Judith Adams (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I also rise to express my thoughts on this condolence motion for our colleague Jeannie Ferris. I did not know Jeannie as long as most other speakers, being a new member in this place. It is most important that I speak of her kindness and consideration in taking me under her wing when I was endorsed as a senator for Western Australia. This occurred two years and three months before I was actually sworn in. Jeannie was the first person outside Western Australia to congratulate me on my endorsement. With that phone call came an invitation for me to join her at the 2003 Liberal Party federal conference, which was held in Adelaide. She organised for me to attend the rural policy committee meetings and many other briefings to do with rural issues. Actually, in those two days she ran me off my feet. This was amazing coming from a stranger who really did not know me but was thrilled to think that another woman was coming into the parliament, even though that took another two years.

I also have a wonderful memory of Jeannie from my Senate orientation day. She organised my accommodation, gave me a personal reference for my landlady and had Robyn drive me to my interview. That evening, we had dinner at the Canberra Yacht Club. It was a wonderful occasion, much like Senator Nash was talking about earlier. That was Jeannie’s way of finding out where I came from and what made me tick. It was quite amazing getting to know Jeannie too—this is really telling stories out of school. She happened to tip a glass of red wine over her beautiful blue, long coat. Without any problem, she took it off and called the person who was looking after us and said, ‘Can you put it into a bucket of iced water with some salt, and it will be fine,’ and we continued our conversation. That was the start of learning about Jeannie Ferris.

When I did my first speech in the Senate I knew Jeannie and I both had links with New Zealand—her being born in Auckland and me being born in Picton—and I highlighted these links and spoke about my grandfather, a trooper with the Auckland Mounted Rifles who was killed at Chunuk Bair on 8 August 1915. As soon as I finished the speech, Jeannie came over and congratulated me, and said, ‘I don’t care what you are going to do next, but you must come to my office.’ I thought, ‘Why does she want me to come to her office?’ Anyway, I went to her office and I found that on her wall she had the medals of her great uncle, who had actually been with my grandfather. They were killed at the same time, on the same day. So Jeannie and I really did have a link.

From then on her encouragement and determination that I should pursue the issues that I held very dear were wonderful. I mentioned those issues in my first speech. Just before I took my place in the Senate we had our federal council meeting in Canberra, and the two issues I wanted to speak about were the Patient Assisted Travel Scheme and breast cancer. Jeannie was right behind me on them. She pushed and pushed me and said, ‘You’ve got to keep going with these things.’ I have actually done that, and it was a great thrill to finally get a Senate inquiry into the Patient Assisted Travel Scheme. A bit like Senator Humphries, I said to her, ‘Now I’d like to be on this committee and that committee.’ The Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee did not have a vacancy and she said, ‘Your background is in health and ageing, you must go onto that committee.’ So having found myself now on that rural committee in place of Jeannie, I will certainly be doing my best to do what she would have liked.

Following Senator Patterson’s shopping expedition around Sydney, that afternoon we were going on the Australian Defence Force Parliamentary Program. Jeannie invited me to accompany her and Louise Markus on this trip. Spending that time with her was just incredible. It was when she really started to feel bad. Thinking about our trip around Sydney Harbour in an RHIB, which is a rigid-hulled inflatable boat, I can still see her climbing down the ladder to get into the boat, and now I know just how sick she was on that day. She was determined not to ruin our trip. As we went on, we had a few little problems and she realised that she had to go back to South Australia. I would like to pay tribute to Captain Pete Leavy and Lieutenant Commander Sam Jackman for the work that they did. The way she was looked after was absolutely brilliant. We know the story from then on. Jeannie was determined to get over it. We had lots of talks. With my nursing background, she would say to me: ‘Where’s this going? What’s going on?’ It was so great that we could sit down and do that. On the last night, when she came back to respond to the recommendations of the gynaecological report, it was lovely to be able to sit and talk to her about things. One thing that she said then was: ‘Don’t give up on the wheat.’ I am certainly still moving on the wheat debate. That was Jeannie’s love. She wanted it fixed and somehow, between us, we have to fix it. I do not know how we are going to do it, but we will.

For Senate inquiries, I am on the Community Affairs Committee. Jeannie was just so good. She was not on the committee, as people have said, but, by gee, she was right behind us. It did not matter what we did or discussed; she was there and got the women in this place to work together collectively to achieve things for other women. She has done that. I hope that the cancer centre which has come to fruition is named after her because no-one else could get the impetus for that. We were all behind her, but she drove it. For her to get Senator Patterson to do her work for her when she went to America to make a speech was Jeannie all over.

The worst part for me was probably the fact that I was en route to the Middle East on the Australian Defence Force Parliamentary Program and could not go to her memorial service. As I sat in the RHIB in the middle of the Persian Gulf one day when it broke down and we waited for the ship to come back and get us, I thought, ‘Jeannie would have loved to be here.’ I will always remember her for just how much she was prepared to help us all. Most of it has been said, so I will not go on. I did not know her other staff as well, but Robyn and Bronte really protected her to the end. They were just so good. To Robbie and Jeremy, and Jeannie’s extended family: we are all here for you.