Bob Brown (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I begin by saying that I do not quite see things the same way as Senator Minchin does. We have had some delightful contributions here, and I want to follow on from those. He said, amongst other things, that the Democrats have had no influence in this place in the last four years. Let me say to each and every one of them: I disagree. I think you have been a most powerful force in this place for compassion, for humanity, for the planetary environment, for decency, for openness and for honesty in such quantities as every parliament and every debating chamber that influences the passage of nations and humanity needs.

For me, it is one of the great conundrums of the universe that power goes to those who most easily climb up the ladder and can tread on the fingers and faces of other people wanting to get there, and yet we need most of all in politics—never more so than now—compassionate human beings who can see beyond themselves into the future and to the needs of the coming generations, who can draw from the best of our antecedents and who can work selflessly for the planet. I have always gained great inspiration from the Democrats, from the first meeting I went to, when Don Chipp came to Launceston in 1976 or 1977, to that magical moment when he came down the Franklin River in 1982. He was as enthralled by the river as he found himself revolted by the muesli that was dished up at breakfast by his Wilderness Society guides on the river. But he came back here.

Former Senator Colin Mason and colleagues brought into this place the first World Heritage protection legislation, and that was the model taken up by the incoming Hawke government which led to the Franklin effectively being saved. You cannot divorce the campaigns outside parliaments from the politics and from the law, and next Tuesday night we will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the High Court decision which empowered the Hawke government to stop the dam and to protect the wild rivers. That decision, which came from the intellect, the commitment and the legislative innovation of the Democrats in this place, was a source of prosperity and great joy for the hundreds of thousands of visitors who go to the west coast of Tasmania.

We made a few efforts to have the Greens and the Democrats get together at various times. These did not succeed, and yet my view is that we are sibling parties and that we share a great complementarity of viewpoints about the need for a different form of politics, a much more compassionate politics that yet needs strength to go with it. I will never be able to see myself as being divorced from the impact, the inspiration and the encouragement to be involved that those 29 Democrat senators have had on many other Australians besides me in the last 30 years.

After Don Chipp, I think of people like former senator Vicki Bourne. She did prodigious work for Tibet, for legislation to have mining companies overseas held to the same laws as mining corporations here in Australia and for human rights. Of course, Janine Haines may have got, according to one figure I heard here today, only 13 per cent in the lower house vote, but she was the first female leader of a political party in this place and she was a wonderful voice not just for politics but in particular for women in politics right across Australia, wherever we might sit on the political spectrum. My great friend Norm Sanders, who is in Hawaii tonight visiting his daughter, is a Democrat who came out of the Tasmanian parliament and who resigned over the mistreatment of blockaders back in 1982. His departure from politics led to the open door through which I came into politics, and I learnt enormously from the resilience, the wit, the good humour and the enormous humanity of Norm Sanders, who was a senator in this place.

Amongst the achievements of the Democrats beyond the World Heritage legislation are the introduction of an Ozone Protection Bill back in 1988; the first Senate inquiry into greenhouse gas emissions in—wait for it—1989; the opposition to the Australia Card, which they led; the support for compulsory superannuation; the outlawing of tobacco advertising; the register of political donations; being the first political party to formally apologise to the Indigenous people of this country for their stolen generations; and so much in developing the democracy of this Senate and its committee system.

Let me, for a moment, dwell on that. Senator Minchin said, ‘Woe is us because of proportional representation that allows small groups to wield improper power.’ But, no, it does not. The Democrats were, as Senator Minchin said, very responsible in their use of the balance of power, and the Greens intend to be the same. We are entering a Senate in which all entities in this place will be in the balance of power. The Democrats knew that well, they used that power well and they advanced the interests of Australia as a result.

Senator Lyn Allison will, amongst other things, be remembered by me—and I want to commit that the Greens will continue her work—for getting rid of the horror of cluster bombs. She has just said it is a half-good treaty. We want to make it a 100 per cent treaty, and it is her work that this place will build upon in moving towards that outcome. She also said that she regrets she never made it to the big chair in the front. Well, if the Greens’ policy of having an independent chair in this place ever comes to be, hers would be one of the first doors I would be knocking on because of her experience and her fair mindedness. She would have been an excellent President of the Senate.

Senator Andrew Murray spoke very passionately last night about the 500,000 children who experienced institutionalisation or, otherwise, deprivation of the family home circumstance that we all would hope to see every child have. His contribution to this place is something, again, that I will not forget and will be wanting to build upon in the years ahead because there is very much unfinished business there. He has spoken about that passionately a couple of times this week.

Senator Bartlett says he dyed his hair, but he is greyer now and he has stopped doing it along the way. Of course, he has a much more eminent grey topknot than do I. Your sorrow at what happened on Nauru—and you have expressed that a number of times here—and your dogged defence of people who were so cruelly locked up either on Nauru or behind barbed wire, including the children, contributed greatly to the rise of Australian passion against that and the release of numberless people who might be there right now were it not for your work. You went to Nauru, you spoke for those people, you came back to this country and you inspired us all to see that that was ended, and thank goodness this government has done that. It should never happen again.

Senator Natasha Stott Despoja, you spoke about diversity and you have been a remarkable advocate for diversity in our community. You have spoken about that again tonight. I agree with Senator Minchin: you have been an inspiration also in so many areas for Australians, for example in the field of privacy, a very difficult one to tackle in this day, where we have been led to believe that everything we do must be watched just for our own security. You have worked hard for the better representation of women in all walks of life, not just in parliaments. I note that you said that there are fewer males and fewer middle-aged people in the Senate than when you came here. I think that means that I might not qualify on at least one of those scores—it is true! You have been an inspiration, doubtlessly. I have run into that all around the country. You are an inspiration to younger women in particular to take their rightful place, to be in politics, to transform politics and to get better outcomes for the nation.

All of you have been a power for the good in this place, as have the Democrats over the last 30 years. All parties come and go—I think you said that, Senator Murray. That will include the Greens, the Labor Party and the coalition parties. But I doubt if, looking back on history, any of those parties when seen as a complete capsule will be able to say their contribution was more humane, was more consistently good on a rating of bad to good or was more selfless than the Democrats over the last 30 years. They have done this nation and therefore the world a power of good. You can be justly proud of the contribution the Australian Democrats made to this place and to this nation. I salute that. I wish each of you great happiness and great further accomplishments, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart and on behalf of my colleagues for your wonderful contribution.