John Hogg (Queensland, Deputy-President) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, I rise this evening to convey my thanks, through you, to Senator Calvert on his retirement for the warm friendship he has given to me since I was elected five years ago as his Deputy President. At the same time as Paul was elected as President, I became the Deputy President of this place. I have listened to the words before and, in my own mind, I have one word that describes Paul, and that is ‘decent’. Paul has always been a decent person in the way he has treated me, in the way he has treated my staff and in the way he has treated the members of this chamber. I think that is a very important thing, because, in an era when so many people have so little respect for their fellow human beings, Paul has the enduring quality of being able to treat people as people. I think, Paul, that that is an outstanding quality and something that you brought to the chair. I am not saying that it was not exhibited by your forbears, but in your role you have been exemplary in the way you have treated people and the dignity of people. You have respected not only the people of this chamber but also the people of your state.

In my time serving as Paul’s Deputy President, we developed a friendship that did not know political bounds. It was a genuine friendship, a friendship that matured over the years. All I can say is that that friendship will be missed, because we have been good friends. We have had very many private chats which others have not been privy to—and I would not want them to be—but nonetheless we have taken each other into each other’s confidence and we have enjoyed that confidence. I believe that confidence between us has never been broken at any stage. Paul, I have appreciated your unending and untiring support of me. I have never been placed in a position in my five years where I have felt that I was exposed to the forces of good or evil. I have always felt that you were there in your role as President to support me in my role as Deputy President and, for that, I thank you very much indeed. Paul’s support for this chamber, and for me in particular as his deputy, was extended to my staff, through his staff, and of course that was deeply appreciated. Paul, that would not have happened unless you were the person that you are, so I thank you very much indeed.

The other friend I have made out of my friendship with Paul is Paul’s wife, Jill. A very true statement was made by Paul and by others that you are a product of your family in this place. If you do not have the unending support of your family, you will find yourself in all sorts of trauma and difficulties indeed. Jill has obviously been an unending source of support for you, Paul, and I think you are very fortunate. I do not know whether she will say that once you retire, because I have heard the opposite said in that many people, once they move into retirement, find that they become a nuisance rather than a mechanism that needs support. But I am sure that you have a loyal and faithful person in your wife. I have never had the pleasure of meeting your children but I am sure that they have been a support to you, and undoubtedly that is reflected in your attitude to people in this chamber.

Last but not least, I want to wish you well in retirement. I want to wish Jill and your family all the best as well, because, as my good friend Senator Evans has said, you are very lucky indeed. You have chosen the moment of your retirement, unlike so many others in this place. You are able to go without any recriminations, without any fear that you have been pushed or any other general aspersions that are cast on people who leave politics from time to time. You are fortunate, indeed. I am sure you will enjoy your retirement, I am sure you will enjoy the friendship of your family and I hope that you enjoy the wealth that will come out of your grandchildren, because that is something that is precious and something that my kids have not yet got to. Both I and my wife formally extend our thanks to Senator Calvert and his wife for their friendship, because my wife has enjoyed his company as well as Jill’s. All the best for the future.