Chris Ellison (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Madam Acting Deputy President. Listening tonight to the comments of other senators, I do not think this valedictory is about me at all; it is about someone else, some mythical person, definitely not me. But I thank you for your very kind comments. Looking at the time that has been taken, as a former manager of business—and Senator Ludwig will know what I am talking about—I think we have averaged about six minutes per speech, which was a little bit more than I had expected, but we had three incorporations which brought it down somewhat, so that is good. But I do not want to take too much of the Senate’s time, which is very valuable. We have some very important work to do, so I will not delay it.

It was former Senator Patterson who said that your maiden speech and your valedictory speech are like bookends of your time in this place. At a time such as this, you reflect on the time in between those bookends and look back at the support and cooperation that you have received from people along the way. I have had a fortunate political life in my time here, and this has been in no small measure due to the people who have helped me. After more than 15 years in the Senate, my decision to leave has been made on the basis that I want to spend more time with my young family—and I thank you all for the very kind comments you have made in relation to Caroline, my wife, and my three children.

I have been proud to represent the state of Western Australia. It has been a great honour, and I thank the people of Western Australia for placing their trust in me. I hope I have fulfilled that trust and done what they expected of me. I also want to thank the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party placed great trust in me and selected me to be its representative. I want to thank all those volunteers who have worked tirelessly in the Liberal Party over the years for their support. I hope too that I have met that trust they placed in me.

I have enjoyed myself immensely whilst in the Senate. Some previous speakers have touched on some of the more social moments, and I will deal with those in a moment, but I would like to just mention the staff who help us so much as senators. I thank the chamber staff and the staff of the Senate, who share the long sitting hours that we have seen over the years; the clerks, for the invaluable advice that they have given me, especially as Manager of Government Business and Manager of Opposition Business; the security staff, who keep this place so safe and secure; and Comcar, who provide us with such a professional service, which makes our job just a little easier.

I want to acknowledge in particular the service of Anne Lynch, our former Deputy Clerk of the Senate. I want to let Anne know that we are all thinking of her as she faces the challenges ahead of her. She was a great source of assistance and inspiration to me in my early years here and I am thinking of her during this time.

Of course, I am not the only one leaving the Senate this week. There is someone else, who has had much longer service than I have, and I refer to the Black Rod, Andrea Griffiths, who leaves after in excess of 26 years of distinguished service. We wish Andrea well in her future endeavours and thank her for her outstanding service to the parliament.

To my friends I say thank you. There is an old saying, and it was put to me when I first came here: no greater love had he than he laid down his friends for his political life. I hope I have not done that. To my friends who have stood by me for all those years and supported me: if I have not kept in touch as much as I should have I apologise. I value their friendship. It has always been good to go back to Perth and get a dose of reality. One of my old friends gives me ‘the hot news flash’. The ‘hot news flash’, when we were in government, was that we were stuffing it up. Starting at point 1, he said: ‘There’s too much taxation. You’re stuffing it up. You’re not doing a good enough job.’ It is friends like that that you need in this life because they keep you on terra firma, and I thank them for that.

To my colleagues I say thank you for your support and friendship. Over the years I have been very lucky to have worked with some outstanding people: Robert Hill, Richard Alston and in particular former West Australian colleagues and friends in Ian Campbell and Sue Knowles. It has been a great privilege to serve with the coalition leadership in Nick Minchin, who is an outstanding leader of the coalition in the Senate. Thank you very much, Nick. To Eric Abetz, who goes back a long way with me: Eric, it has been good to have been in the trenches with you because you have always been a good man in a tight spot. To our whip, Stephen Parry: I am not so sure that policing would suit me. I used to always be on the other side of the bar table, if you could put it that way, putting the prosecution to its proof. But nonetheless I came to respect the police services immensely while being their minister. Stephen, it has been great to have worked with you as whip. I think you have carried on that tradition fantastically in the footsteps of Jeannie Ferris, who we still miss and who did such a great job as whip. As Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate Helen Coonan is doing a great job, in addition to so many other roles, and I know how demanding that must be.

It is obligatory to turn to the comments that have been made by one’s colleagues. The vast majority of those comments have been much too generous. I start with the opposition’s. I agree with Senator Evans in that I have been a very lucky person. Timing is a lot in politics and I have enjoyed the fruits of that timing. I have been a minister for 10½ years, and that is roughly 10 per cent of the political life of this country. As I said, I have had a very politically fortunate life. I think that was more by luck than by design. Senator Evans mentioned our days at university. I remember the commitment and passion that he had for Labor politics, and I respect that.

There is an issue which I still champion: voluntary student unionism. We are to face this issue yet again on the question of voluntary association. It is amazing that it was 1977 when we first raised it at the University of Western Australia Liberal Club. Here we are in 2008 and we are still carrying on the fight, and I am very pleased to be in it. I look around and see many fellow warriors who have been championing that fight over the years. It was Senator Evans who reminded me of those student politics days. It was great fun indeed. Little did I think, though, that that issue would carry on for so long.

