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

On behalf of the opposition I too want to congratulate Harry Evans on what really is an extraordinary record of service to the Senate and, indeed, to the whole Australian nation. We do thank him for his remarkable contribution to the effective functioning of this chamber during his 21 years as Clerk of the Senate. As has been noted, that record of service makes him the longest serving Clerk in our history, a record that now cannot be beaten. Like Senator Evans I have had the privilege of working with Harry in this chamber for over 16½ years, 11½ of which—blessedly—were in government and now some five years in opposition, so I have experienced the performance of Harry as Clerk from the perspective of both sides of the chamber.

I think the truly distinguishing feature of Harry’s service as Clerk is his fearless championing of the great Australian institution that the Senate truly is. Harry is a very professional, dedicated public servant, but I think he is more than that. He passionately believes in the vital role that this chamber plays in the effective functioning of what is one of the world’s great democracies. He is an ardent advocate of the Senate’s responsibility in ensuring the accountability of the government of the day to the parliament. He is a committed disciple of our founding fathers’ vision for the Senate as the Commonwealth’s house of review and an essential check on what would otherwise be unbridled executive power. Thus I think Harry has, as Senator Evans noted, earned the ire of governments and the affection of oppositions but he has truly earned the respect of all.

I know of no-one who has served in this place during Harry’s tenure who does not have the utmost respect for his professional dedication to the institution of the Senate. Those of us who have served in the executive have felt the frustration of Harry’s commitment to ensuring the Senate is able to go to remarkable lengths to hold the government to account. As the minister responsible for amending the Native Title Act in 1997 and 1998 in what may forever be the two longest debates in Senate history, and for which I was responsible, I found Harry’s advice to the then opposition intensely frustrating and I may have inadvertently displayed my frustration during those very long and tedious debates. May I take this opportunity now to apologise, Harry, for any frustration which I inadvertently displayed for the excellent way in which you were advising Senator Bolkus in the combat in which we were engaged.

What I think Harry most disliked was the idea of the government of the day ever having a majority in this place. I think he sees that as a complete negation of the constitutional purpose of our nation’s upper house. Fortunately, from Harry’s point of view, government majorities in the Senate are rare indeed. Most of us were of the view that when the number of senators was increased from 64 to 76 in 1983 no government would ever again win a majority, and as the then Deputy Federal Director of the Liberal Party I monumentally failed in my task of trying to persuade the National Party not to support that Hawke government proposition because of our fear that the increase would mean that no government, especially us, would ever win a majority again. Mind you, the Hawke government was not motivated by that purpose.

The coalition surprised itself in the 2004 election by winning 39 seats and thus having a majority for the last 2½ years of our government, and I guess that period was the darkest chapter in Harry’s long service as the Clerk. As the Leader of the Government in the Senate for most of that period—a sunny period for us—I genuinely did my utmost to make sure that majority was not abused.