David Johnston (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice and Customs) Share this | Hansard source

I suppose I became aware of what a rare jewel Jeannie Ferris was when I attended my first coalition parliamentary backbench agriculture, transport and regional affairs committee, where I saw her controlling the likes of Bill Heffernan, Wilson Tuckey, Alby Schultz and Ron Boswell. That is a task which I do not think we are likely to see performed with such dexterity and ability ever again. It was there that I realised that this was a very special person. As a new senator, I was fortunate in having Jeannie Ferris take me under her wing and provide me with advice and support. In 2005-06, I realised that the rare jewel that I thought Jeannie was was a very rare jewel indeed: a courageous fighter who lived up to every one of my expectations of her.

The advice she gave me was always good. It was blunt. She was a person who prided herself on firmness and discipline. I was a person who obviously needed that sort of advice and guidance. She was respectful of this place and its institutions. She was a very principled and committed yet outspoken person. I learnt much from her in my early time as a senator back in 2002 and 2003, just after she was elected as Government Whip in the Senate.

She made a phenomenal contribution in a broad range of areas for a senator. I wish that I could make such a contribution as she made. In wheat and primary production, she was across all of the issues and had all of her knowledge and understanding of that complex and important area at her fingertips. She was my predecessor as Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Standing Committee on Native Title and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Land Account and she spent considerable time assisting me, guiding me and advising me as to where that committee should go and what the role of the chairman should be.

I noted with interest that one of her early campaigns was on the issue of youth suicide. She was a great advocate for people who were not as well off as she was and not as strong in character as she was. She was a great friend of pastoralists and people living in isolation.

I am very pleased and proud to say that she was a great friend and confidante of mine and, I know, of many other senators and indeed many members of parliament in this place. I was enormously saddened to hear of her passing, as sudden as it was. She put up a fantastic fight. I extend my condolences to her sons, Robbie and Jeremy, and say that she was a phenomenal advocate for South Australia and fulfilled every expectation of that state’s election of her. I extend my condolences to her family and her friends and particularly to her loyal and hardworking staff. One measures the capacity and calibre of a person by the loyalty of their staff to them, and the group of people in her office were admiring of her and committed and dedicated to her. I will miss her greatly.