Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Manager of Government Business in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I really did come down to this chamber both to listen and to contribute, because the three senators from the Labor side who are going are three senators who remind me of the following expression. A lot of people use the expression that you can fill a glass with water, put your finger in it and then take it out, and nothing is lost as a consequence, but in this instance it is really like concrete. These people have put a heavy stamp on this place. It is worth me recognising here today the stamp that they put on this place. And it will stay on. I am pleased that the Hansard will be able to record for many years to come what their contributions have been, and they will be able to have that record to go back to. In sitting here and listening to the contributions I know they have been very accurate in encapsulating the qualities of those three senators.

I will deal with Linda first. She has made an enormous contribution to this place through her spoken words and also through some of the background work that she has done. In fact, I learned something new today about the work that she has contributed to this place. It has been a fabulous opportunity for me to work with her as well. She has supported me quite a lot, frankly, and I have relied on her ability in the Senate to help with the committee processes of the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. When I ran out of puff, she was able to take the stick up to the government, when we were in opposition, which was quite valuable for me. In fact, the hard work that she used to do in researching demonstrated her ability not only to sit there in Senate estimates and ask incisive questions but also to do the work behind the scenes, because that is where the real work in Senate estimates is done. You gather and you research so that you can then deal with estimates processes in an excellent way for the opposition, as we then were. Linda is not typical in that; she excelled in being able to deal with that work.

What Linda, George and Ruth have in common is that not only did they share whip and deputy whip work in this chamber but they also kept me—as the Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate in opposition and now the Manager of Government Business in the Senate—on the straight and narrow in this place. They were able to say to me quite often, ‘No, Joseph, you’re wrong; you need to think before you act in some instances.’ They have provided valuable assistance to me over the years, and I cannot let this moment go without indicating my appreciation for their support and work. Without it, quite frankly, this place does not work. Without the assistance of everyone in this place, without their ability to work together, without people who can frankly and openly say, ‘You are right,’ or, ‘You are wrong,’ or, ‘You need to do this’—without that openness, this place would struggle. Linda, George and Ruth really exemplify that work: in the Senate, behind the scenes, in committees and all the way across. Without their contributions, this place would not have worked as effectively both as a house of review and, when we were in opposition, to hold the government to account—and, in fact, on many occasions now that we are in government, to continue to hold the government to account.

If I can say so in respect of George, I do not know whether we agreed on anything, quite frankly.