Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Industry and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to join those offering condolences on the passing of a great Labor servant in Gerry Hand last November. Gerard Leslie Hand—a true believer through and through, his convictions never wavering and energy never faltering. He started as a textile worker, a union organiser, who grew up in Warrnambool. The guiding light throughout his life was this simple motto: 'Never forget the poor'. Famously, he came agonisingly short in his first tilt at a seat in parliament, losing preselection to a fellow called Bob Hawke in a seat of Wills in 1979. But, as we saw over and over Gerry's political life, he just kept fighting.

Not only did he win the seat of Melbourne for Labor in the 1983 election that swept Hawke into power; he also then went on to become a trusted and respected voice to his formal rival, a new Labor prime minister presiding over the dawn of a new political era. He spent the next decade representing the electorate of Melbourne in that government, six of them as a member of both the Hawke and Keating cabinets. He took on hard portfolios and never shrank from difficult decisions. He wore the criticism that came from those decisions with great grace, later describing that period of his life as 'turbulent', but never spoke a word of regret, only gratitude for the opportunity to serve—not hollow words.

I do recall his service, in particular, being remembered fondly in our part of Western Sydney. As minister for immigration, he helped support the Blacktown Migrant Resource Centre, with an icon of that centre in Pat Johnson, who was someone that I had great dealings with. I enormously respected her contribution to the settlement process for people that had made Australia their home in a variety of different ways. Gerry Hand visited Blacktown a number of times and set up an ongoing dialogue with people in the community. He would call them from time to time to get their reflections on policy—to get soundings from people on the ground in communities about policy that worked or, in some cases, did not work as initially intended. I very much respected him for that.

That tendency of Gerry Hand's to reach out, to talk with people and to lend the benefit of his advice is something that I was enormously grateful for. His life in politics had never been really free of trials and tribulations, but his advice was sage and his observations astute. I was always grateful for him sending the odd text message from time to time after hearing me in the media or for being able to speak with him and learn from his experiences as well. His determination to pass on lessons or offer a listening ear showed the importance he placed on parliamentary politics and his regard for those who were called to serve in this place. As I said, I'm enormously grateful for the fact that someone with his experience took the time to message and call and to be there to talk to from time to time.

I want to offer my sincere sympathies to his wife and children, of whom he spoke so lovingly and so often. I say to them: thank you for sharing him with us. Together we all grieve his passing.

Vale, Gerald Hand.

Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment and Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to say a few words about Labor great Gerry Hand. Lindsay Tanner wrote of him, 'They don't make them like Gerry Hand anymore,' and that certainly is true. As a union organiser who grew up in Warrnambool, in south-west Victoria, Gerry Hand was known to be an energetic fighter for workers and for disadvantaged communities all through his union life and his political career. He didn't just fight for the Labor Party; he occasionally had fights inside the Labor Party. He did fight Bob Hawke in the early 1980s, when he stood as the Socialist Left candidate against Bob Hawke in what was by all reports a brutal contest for Labor preselection for the federal seat of Wills. He lost, but three years later he won Labor preselection for the neighbouring seat of Melbourne, and we got both Bob Hawke and Gerry Hand. He went on to work closely with Hawke at an extraordinary time in the party.

In the decade that Gerry Hand held the seat of Melbourne, he was a passionate and unflagging fighter for disadvantaged groups of people, including Indigenous Australians, low-paid workers, public housing tenants and recently arrived migrants. From 1983 to 1993, including the time he served as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and then Minister for Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs, what we saw from Gerry Hand was distinction and passion. He became a leading light of the ALP Left, and he re-energised it with his commitment to social justice. He's credited with bringing the Left in from the cold.

Gerry Hand was also a link between Labor's traditional blue-collar working-class union base and the rapidly growing progressive middle class. He was able to incorporate the wishes, desires and world views of both groups, and, in his various roles, he brought those views to cabinet. He was a vital part of the Hawke government, working behind the scenes to achieve agreement and support for some of the more difficult and controversial policy initiatives of the time. And, of course, he had a deep commitment to improving the lives of Indigenous Australians, including in the establishment of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. He prepared much of the ground for the work that has come after, when it comes to political moves to benefit First Nations communities around Australia, and his early work went on to pave the way for the 1993 native title legislation and, later, the Bringing them home report on the stolen generations.

We are, all of us in the Labor family, sending our deepest condolences and deepest sympathies to Gerry Hand's family and many, many friends. We farewell a giant of the Left and a Labor legend.

Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I understand it is the wish of honourable members to signify at this stage their respect and sympathy by rising in their places.

Honourable members having stood in their places—

I thank the Federation Chamber.

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That further proceedings be conducted in the House.

Question agreed to.

Federation Chamber adjourned at 17:42