Ron Boswell (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Hon. John Norman Button was a senator in this place from 1974 to 1993. I rise to pay my respects to his life and to express my condolences to his family on behalf of the National Party. I admired John Button tremendously, as a political foe, as an Australian and as a friend and colleague. I read his book, John Button: As It Happened, and appreciated and learnt from it.

I do not recall John Button ever being bested in question time when he was a minister. I recall one particular instance when Bronwyn Bishop, who was very combative, decided to take Senator Button on. She asked a question, and then added, ‘Senator Button, I don’t want you to tap-dance around this one.’ I can recall that his response was: ‘Well, Senator Bishop, if I had to tap-dance I wouldn’t have to dance with you.’ That was off the cuff, spontaneous—it was one of the responses he could come up with. He was generally completely across his portfolio and the machinations of the Labor Party, whose faithful servant he was all his life.

John Button was a rare individual in that he could keep the pressure of politics and government in perspective thanks to a sense of humour and of personal humility. I will never forget the private support he gave me during a difficult time in my family life. We both lost sons. I attended his state funeral out of respect for a man who came into this place for the right reasons and stuck loyally to his motivations. It takes courage and strength to avoid being distracted by the trappings of power and fiefdoms. Australia is a better place because John Button entered this place, and you cannot say better than that of any senator.

He was one of the characters of the Hawke and Keating governments, given to more candour than most senior government figures. He was confident and droll. He was a great performer in the Senate. John Button was Labor from head to toe, but he held no illusions or delusions about the party, politics or politicians. He was dedicated to Labor Party reform. As the Leader of the Government in the Senate from 1983 to 1993, he earned the respect of this place as few ever have. Add the three years he spent as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate from 1980 to 1983 and you have a personality who ran the Labor side of this house for 13 years—an achievement that will be very hard for anyone to ever repeat.

Much has been written about him since his passing by many groups from different fields, from sports to politics to academia. From this you know you have been privileged to play on the same field as him, even if on a different side. But, after all, we are all playing for the Australian team in the end. There are several quotes which show better than anything the quintessential character of this man. Of Gough Whitlam, John Button once wrote:

I admired Gough Whitlam, but not as much as he did. I didn’t believe that anybody had all the answers. I was a doubter. But I had a few hopes. I thought politics could at least make a difference in the margins of people’s lives.

And so it can, but John Button was being modest, for his contributions were more than just at the margins. John Norman Button was the centre page in modernising the Australian economy and the Labor Party. In an interview with the Melbourne Herald in 1988, John Button said: ‘I’ve never had any high expectation in life and I have a capacity for suffering.’ In the end, John Button greatly exceeded his expectations of himself. That was perhaps due to his capacity for suffering, which was called upon regularly throughout his life.

When John Button resigned from the Senate, he did it at his press conference and never had an opportunity to give the traditional valedictory speech in the Senate, but he did use the press conference to reflect on farewells. The year John Button resigned, there was also the valedictory of Senator Florence Bjelke-Petersen. I know that former Senator Button and former Senator Florence Bjelke-Petersen had a very great soft spot for each other. They would regularly chat across the chamber. I know that Florence would want very much to be associated with this valedictory for John Button.

So farewell to John Norman Button. If there were a short list of the greatest senators, he would be on it.