Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health) Share this | Hansard source

Periodically there is a significant change in the membership of the Senate, and we are seeing that again on 30 June this year with the retirement of 14 senators. There were in fact 15, but former Senator Robert Ray escaped this process and retired a little earlier. I acknowledge his contribution to this place over a significant period of time. I always recall advice from colleagues when I first came into the Howard ministry that if Senator Ray and Senator Faulkner turned up you knew something was going on. They never disappointed me, I have to say. It is at times like this that you tend to reflect on your place here, and I suspect that this process does us all good. It sometimes does not hurt us to sit and reflect on what has been happening over a period of time and where we sit within that.

I would like to pay tribute to all the retiring senators, who have made significant contributions to this place. First, I mention the four Australian Democrat senators: Senators Stott Despoja, Allison, Bartlett and Murray. I have not always agreed with the Democrats’ position on matters before this place—in fact, I think it would be fair to say I have rarely agreed—but I have always appreciated the hard work done by Democrat senators, who have to cover the whole gamut of government policies. I recognise the workload that senators from the minor parties have to put in to be across the legislation that comes before this parliament. I have often reflected on how I might manage in that particular position. I would particularly like to mention Senator Andrew Murray, who has made a tremendously substantial contribution to the Senate, particularly in the area of financial management and transparency. Andrew is also a gentleman senator, and many of us will sorely miss him from this place.

I also acknowledge the contribution of the retiring Labor senators: Senators George Campbell, Linda Kirk and Ruth Webber. I have not specifically had a lot to do with all of them in this place—although I have enjoyed cordial relations with them—although I do remember accompanying Ruth to Japan on an Australian Political Exchange Council delegation in 1994, before either of us were in this place. I particularly remember a sandwich lunch that we shared at the speaker’s residence. I think we will both always remember the images of each other’s faces across the table that day after a fairly big night out the night before. Neither of us was all that well.

I also note that Senator Kerry Nettle will not be returning after the winter recess. It is one of the vagaries of this place that a Senate quota makes elections somewhat hit and miss for minor parties. I wish Senator Nettle all the best in whatever she decides to do post her career in this place.

Of my own colleagues, I am sad to see the retirements of Senators Grant Chapman, Rod Kemp, Sandy Macdonald, Kay Patterson, Ross Lightfoot and my Tasmanian colleague John Watson. It has been a privilege to be a colleague of each of these senators.

Grant Chapman has given service to both the House and the Senate for almost 30 years and has made a significant contribution, particularly in the field of corporations law reform. It is not a sexy area of public administration, but I know that Senator Chapman’s contribution is well regarded by many in the corporate world. I also note his contribution to parliamentary sport, particularly his love of parliamentary cricket. While he did not get to play test cricket for Australia, I do note that he did captain the Australian parliamentary cricket team against the old enemy on two occasions and has come out of that process with an unblemished record. I am sure there are plenty of other Australian captains who would like to see that.

Rod Kemp will be greatly missed. He is a senator who combines being a good tactician with someone who takes the long view of parliamentary democracy, as was clear when he edited that wonderful collection of major parliamentary speeches, Speaking for Australia. He also faced up to constant barrages from the other side during the GST debates—as we have heard so many times here in the chamber this evening—in the late 1990s when he was Assistant Treasurer. Like most good batsmen he always held the line and never gave away his wicket. In fact, I think he could almost be said to be the ultimate dead bat. Like Senator Abetz, I remember very fondly what would have been one of the most entertaining book launches I have ever seen, when Rod made an impromptu launch of a booklet prepared by Senator Abetz for distribution in Tasmania. I am very disappointed that he did not get to fulfil his threat to complete a follow-up performance on another one of my colleagues’ publications.

Senator Sandy Macdonald is someone who has been, from my perspective, a quiet achiever. I did appreciate greatly the work that I did interacting with Sandy when he was in the defence portfolio and I was Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance with responsibility for administering the Lands Acquisition (Defence) Act. Given the amount of land that Defence had around the country, our portfolios quite often interacted. He always made a thoughtful contribution, particularly in the areas of trade, international security and defence. He is a senator whom I have always respected.

