Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

The name 'Riordan' is synonymous with workplace relations; first with Joe, whose passing we mourn, and whose service we acknowledge and salute, and now with his son Bernie, who is on the bench of Fair Work Australia.

The Hon. Joe Riordan dedicated his life to public service and the parliament through the trade union movement, at the New South Wales Department of Industrial Relations and at the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. Before entering parliament he was secretary of the Federated Clerks Union, where he valiantly championed a proud union fighting against communism. Mr Riordan was a passionate Labor man who genuinely stood up for workers around the country and not just for the sectional interests of the union bosses. He was seen by many in the community as a genuinely honest broker.

His relatively short time in the parliament was one that has had a lasting impact. He was the chair of the Joint Committee on Pecuniary Interests of Members of Parliament, which recommended the establishment of a register to which the public could have access—something that all senators would know lives on to this day and is seen as a transparency measure.

After leaving the parliament, he went on to continue his career of public service in the Public Service itself before being appointed to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission—footsteps that his son Bernie has gone on to follow as a Fair Work Australia commissioner. After his retirement from the commission, he continued to assist the wider community by undertaking a number of inquiries and investigations for groups, including the Law Society of New South Wales and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union. He investigated, indeed, whether union bosses should have as much influence in the parliamentary Labor Party as they allegedly do, which I understand is still a hot topic all these years on. The coalition acknowledges his life of distinguished service and expresses its condolences to the family at this time of loss.