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

Senator McCain, welcome back to Australia. It is such an honour to have you here on the floor of the House of Representatives.

Senator McCain has led a life of leadership, of public service and of selfless courage. As a prisoner of war for 5½ years, he selflessly, despite torture and cruelty, refused to be transferred back to the United States in advance of his colleagues—true leadership; true grit; true courage.

And then he has gone on to serve the people of the United States in the Congress and the Senate, where he is now chair of the Armed Services Committee. He has run for President of the United States. And can I say that, here in this House, we can acknowledge Senator McCain as one of the strongest voices—none stronger—in the United States today for the Australian-American alliance. He has embodied it. His grandfather, John McCain, as a sailor in the US Navy, visited Australia in 1908, in the Great White Fleet which visited at the request of Prime Minister Alfred Deakin. His father served in the US Navy, as his grandfather had done and as he has done, and served for part of the Second World War in Perth.

Of course, as Senator McCain has done throughout his life, he has spoken of the importance, of the bedrock, of the Australia-US alliance. He said earlier this year:

… Australia is one of America’s oldest friends and staunchest allies. We are united by ties of family and friendship, mutual interests and common values, and shared sacrifice in wartime.

Today the brave men and women of the Australian Defence Force and the United States defence forces once again, as they always have and always will, are serving shoulder to shoulder in freedom's cause to defeat terrorism and keep us safe at home and abroad.

I conclude this welcome by noting a fact perhaps not so well-known to honourable members—the senator shares one of our great national passions, rugby football, and I understand he is looking forward to the United States reclaiming its status as rugby world champions. The United States won the gold medal for rugby union at the 1924 Paris Olympics and remained reigning champions until rugby was played again in Rio last year. Senator McCain, you are among friends, you are a great friend of Australia—welcome to our house of democracy here in Canberra.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

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

Senator McCain, I echo the comments of our Prime Minister. It is indeed an honour to welcome you to our country and to our parliament. I cannot promise that your visit will guarantee better behaviour during question time but I certainly believe that our parliament is better for your presence. I think you represent all of what we hope our alliance should be, and the fact that you are the third generation of your family to help put meaning to the close relationship between Australia and the United States is testament to the importance of your visit. You served alongside Australians in the Vietnam conflict, as did your father and your grandfather in the Second World War—your father a submarine commander and your grandfather the commander of a carrier fleet in the Pacific. Yours has been a life lived in the service of your country, but I think what gives you a special quality is that your courage and your integrity set an example for citizens of all nations.

Senator, you once said that you fell in love with your country while you were a prisoner in someone else's. After your A4 Skyhawk was shot down, and through 5½ years of unimaginable pain, you held on to the idea of America—in your words, 'its faith in the wisdom, justice and goodness of its people'. Senator, our two nations' alliance is a friendship built upon shared sacrifice for common cause. We hold to that same idea, that same faith in people—the same belief in what the idea of America represents, not just for your citizens but for everyone around the world who believes that we are all created equal.

In our meeting immediately prior to question time I asked you a question which no doubt you have been asked thousands of times: how did you get through that 5½ years? When we see that sort of human struggle we all ask ourselves, 'How?' You replied that you had faith in God, faith in your country and faith in your fellow prisoners, and you gave a valuable insight. You explained to me that you believed that your captors wanted to convince you there was no chance of release, and they wanted you to give up hope—and you never did, and your faith in your fellow prisoners was part of that. You reminded me then that that is why the constant fight for human rights everywhere is a struggle just as important now as it was then, and that lesson from then applies now. When people are being encouraged to give up on their human rights, to expect there is no release or no rescue, you said to me very clearly that that is an important quality that Australian democracy shares with American democracy—that wherever we go, we never give up the human rights of other people because when we do that we then give up their hope. You remind us that our democracies share that fundamental respect for the liberties of all. You are most welcome in this parliament.

Honourable members: Hear, hear!

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

I thank the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. As you can see, Senator McCain, you are indeed very warmly welcomed here on the floor of the House of Representatives. Again, I welcome you to question time in the House of Representatives.