Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise on behalf of the citizens of the northern Gold Coast seat of Fadden to express our deep condolences on the loss to the world of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The world has lost a true servant, but heaven has gained a true saint. Many of my constituents who've come in to sign the condolence book—many in person, many more online—have found themselves expressing a sense of loss, a sense of sorrow and a sense of grievance—many of them not even quite understanding why. Why do they feel such a sense of loss for a monarch so far away? Yet she was a monarch who managed to become so close to the Australian people; a monarch who visited so many times; a monarch who stood the tests of time, of decency, of stature and of service; a monarch who had outlived the reign of some 14 or 15 prime ministers in her country and, indeed, in ours.

It is an extraordinary story, that of Elizabeth Windsor, the late Queen Elizabeth II. One of the reasons the citizens of the Gold Coast find themselves sorrowful and reflective is that the monarch has stood as a testimony of stability and service for 70 years. It was a life that put service before self; a life that saw others before her own needs; a life that saw her give up whatever hopes and dreams she may have had for her life and put them second to the call of duty and service for national life.

This is a monarch who saw the dismantling of colonisation; the opening up of countries; and many countries stepping forward in terms of republicanism, self-determination or the lessening of the stature of the Queen and the office. In our country, she saw the lessening of the stature of the Privy Council, the raising of our own national anthem and the moving forward in our own sense of self-determination. She did that with the grace and the status of a true world leader.

It's estimated some half the world may have watched her funeral. The Brits always do pomp and ceremony well; they're renowned for it. But this time they did it because it was deserved—and, in this case, richly so. Few funerals have garnered such attention. The last one I could think of, perhaps, may have been Mother Teresa or Nelson Mandela—for truly Queen Elizabeth II, through her acts of service, walks in such company, stands with such grace and has such a legacy. Indeed, God save the King, for we have lost the Queen.