Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is a great honour for me to pay my respects to Senator Crossin's wonderful career in this place. I want to begin by talking about my experiences on the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee, echoing much of what Senator Brandis said. I also want to acknowledge Senator Crossin's capacity to engage with the issues and to drive solutions into the reports of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee. That has resulted in more change, just through the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee, than many senators in this place get to achieve in many years of contributions across a great range of issues. Senator Crossin has achieved so much, and the kinds of changes she has been able to drive through the committee reports I have seen will make a real difference to the lives of many Australians.

I also had the great honour of being with Senator Crossin on the National Capital and External Territories Committee. Christmas Island and the Cocos Islands are wonderful and extraordinary places, and I was delighted that Senator Crossin was able to introduce me both to the communities there and to the very significant issues that confront those communities. I do not think it is any surprise, Senator Crossin, that you have such a good understanding of the issues because of your passion and love for the Northern Territory, but as a Territorian senator you also understand the lack of representation that the Territory has at a state level because of the extraordinary powers that the Commonwealth has over the territories—an example being the power to intervene on issues like the intervention. It has been of great concern to me to witness the common issues that exist between Western Australia and the Northern Territory and the very different ways that they are managed simply because the Territory does not have its own exercisable state powers.

On that note it is significant that you have faced election every election, unlike other senators, and you have done that for some 14 years. In that context I also note the way that you were eventually undone in the preselection for election to this place, and it is a matter of regret for me that I will not have the opportunity to serve with you longer.

Touching again on the Indigenous issues that are common across the communities that we represent, you had a capacity to embed yourself in and be a part of Indigenous culture. I appreciate what an honour it would have been for you to have the opportunity to do that. There is a significant cultural divide in this country. We have a very westernised parliament and it is significant that you are one of the people in here who can break that down for ordinary Australians and bridge that cultural divide. It is a divide I hope more parliamentarians work to close, because so many Australians are ignorant of the enormous depth and diversity of Australia's Indigenous cultures. There can be no Indigenous culture without an Indigenous economy and without autonomy for Indigenous cultures within that economy. We have to value the intrinsic economy that exists in a culture when you give it autonomy. This was something that you highlighted with the intervention—it is the complete opposite to the way we should be empowering these communities.

Trish, you have also contributed to the Labor Party's Status of Women Committee. It was a great joy to me, as a Labor feminist, to have had your guidance as a previous chair and to share that mutual commitment that we and many other Labor women have. Indeed, it is that great sense of solidarity that helps me get through the long periods of time that I spend away from my family and my home. That sense of solidarity is certainly something you have offered to me and to other Labor women. Finally, I want to say thank you on behalf of Australia's LGBTI community. You have been a really wonderful advocate for our community and you have made a real difference. Thank you.

Sitting suspended from 18 : 30 to 19 : 00