Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation) Share this | Hansard source

Today we celebrate the life and contribution of Senator Jeannie Ferris. While Senator Jeannie Ferris has now been lost to the service of this parliament, the people of South Australia and the Liberal Party, her memory and her work will be long remembered. Many will recall—and, indeed, have recalled—her brave battle with illness and the lasting role her illness and untimely death have played in obtaining extra resources in a vital area.

I first became acquainted with Senator Jeannie Ferris in the same circumstances that the Leader of the Government in the Senate has explained to us. I recall being invited by the then Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate, Richard Alston, to continue the debate to ensure that we ran out of time on that particular occasion, because there were negotiations to be had, I recall, with the two Greens senators from Western Australia at the time. If my memory serves me correctly, they were Christabel Chamarette and Dee Margetts. The debate was talked out, and I do not know how or what former Senator Alston did, but, in his usual fashion, the next day certain issues were resolved in relation to the particular vote and the circumstances that Senator Minchin has outlined took place. As a result, Senator Ferris resigned and became a senator courtesy of her own casual vacancy, if I can put it like that. I had not met Jeannie Ferris before then. As one might imagine, there was one person listening in very closely to the broadcast of the Senate on that occasion, and that of course was Jeannie Ferris. When I first met her, she reminded me of my contribution and we became quite good friends as a result. I recall her being one of a very small number of colleagues at my 40th birthday party, which is now many years ago, as you might imagine.

The time that I really got to know Jeannie Ferris the best was when we both served on the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Native Title. Her role as chair of that committee was quite rightly referred to by the Reverend Peter Grundy in his address in the Great Hall. Reverend Peter Grundy was not Reverend Peter Grundy at the time that he was secretary of the native title committee, and he served that committee with great distinction. He was secretary of that committee under many chairs, including myself, but I think he quite rightly identified Jeannie Ferris as the best chair that the committee had whilst he was the secretary of it. I have written down a few words that I think describe Senator Ferris’s role as a member of that committee and then as chair of it: sensitive, capable, insightful, genuine, committed and always interested in getting the balance right. On the native title committee, one tended to travel into the far reaches of this country. For me, being a Tasmanian senator, I learnt very quickly how big our whole country is in comparison to Tasmania. You would find yourself stuck—and I do not say ‘stuck’ in a derogatory sense; it was always a delight—in small townships and Aboriginal communities right around this country. Of an evening you would sit down to a meal and discuss the witnesses. We often had comments for white lawyers, I must say, in relation to that, and we shared other thoughts and experiences.

I always found Jeannie Ferris to be a person who was genuinely committed to getting the balance right for the cause of our Indigenous community and also to ensuring fairness for the pastoral and other sectors of our community so that no sector felt as though they had been dealt out of the game, which would potentially give rise to the sorts of factors that we did unfortunately see rise within our community with One Nation. Senator Ferris’s contribution in the area of native title is the one that I know the best. She made a fantastic contribution. She was always willing to try to get the balance right, and I think she succeeded in doing so.

Of course, we experienced her work as Government Whip as well. All of those qualities that I have just talked about in the native title setting were the same ones that she brought to bear in the whip’s position. She was always trying to get the balance right and trying to be fair. One of the good things about Jeannie Ferris was that she was always willing to speak without fear or favour, irrespective of who a person might be. In fact, I understand it has been recalled that she, to use the term, ‘civilised’ one Ian McLachlan on women’s issues. One can just imagine how Senator Ferris would have done that: with all her femininity and charm but with all the determination of somebody who believed in that which she was saying. My observation is that she gave the benefit of her views just as forthrightly to those above her in the political food chain. Be it the Prime Minister, right through to the lowliest backbencher, she would treat them with exactly the same respect but also firmness. She has made a great contribution to this place. It has been one of life’s experiences to have known her and to count her as a friend. I say to her sons that they have lost a great mother; South Australia, the Australian people and the Liberal Party have lost a great servant. Our loss is heaven’s gain, and I wish for Jeannie Ferris to rest in peace.