Ron Boswell (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I join my colleagues in this motion of condolence. I was fortunate: I sat next to Brian Harradine for 10 years. I suppose I knew him as well as anyone in this parliament knew him. Brian was elected as an Independent senator in 1975 and served in this parliament until his retirement. He had a passionate understanding not only for the blue-collar worker but for the underprivileged and the unborn. He was a person who really got a grip straightaway on how the system works.

I was young enough to remember that after the 1975 election there was a lot of ill-will against the sacking of the Labor Party. At that time the Labor Party in protest moved out of the parliament and left the opposition benches vacant. Senator Harradine went up and sat in the Leader of the Opposition's chair. He said to the people, 'If you walk out of the battleground and leave it uncontested, then I will represent the opposition.' He moved up and sat in that chair up there. I knew then that he was a skilled performer.

He was an Independent. He put in 30 years of service. I can remember the day he was standing there giving his address on native title and he fumbled. I could see that something was going wrong. He got through that speech with tenacity, and I believe that was the time that he realised that he had a minor problem.

Thirty years is a long time in politics. That is what his tour of duty was all about. He stood up as an Independent for Tasmania. I do not think anyone will ever again see an Independent or, in fact, another senator that used his leverage and pivot in the Senate with such great effect. He was an old-school politician who fought to get the best deal for his home state of Tasmania and, by gee, didn't he deliver. He was a devout catholic who opposed gay marriage. He campaigned against abortion, stem cell research, pornography, the Northern Territory euthanasia legislation and the use of foreign aid for family-planning purposes. I am proud to say that on all those occasions I stood with him. His abhorrence to China's forced adoption program was emphasised when he boycotted President Hu Jintao's address in parliament in 2003.

He remained loyal to his faith throughout his political career. He was a member of the Labor Party and he always had the Labor Party brand on him. You could always tell that is where his roots were: for the working man and woman. I recall one time when we were debating section 121C of the taxation act, which said that cooperatives could get a double tax break. I went to Brian and said, 'Brian, you've always believed in cooperatives. I want you to stand up and vote against our government,' and he did. We won 121C due to Brian Harradine. It is the only thing that keeps cooperatives viable at the moment. Rural Australia owes him a strong debt of thanks.

He was expelled from the Labor Party because he nominated some people as friends of communists. The Labor Party expelled him—what a terrible mistake that was. The Labor Party lost a man of conviction and courage; a truly decent man who championed the cause of the underprivileged, the vulnerable and the blue-collar worker. What a loss that the Labor Party could ill-afford. What a loss not to have him standing over there with the Labor Party. What a tragedy for the Labor Party. If he had been with them, I am sure that his wise counsel would have prevented them from going down some of the courses they took that were against the blue-collar worker.

Brian was beholden to no political party, and held firm to his values and beliefs. He applied those values to the issues that confronted him in the Senate. He was guided by three principles: the protection of human life; delivering for Tasmania; and minimising the impact on his beloved battlers. Harradine held the balance of power in the Senate during the Fraser government in the eighties and in the Howard government from 1996 to 1999. I know that wore heavily on him—he just wanted to be a feather duster again—and he was relieved when the balance of power was taken from his shoulders. He took responsibility for important legislation, and he did it very seriously. He had enormous pressure on his shoulders when he was the one vote that could swing the parliament. He was a wily negotiator. He was able to secure $353 million for Tasmania as part of the Telstra sale. Tasmania got $183 million as a result of Harradine's vote for T1 and $170 million for T2. I can remember standing here saying, 'Brian, if they put another telephone on that island, it will sink!' And we had a good laugh together. But he certainly delivered for Tasmania. He extracted so much for Tasmania during the Telstra debate.

I have a cartoon in which Brian was debating the Wik legislation and defending the Aborigines, and I was taking forward the voice of the graziers of Australia. The cartoon shows Harradine and me, stripped down to boxing shorts—he was a very thin man; I was pretty rotund at the time, and still am—and boxing gloves. I have still got that cartoon on the wall of my office. It shows us fighting for the people who we thought deserved a voice.

Brian was recognised by his beloved Catholic Church with the papal distinction of Knight Commander of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great. That was conferred in October 2004. He suffered a stroke in March 2005. I am not sure whether it was at that exact time that I saw him fumble his speech when he was debating on native title. He continued on, kept pressing forward, to reach out to the people of Tasmania. In his valedictory speech on 21 June 2005, he stated:

I have maintained that the true measure of our society and our civilisation is not how rich, powerful or technologically advanced we are. Simply, it is how we treat the weakest and most vulnerable among us. It underpins my unwavering defence of pro-life, pro-human values against the despondency of abortion and euthanasia.

Brian was one of the most formidable politicians I have ever worked with. He was a true Australian patriot guided by a deep love of country, its blue-collar workers, its Indigenous people and its natural heritage. I was sad to hear of his death on 14 April this year. On my annual pilgrimage to Tasmania I always called into his house. To Brian's wife, Marian, I say thank you for the hospitality, the cups of tea and the beautiful apricots—they have the most wonderful apricot tree in Tasmania. To Marian, to their children—Bede, Anthony, Gemma, Paul, Mary, Fiona, Richard, Phillip, Nicola, Ann, Cushla, David and Benjamin—and to their children, I express my deep sympathy on the loss of your beloved husband, father and grandfather. I doubt that we will ever see the likes of Brian Harradine in the Australian Senate again. He will be missed.