and your family, accept our condolences. Anne Deveson: a great Australian who dedicated so much of her life to helping her fellow Australians.

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

A few years ago, Anne Deveson was driving down a familiar street and suddenly realised that she could not remember where she was going. She found herself popping around to the neighbours to check the date and then coming back an hour later because she had forgotten the answer. The tests confirmed what she knew: like her mother, her grandmother and her great-aunt, Anne had Alzheimer's.

In December last year, only two days after the passing of her daughter, Georgia, Anne's long goodbye came to an end. Today the parliament recognises her extraordinary contribution to Australia: her work on the Royal Commission on Human Relationships, which drove the decriminalisation of homosexuality, the legalisation of abortion and the establishment of the first refuges—safe accommodation for women fleeing violent homes. And, when it came to breaking down stigma, Anne was just getting started. For her time, she was an unusual radio journalist. She did so much work with people on the ground and invited those people into her studio. She was driven by an insatiable curiosity about how Australia worked.

In 1991 Anne published her most famous work, Tell Me I'm Here, the story of her son Jonathan and his schizophrenia—an unvarnished, unflinching book full of heartbreaks and hard truths. There is fear in Anne's story, fear for her safety in her son's violent episodes of psychosis and fear of losing her son, the warm, intelligent, funny eldest of her three children—losing him to an illness that shattered his self or losing him to addiction and overdose. There is anger—anger against the unfairness of it all, anger at a system sceptical of schizophrenia's very existence, preferring tough love or a firm hand. And, above all, there is extraordinary honesty and authenticity—as one reviewer put it, a determination to scratch old wounds and feel the pain anew. This clarity of purpose was behind everything that Anne did. Her daughter, Georgia Blain, herself a brilliant writer, inherited this honesty. It is in every line of Births Deaths Marriages, which addresses her postnatal depression—another subject so often considered taboo.

The great writers of fiction use their creative powers to take us to an imaginary world. Historians and biographers take us back in time with their gift of storytelling. I think that Anne Deveson and Georgia Blain put themselves on the page. They submit the reader to their frailties and their failures, their pain, their loneliness, the scars on their soul. I think this is not just their gift as writers; it was their gift as people—honesty, integrity, the courage to be who they were without apology. Anne Deveson fought discrimination, she fought stigma and she fought for the people she loved. Her qualities, her inspiration and the power of her example will live long in the story of this nation.

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. As a mark of respect, I ask all present to rise in their places.

Honourable members having stood in their places—

I thank the House.