Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I rise on behalf of the coalition to support the motion moved by Senator Faulkner. We also extend our very sincere sympathies to all the family of Frank Crean—especially Simon Crean—upon his sad passing yesterday. I did not know Frank Crean personally but I observed him firsthand in the old parliament during the years of the remarkable Whitlam government, when I worked as a casual waiter while I was studying at the ANU. I was able to observe at firsthand all the goings-on of the Whitlam government and its ministers, including Frank Crean. He was the Labor Party Treasurer while I was studying for my economics degree at the ANU, and I took a keen academic and professional interest in his activities at that time. It seemed to me way back then that he was one of the few sane people in that Whitlam government. From where I sat, he seemed to be an island of common sense in the Mad Hatter’s tea party that represented that government. I observed at that time that he was one of the few Whitlam ministers who seemed to know exactly what he was talking about and one of the great strengths of that very exciting government.

The obituary in the Australian today, which I think is a very good one, notes ‘Frank Crean’s diligence and fiscal competence, rare in the Labor Party’. That was a rare trait in the Whitlam government but one that he certainly had. That obituary also notes Frank Crean’s later recollection of his time as Treasurer. It quotes him as saying:

I had 23 ministers who each reckoned he could spend as much as the total budget was.

That shows that his task as Treasurer during that period must have been quite overwhelming and, frankly, appalling. The pent-up spending ambitions of all those Labor ministers, after that incredible and obviously painful 23 years in opposition, all came to the fore at a time when, as Senator Faulkner has observed, the world collapsed around them. I wonder if history is repeating itself.

Despite having been our government’s Minister for Finance and Administration for six years, and having fought back the spending ambitions of coalition ministers throughout that time, I cannot even begin to imagine what Frank Crean had to put up with as Labor Treasurer in the Whitlam government after those 23 years of frustration that they had to bear. I know Gough personally and well, as we are both old boys of Knox Grammar School, in Sydney, and we bump into each other. I enjoy Gough’s company very much, but I can imagine, knowing Gough, how frustrated he would have got at the dour Frank Crean saying, ‘No, you can’t spend the money, Gough.’ I guess that was one of the factors that led Gough to make the biggest mistake that he made in his time in government, and that was to replace Frank Crean with the hapless Jim Cairns. History shows that that was a complete disaster.

The obituary in the Australian today, to which I referred earlier, records that Frank Crean believed that the events leading up to the dismissal of the Whitlam government would not have occurred if he had remained Treasurer. I suspect that Frank Crean may well have been right. If he had remained Treasurer, all the events surrounding Jim Cairns and Khemlani et cetera would not have happened and the Whitlam government might not have ended up being dismissed as it was. It is certainly true that the government would not have had what turned out to be a disastrous economic record if Frank had remained Treasurer and had been able to have more influence on that government. In that sense, I think he was a great man, ill-served by the times and the circumstances.

It was Frank Crean’s enormous misfortune to serve 23 of his 26 years in this parliament—nearly a quarter of a century—in opposition. It says much for his diligence, persistence and tenacity that he hung in there for that length of time. He was then, on the one hand, rewarded with the opportunity to serve in government but, on the other hand, was part of what ended up being a political tragedy, with him being an observer of the dismissal of the government and thinking, ‘If only Gough hadn’t made that mistake, none of this would have happened.’

Frank Crean is one of the great but unsung heroes, I think, of postwar politics. I endorse everything that Senator Faulkner has so eloquently said about Frank Crean’s life and career. It was a remarkable one. Again, as that obituary today notes:

What he lacked in charisma he made up for in quiet principle.

I say amen to that. I think it is a great pity that in Australian politics there is insufficient premium paid to the virtue of quiet principle, as opposed to the elusive concept of charisma which so fascinates our media. Frank Crean was one of those giants of men whose great virtues go unsung in the more modern political era. I think up-and-coming young aspiring politicians should take great note of that. They should aspire to pursue that and to follow his example. I certainly believe that Australian politics could do with more people like Frank Crean, who was clearly a diligent, hardworking, honourable servant of his party and his nation.

On behalf of the opposition, I extend our sympathies to Frank’s wife, Mary—they were married for 62 years, which is remarkable—and particularly to his son Simon Crean. While Frank was 92 and had a fantastic innings, no doubt it is a very difficult time for Simon and David and their families. I gather Frank has six grandchildren, all of whom will no doubt miss him very much. We place on record our appreciation of Frank Crean’s long and exemplary public service and we tender our profound sympathy to his family in their bereavement.