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

I move:

That the House acknowledge the passing on 29 October 2017 of former Governor-General the Right Honourable Sir Ninian Martin Stephen KG AK GCMG GCVO KBE QC, and place on record its gratitude of his service to our nation and tender its profound sympathy to Lady Stephen and his family in their bereavement.

Sir Ninian Stephen was born in England in 1923. Three weeks later, his father walked out of his life and never returned. Young Ninian and his Scottish mother spent his early years in Edinburgh. Later they roamed the world before settling in Australia.

Last month a Scottish pipe band echoed through the streets of Melbourne as we farewelled an adopted son whose life represented the very best of us. Sir Ninian's legacy lives on both here and beyond our shores, in all the nations where he worked tirelessly for peace, justice and reconciliation. But he was not driven by a proud man's desire to leave his mark on history. His motivation was public service and the desire to leave the world a better place. It was a life of many acts played out across many stages.

A brilliant commercial barrister and leading constitutional lawyer, he rose to the top of his field to become a justice of the High Court. He served the nation from the battlefields of Bougainville and Borneo as an Australian soldier to the red dust of Uluru-Kata Tjuta, where, as Governor-General, he handed Aboriginal freehold title over to the Anangu traditional owners in 1985. As a peacemaker and international jurist, he sought justice and brought people together on the green but riven fields of Ireland, in the jungles of Cambodia, amid the destruction of the former Yugoslavia and across the unforgiving deserts and mountains of Afghanistan.

Sir Ninian's wise counsel, fairness and compassion, along with his great constitutional expertise, kept him in demand long after his retirement as Governor-General. His many roles included chairman of the Northern Ireland peace talks, mediator between government and opposition in Bangladesh, foundation judge on The Hague war crimes tribunal in respect of the former Yugoslavia, and distinguished observer representing the Commonwealth at the Convention for a Democratic South Africa.

There were few honours that Sir Ninian did not have to his name—he was knighted five times—but, despite his many public roles and accolades, his role as a father and a husband, as a family man, was paramount. Sir Ninian discovered late in life that his father had not died of wartime injuries, as he'd been told, but instead had left him and his mother to make a new family in Canada. He reached out to that family, proving that a true peacemaker always brings people together. The devoted husband and father of five daughters, he died holding his wife's hand. At his funeral his daughter Ann spoke of her parents' bond:

… he was also a romantic, writing beautiful, touching lines to our mother throughout their life together.

It may seem that Sir Ninian belonged to another age, but the qualities that made him unique are also timeless ones: witty, urbane, tolerant, humane and with a self-deprecating humour that proved, if any proof was needed, that this citizen of the world was truly one of us. Australia has lost one of its great statesman, and today we all mourn his passing. Our thoughts are with Lady Stephen and their entire family as they celebrate his life and mourn his loss.

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

Today we honour a long life lived for others. Sir Ninian Stephen brought gravitas, good humour and calm dignity to the office of Governor-General, and his qualities and capacities were held in the highest regard by all Australians and by all sides of politics. It's a measure of the man that he was initially chosen by Malcolm Fraser but would later have his term extended by Bob Hawke. Sir Ninian's passion for internationalism also broadened the scope of the role, expanding the program of overseas visits now so central to the Governor-General's responsibilities as a representative of Australia. Indeed, this was a recurring pattern of Sir Ninian's public life: he enhanced, enriched and elevated every position that he held. In the uniform of his country, in the High Court, in high office and, later on, on the world stage, Sir Ninian Stephen embodied the ideals of service, duty and justice.

Perhaps no Australian has received more accolades, yet he was also a person of profound humility who shunned the spotlight and never sought a curtain call. As a young man he deferred his legal studies at Melbourne University when he was called upon to serve in Papua New Guinea and Borneo with the Royal Australian Engineers. He would later become a recognised authority on constitutional law, which, as honourable members know, can be complex and evolving! He was a QC before the age of 45 and a High Court judge before 50. Instead of Governor-General being the pinnacle of his public service, it became a springboard for further acts of truly global significance. As Australia's first Ambassador for the Environment, his advocacy and diplomacy helped preserve the entire continent of Antarctica from mining. A quarter of a century later, it's easy to look upon this as a fait accompli, but, amidst the end of the Cold War, this was a highly charged and fiercely contested question, and Sir Ninian's role—indeed, Australia's leadership—in the world's largest conservation decision ought to be better known.

As a young man, Ninian was taken to a Nazi rally in Nuremberg, following the annexation of Austria—one face amongst tens of thousands on those vast concrete terraces, close enough to photograph Hitler. Nuremberg would later serve as the home of the war trials for the Nazi leadership, the first of their kind. But, in one of those quirks of history, Sir Ninian would subsequently serve as a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, investigating the atrocities committed there. Indeed, his intellect and diplomatic gifts made him a highly respected mediator in the Northern Ireland peace talks, in the political conflict in Bangladesh and in the dispute over Timor-Leste's sovereignty. On every occasion, Sir Ninian brought a measure of justice, reconciliation and peace to these troubled places, and in doing so he brought honour to all of us—to Australia. Our parliament, our country and future generations of Australians are forever in his debt. We offer our condolences to Lady Stephen and their family and we thank them for their contribution, and for the contribution their loved one made, to the life of our nation and to the cause of justice around the world. May he rest in peace.

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

I thank the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. The question is that the motion moved by the honourable the Prime Minister be agreed to. As a mark of respect, I ask all present to signify their approval by rising in their places.

Question agreed to, honourable members standing in their places.

I thank the House.