Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Community Services) Share this | Hansard source

He is lurking. The Hon. Paul Calvert, President of the Senate, has left his seat after 20 years of serving Tasmania, the place he has always been so proud to represent. Even in my short time here, he has regaled me with plenty of stories—in fact, it was often in the company of him undertaking the very hard work that he does in the Senate that has been spoken of so fondly by Senator Evans. Tasmania is not a place that many of us from Northern Australia get to visit, and one of the great things about the collegiate nature of this place is that we are able to visit communities in a way through the stories we share and relationships we have with other representatives in this place.

I was very surprised to learn that Senator Calvert was born in 1940 in Hobart, Tasmania. He tells me his youthful looks and good health are down to a Boags beer every now and again and a number of the other fine products of Tasmania. When I first got here I told him I was as an orchardist in the Northern Territory. He told me that before he came to politics he was an orchardist. Making your living on the land, Senator Calvert, firstly on your father’s orchards and moving on to purchase your own property, gave you the fundamentals for your ethics and hard work. I am not only talking about the hard work in terms of being the last to leave but also of ensuring that your wider congregation of the Senate was so well served. You purchased your own property with Jill and you had four children and you now have three grandchildren that you are obviously deeply devoted to—