George Campbell (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I worked closely with Jeannie from November 2005, when I was elected Opposition Whip. Virtually every sitting day since then concluded with a whip’s meeting that Jeannie would preside over. While she could be feisty and testy, at the end of the day when she flashed that smile it was very hard to not like Jeannie Ferris. She was always cooperative and open to negotiation on matters which affected the chamber management. I think there were very few occasions when, at the end of the day, we were not able to reach an agreement or an accommodation on any of the issues relating to the management of the chamber. I think it is fair to say that between us we did a good job in managing the chamber very well over that period.

Despite some of the blues that we had recently on the Selection of Bills Committee, I am pretty sure that, in most situations, Jeannie was sympathetic to our arguments. But she always carried the government’s torch with strength and forcefulness in arguing for the government’s position. That was a thing that characterised all of the work that Jeannie did. When she set about a task, she set about it with 110 per cent energy and commitment to achieving the outcomes that she was fighting for. Others have referred to the work she did on many of the health issues that have recently been debated in this chamber.

She was a dedicated parliamentarian and a tireless advocate for women and for regional Australia. Others have already spoken about the detail of Jeannie’s work, particularly with the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs. She and other members of that committee engineered major social change in this chamber. Suffice to say that Jeannie was a very active member of the Senate committees and was prepared to take on issues that she believed in with gusto and enthusiasm to see them through to a conclusion. It was always entertaining to watch Jeannie sitting on the other side of the chamber wagging her finger like a headmistress at senators on her own side for perceived or real misdemeanours.

I did know about the housing arrangements at Jeannie’s house in Yarralumla; Senator Ferguson told me about them a long time ago. All I can say is that there must have been some interesting evenings in that house. I sometimes wished I were a fly on the wall.