To Senator Ludwig: Joe, and this is said in a personal sense, the government is lucky to have you as the Manager of Government Business in the Senate. You are a straight shooter and a competent and decent person to deal with, and you certainly value process. That is, I think, very important in the Senate. It is an area of assurance, when you are dealing with the management of business, that you can take people at their word, and I always could take Joe Ludwig at his word—and I think you cannot say much more about a person than that. Joe, I have enjoyed that relationship, and I certainly wish you well in that role—although for not too long a time in that role, as you would appreciate.

Some mentioned my role in the Western Australian Liberal Party. The Liberal Party has been a passion for me. It is really what enables you to make a difference and to come to this place. As for those people who do not believe in the party system, I say this to them: if there were no party system in this country, if you left the vote to be free and if you left it so there were an indiscriminate vote on each occasion, you would have chaos. It is the party system which brings discipline to the parliament and gives certainty to the people of Australia. Whether it be Labor in power or the coalition in power, Australia at least has that certainty. The Senate is finely balanced, and I do acknowledge the crossbenchers—and I see Senator Fielding here tonight. They have an important part to play. I will touch on that in a moment because Senator Minchin raised a very good point on that aspect of the fine balance in the Senate. But, in relation to the Liberal Party, whenever we went out to sign people up it was to increase our membership, to make it all more broadly based and to have that community base. For any of those who would impute other motives—and I see Don Randall, the member for Canning, grinning broadly—he is one who would aspire to and subscribe to that notion of broad community involvement. Such is the stuff of political parties.

Other comments were made about the times that we have shared socially. Macca, Rono and Fergie—Sprat, as we used to call him—and a few others mentioned those. I think it is important that in this place you take the job seriously but not yourself. That was said to me once by a wise old man, and I think he was dead right. It can be fun or it can be very lonely and disconsolate. This is a job where you should not take yourself seriously. You need that enthusiasm and you need that passion but at the same time, like all things in life, you should have some fun. That adds a dimension to it which I think adds to your contribution to this place. That passion enabled us to have those late nights, as Macca described, and those political arguments that went on were fuelled by a political conviction—and nothing else, I might add. I say that, of course, tongue in cheek.

There are people who have helped us along the way. I have been very lucky to have had some extremely good staff. Mathias Cormann mentioned Marilyn Benkovic, who was my PA for 15 years. Sadly, we lost Marilyn to breast cancer just a few months ago. We miss her greatly. I could not have asked for more loyalty or service from anyone, and I surely did not deserve it. Lisa Yarwood has been a member of my staff for 12 years, and I have often questioned her sanity in lasting so long. But Lisa has been outstanding and I thank Lisa for the great work she has done. I thank all those staff members that I have had over the years.

Mathias mentioned those who have gone on to political life. It is a very high calling to serve your country, your state or your territory as an elected member of parliament. It is a source of great pride that I have six former staff members who have gone into political life—all on the Liberal side of course. There are two ministers in the state government of Western Australia, one upper house member, a senator, a member of the House of Representatives and also a member of the Brisbane City Council. I take immense pride in that, and they are all doing very well. I wish them every success in their political endeavours and I will follow their careers closely and with great affection.

Mr President, can I thank you for your contribution in your role, and I acknowledge the work you and your predecessor, Senator Ferguson, have done in guiding the Senate. It is fair to say that in both of you the Senate has a solid team at the helm.

Of course, you cannot do this job without the love and support of your family. Here today in the gallery are my wife, Caroline, and our three young children, Nicholas, Siena and Sebastian. I thank you for your love and support and I could not have done this job without you.

There are some unusual aspects to political life and politics. In a more security-conscious role I had some years ago, we had Australian Federal Police patrols go past our house. My son Nicholas told his year 1 teacher that his dad received frequent visits from the police. Needless to say, Caroline and I moved very quickly to stop that story before it grew legs. But you get that in political life with young children. Of course, there your family life and the life you have here are parallel. During the time I have been here, I have seen both my parents pass away, and my wife and I have had three children.

Coming from Western Australia, I will not miss the travel—and I will not pretend to. It was a part of the job that I was not very keen on. Looking around the chamber, I see that my Western Australian colleagues from both the House of Representatives and the Senate are here. I say to them that the travel from Western Australia is a great demand that not many people know about.

When I made the announcement that I was going to leave politics, I said that a lot of people overlook the contribution made by members of parliament. I want to say that again. Across the board, I have seen fantastic work done by members of parliament and senators of all political persuasions. I want to put that on the record because I think that those listening in the broader community should realise the commitment that I have seen from members of parliament and senators. Of course, they spend many hours away from loved ones, and I think that needs to be remembered.

In relation to the Senate, I have said it is important that the Senate have a role of scrutiny in relation to the government of the day. Former Labor Senator Barney Cooney reminded me the other night of Edmund Burke’s comment, ‘Bad laws lead to tyranny.’ I hope that, as minister for justice, when I formulated the guidelines for the framing of criminal and civil Commonwealth penalties and offences, I contributed in some small way to the improvement of the laws passed in this place.