Senator Kay Patterson is retiring after 21 years in this place. Kay has always brought a business-like but extraordinarily compassionate voice to debate in the Senate, particularly in regard to the care of the elderly, as befits her pre-Senate career. Her time as the Minister for Health and Ageing will be remembered for the improvements in federal assistance to carers of those who are permanently ill or profoundly disabled. I do not think anyone could ask for a better legacy than that. And I always value and recall the careful and watching eye that Senator Patterson kept over us all.

Ross Lightfoot came here after serving in both houses of the Western Australian parliament, but his career is much wider and much more colourful than that, having been, amongst other things, a farmer, a mounted policeman, a mine developer and a CMF soldier. Ross brings some Old World courtesies to this place. The Senate has been the better for him being here. He has made a great contribution, especially in regard to the development of Canberra and the external territories during his chairmanship of the Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories. I wish him good fortune as he returns to the west.

Finally, I turn to my longstanding friend and Tasmanian colleague, the father of the Senate, John Watson. John leaves this place after being first elected in December 1977 and seeing 11 subsequent elections. John has been the epitome of putting his role as a parliamentarian before that of being a politician. I think that is a very rare trait to see. No-one in this place has a greater knowledge of the complexities of taxation and superannuation legislation, and John has gained and held the respect of all his colleagues in this sphere. In fact, I am not too sure that I have seen anyone else get as excited over superannuation and taxation as he did at various meetings that I have attended. It is also obvious that, in the many hearings of the Public Accounts and Audit Committee and the Select Committee on Superannuation, the senior officers of the Australian Taxation Office, the Department of the Treasury and the finance department all respected John’s expertise and sincerity. It is a tribute to John that he was elected chairman of a select committee in 1993 even though in opposition at a time. That was a very rare occurrence, but the Democrats and the other crossbench senators shared the coalition’s view that he was the best man for the job. John was also given a meritorious award by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia for his long contribution to the profession, and he was elected patron of the Canberra branch of the Institute of Internal Auditors.

There is a very nice story about John’s terrier-like pursuit of potentially bad taxation law. During the time of the Hawke government, the then Minister for Finance, Senator Peter Walsh, was taking a complex tax bill through the Senate. During the committee stage, Senator Watson alerted the minister to a possible bad consequence if a particular clause was not amended. The officers in the adviser’s box assured the minister that all was okay. Senator Watson persisted. Again the minister sought advice and again the officers said all was fine with the clause. Senator Walsh then paused and said something along the lines of, ‘If Senator Watson thinks there is a problem, then there probably is a problem,’ and so he moved that the debate be adjourned. On closer examination ‘Watto’ was found to be quite correct!

But John has not been a one-dimensional senator. He has made significant contributions on education, and, as we have heard, on agriculture, on social policy and on trade. John was, before coming to the Senate, as he mentioned in his own speech, managing director of a very significant Australian company. That is not a common background for a member of this parliament. When that company, Kelsall and Kemp, had to close following the Whitlam government’s changes to the tariff regime, John spent months and months securing employment for many ex-Kelsall and Kemp employees. I know that there are many, many families in Launceston who will never forget what he did.

John has been a loyal servant of the Liberal Party in Tasmania. He provided important representation for the north-west coast when he personally funded an office in Devonport during a time when there was no Liberal representative in the region. Anyone who knows Tasmania knows the importance of the whole state having representation by both parties. John deserves enormous credit for that; I also know that he earned the respect and thanks of the people of the north-west coast of Tasmania.

John also has a particular capacity to work at the grass roots and support the Liberal Party and its membership. To demonstrate how closely John has continued to work right up until his retirement, as we have heard here today, at the Liberal Launceston Women’s Group annual function last December, John turned up with a rosebud for every lady at the function. You can guess who was king of the castle that particular day, but it also demonstrates how John worked closely with the organisation. It probably also demonstrates why he has been so successful over so many years and, despite the fact that he had been written off at so many preselections, continued to win through and serve such a distinguished career here in the Senate.

John has never worn his Christian principles on his sleeve, but he has lived by them in his daily life. We have heard a bit about that tonight. It is not necessarily something that I was fully aware of, even though I know him quite well. He has been ably supported throughout his career by Jocelyn, his wife. Jocelyn retired only last month after her own long and distinguished career as a leading pharmacist in Launceston. Both Gaylene and I join in wishing them both a long life and happiness in the opportunities that retirement will bring.