Steve Hutchins (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is indeed a pleasure tonight to be able to say some words about my departing colleagues. I probably should get in quickly, because I know they will have a chance next week to square up. Of the three, clearly I have known Michael Forshaw the longest, and I want to leave Michael to the end of my comments.

Senator Wortley is someone I first met when she came to Canberra. As Senator Forshaw mentioned, in the right-wing Labor Senate caucus we used to dine each Tuesday night at a place called the Hoggerama, and that is how we got to meet and get to know Senator Wortley. Senator Wortley was christened 'Dixie' by a number of colleagues. One of the great attributes of Dixie is that she is still as passionate as she was when she made her first speech—as Senator Abetz mentioned—about public broadcasting and journalism. She was still that passionate today when she made her valedictory. It has been great to watch her and to listen to and learn from her in that area.

My colleague Senator O'Brien and I were in Young Labor together in New South Wales, along with Senator Faulkner and a few other people that are still around. In those days in Young Labor their group used to win in the Statewide; Michael's and my group have run it, I think, for the last 15 years or something like that. It was a good training ground, and Kerry was his usual dogged self even back in those days; Kerry would never let a bone go even when he was about 18 or 19, and he still does not now at his ripe old age. As he said, we have coloured our hair together. I got to know Kerry again when I came to Canberra. In that period, I knew him as a whip, a shadow minister and an ordinary colleague in the Senate. He has been of great assistance to me. He has a lot of common sense. In our last estimates hearings, a number of department heads and people from the public sector and private industry privately and publicly bent over themselves to make a compliment to Kerry about his contribution to public policy in those areas that he has acquired a passion for. We will miss him here in the Senate.

I will talk about my old mate Michael Forshaw. When we were talking about our departing speech, as I recall, Michael—as he said, we went to school together, but he was a few forms ahead of me—said we should give it in Latin, which we all had to learn. It was a relief to me tonight, when Michael got up and spoke English, that I would not have to go through and translate my contribution next week.

Michael rightly said that, when we were first active in the late sixties and early seventies, our area of Sydney was heavily controlled by the Left. In fact, the Sutherland Shire was then called the Red Belt. The leading acolyte for the Left in that area was one Arthur Gietzelt, who became a senator here and also a minister in the Hawke government. Arthur still lives in the Sutherland Shire, and I may make a contribution about Arthur next week, which might be interesting. As Michael said, Michael led the charge to take Young Labor over from the Left. I and my friends John Della Bosca and Michael Lee took it over from Michael and Jan, his wife, and it was taken over from us by a fellow called Tony Iffland, who is up in the gallery this evening.

One thing Michael did not mention was his contribution to the election of Labor in 1972 and to us holding the seat in 1974. I was talking to my old mate Michael Lee this evening, and he reminded me of a story Michael Egan told about Michael Forshaw running around very actively in those 1972 and 1974 elections. We won the seat of Cook in 1972 and we held it in 1974, when Gough Whitlam held power by only five seats—and we will not talk about 1975. We have not held the seat of Cook since 1975, and it is a tribute to the influence of Michael Forshaw and his family in the area that we were even able to hold the seat for that period. Michael Forshaw and in particular his father were very close to Gough Whitlam. Michael's father passed away last year. Mr Whitlam could not attend the funeral, but he did send his condolences.

Michael became the general secretary of the AWU. We used to deal with each other as senior union officials. When Graham Richardson decided to retire, Michael was put forward by elements of the group that he and I were associated with. In fact the general secretary at the time, John Della Bosca, wanted Michael to be the successor to Graham Richardson. I was president at the time, and I sat in with John while we talked to the other fellow who wanted the spot, Michael Easson. Michael Easson eventually conceded that he was not going to get the Senate spot, left the NSW Labor Council and now is a multimillionaire, and Michael Forshaw retires on a parliamentary pension.

Again, I talked to Michael Lee this afternoon, and he reminded me that in 1996 he was in a very difficult count to hold onto his seat; it was thought, in fact, that we might lose the seat of Dobell. I was not here then, but I roughly recall that the decision was made to fill the vacancy in the shadow ministry. Michael Lee was re-elected, and as a result of that Michael Forshaw did stand down from the frontbench to make way for Michael Lee. Part of Michael Forshaw's contribution is that he will always do the right thing; sometimes it is with pain. He did outline how difficult it was for him to vote for Kevin Rudd over Kim Beazley. I know that that was a terrible thing for him to have to do, but he felt he was doing the right thing. I know that he still thinks about the decision he made that day, but I know that he feels he did make the right decision. That is part of his make-up; he will do what he thinks is the right thing, despite the fact that on occasion it is he who will suffer for that decision. It is good to get in first—and I probably should tell some other stories about him but I might have to wait until the adjournment next Thursday if he replies next Wednesday night. But it is good to be here tonight to be able to compliment an old mate, the person I have known the longest in this vicinity, and to be able to say: thank you for everything you have done for the labour movement. There are many people in the workforce and in the community that owe a lot to your silent dedication and your work, which will never be forgotten by any of us. Thanks, Mike.