The Senate does offer the Australian people important scrutiny. To this end, the committee system, I think, is essential. I have enjoyed my time working on committees such as the Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills and the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. I certainly valued the time when I chaired the inquiry into the treaty-making power that led to the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties and in fact changed the whole process of treaty making in this country and made it more transparent.

As a minister, I have received the support and advice of a Public Service who are too often overlooked and too often not noticed for the great work that they do in the service of their country. Whether it be Centrelink during times of emergency, Medicare providing valuable services to the people of Australia or the AFP and Customs keeping Australia safe and secure, I have seen outstanding work. It is great to see that work ongoing, and Tom Anderson from the Customs Service is here today in the chamber as a testament to that.

It has been mentioned that I oversaw the referendum on the republic, which was an interesting experience. As minister for schools, I saw us embark on literacy and numeracy testing and I saw the Simpson Prize, which I am very fond of. It is a national essay competition amongst high school students across Australia which keeps alive the spirit of ANZAC. Since 1998 we have seen schoolchildren go to Gallipoli on Anzac Day to represent their country and their state, and I have been very pleased to see that the government is continuing that.

As Australia’s longest serving minister for justice, it has been a great privilege to work with the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Customs Service. Mick Keelty has done an outstanding job as the Australian Federal Police Commissioner, and together we oversaw what many regard as the greatest period of change in the AFP’s history. It was not just the emergence of counterterrorism and 9-11; we saw a variety of other threats and challenges such as cybercrime, predators on the internet—the AFP is now a world leader in that regard—and the enhancement of AFP’s international network overseas.

There was also our engagement in South-East Asia and Operation Alliance, which saw Indonesia and Australia break international policing conventions by forming a joint investigation into the Bali bombing. Indeed, it was incredible to have been part of that. The subsequent partnership between Australia and Indonesia, with the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation, has been an outstanding success in the fight against terrorism, and we have seen a lot of other countries join that.

There are also the AFP’s operations in East Timor, Papua New Guinea and the Solomons. We remember as we approach Christmas the personnel who will not be home for Christmas and who are carrying on a great job not only in the interests of Australia but in the interests of the region. Throughout all this, the war on drugs is continuing. It is important that we remember the great work that Mick Keelty and the Australian Federal Police do in their service to Australia.

Of course I also saw the transition of the National Crime Authority to the Australian Crime Commission, and I think that was a step forward in the fight against crime. I think that Alistair Milroy has done a great job. He will be retiring shortly and I wish him well.

The Australian Customs Service is our foremost border control service and I think it is a world leader. We have seen precedent and measures taken in relation to protecting this island continent. It is essential that we continue to do that and it is essential that we resource both Navy and Customs. While Senator Ludwig is in the chamber, I might just remind him of the coastguard policy. There is no need for a coastguard—we have a Border Protection Command and I think they do a fantastic job for Australia—and I am sure that is a policy that the government will abandon in due course, and I will await that.

At this point I want to acknowledge Philip Ruddock, who is in the chamber, who did such a great job as minister for immigration in the Howard government.

We face challenging times. We see the changing nature of the Australian family and the threat to Australian family life. We must give absolute priority to the protection of the family unit being the basic building block of our society. If we ignore that, we ignore it at our peril. It is essential that we maintain that as a priority.

I mentioned that you needed conviction of belief to do this job. One thing we must remember is that we all come here to do an important job and we do it in the belief that what we are doing is right for Australia. That is a feature of our great democracy. But on the subject of those convictions and beliefs I remember St Augustine’s admonition:

Compromise on the incidentals but never on the essentials.

That is not a bad rule to adopt in life.

We also have trying times in relation to the current financial situation. That will require work across the chamber and together in the parliament to overcome. But we have seen all this before. At the time that I gave my maiden speech we had unemployment of around 11 per cent. We had just gone through a recession, which was supposedly the darkest financial time since the Great Depression. We also had SARS and the Asian downturn and the dot com bubble had burst. These things come and go and they come to try to test us. But we have a lot of ability in this country; we have been left with a strong economy by the former government, we have a strong will in the parliament and we have the expertise to get us through it. We as a parliament have to lead the Australian nation through it with confidence and inspire the community with the confidence to get through it. We have too many doomsayers out there saying that all will be lost, we will be financially ruined and there is no hope. If you maintain that, there will be no hope. I say that there is; it will be hard work and it will require all of us to do that.

I say to you all that it is very sad to be leaving, but I look forward to spending more time with my family. The coalition is in great form. I look around and I see immense talent in the Senate. And Malcolm Turnbull and other members of the House of Representatives have joined us here tonight—my Western Australian colleagues. I thank those Western Australian colleagues for their support. I know that the coalition is going to go on to great things. It has immense talent, and you should not for one minute doubt the talent that you have. We have great policies to take to the Australian people, and you will do that very successfully.

I wish you all well. As we approach Christmas I wish you and your families a great Christmas, a great New Year, a safe holiday and a happy time ahead. Keep up the good work. Maintain that conviction that you all have and that commitment to work for Australia. As Senator Boswell said when he quoted from my first speech, we do need to vouchsafe that blessing each morning so that we will carry out what is good for the interests and welfare of this country. I thank the Senate.