Lyn Allison (Victoria, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

It is with great sadness that I make my contribution to the condolence motion for Senator Jeannie Ferris. The death of any senator in office demonstrates untimeliness and Senator Ferris was probably at a high point in her political career when cancer struck. Untimely deaths rob people of their time as useful, productive contributors to society and to their families. They also leave a big gap in the lives of family, friends and colleagues, which is why we are talking about Jeannie Ferris today.

I have known Jeannie Ferris for 11 years, some of those years as Democrat Whip when I met with her daily in her final parliamentary role as Government Whip. I also served with her on several committees over those 11 years. But perhaps I knew her best for her work in defending women’s reproductive health rights and services, an area which was to take her life.

She is well known for her role in getting started the Senate inquiry into gynaecological cancer and she brought to that inquiry direct, personal and often painful experiences of cancer. She embraced the issue in a way that government whips are not often able to do. Indeed, senators who are not also ministers or parliamentary secretaries do not often take centre stage in the public arena on these issues. But she did on this issue and was successful in bringing public opinion on board, winning the confidence of women and the medical profession and having the certainty that her objectives were in the interests of women in these very difficult circumstances. As we all know, the government response to the Senate inquiry’s report was swift and positive and, if there is any silver lining for Jeannie, it is that she was here to witness and celebrate that success.

It was okay to talk about breast cancer but that inquiry showed that there had been a veil of secrecy covering women’s reproductive parts, and she helped to lift that veil. That act, as much as the $1 million seed funding for the Gynaecological Cancer Centre, was important to women who felt unable to talk about cancer in their reproductive organs, even in some cases to their doctors. So I hope and expect that this act alone will save the lives of women who might otherwise put off that conversation with their doctor and ignore those vague symptoms in the hope that they will go away. Not many in this place can claim to have saved lives in the fulfilling of their parliamentary duties. She was no doubt influential in her party in getting the veto over RU486 lifted. She struck me as an effective negotiator and networker—crucial attributes for success in this place.

At a personal level, I think we were all hugely relieved when her treatment after diagnosis seemed to have been such a success and we expected her to be with us for many years to come. This was not to be. Apparently she knew her prognosis was not very good when she returned to the Senate just a few weeks before going back into hospital, but for her this was a very private time and most of us did not suspect that we might be seeing her for the last time.

Jeannie had a life that was probably more interesting than most and I gather she lived it to the fullest. She certainly cracked the whip on members of her ranks—mostly trying to stop them talking in this place! I know there were some senators who pushed her patience to the limit. I enjoyed her company and my admiration for her grew as we worked closely in the last year or so. She was also a woman in the Senate, and within her party she was a strong voice for women’s issues and I hope this too will be seen as an important legacy. We will miss Senator Jeannie Ferris and I express my thanks for her work and, on behalf of my Democrat colleagues, condolences to her family and friends.