Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to make a contribution this evening. I firstly also want to acknowledge Senator Bishop and concur with the remarks of our leader earlier that he certainly does have our respect, and I wish him very well for his future path. But I just wanted to make a few brief comments about Senator Boswell—or Bozzie. I first came into this place nearly nine years ago. As new senators would remember, you come in and you feel a bit like, well, where is the tuckshop and where do I put my schoolbag, and you are looking to those around you who have been here for a while for guidance as to how you do things. Bozzie was larger than life and we knew that he housed all of the knowledge of the world for us newbies—or that is certainly how it seemed anyway—and we very much looked to him.

I remember one particular day. When I came in, I think Bozzie sort of knew my name. I think for a while there I was 'the girl from New South Wales'. But there was one particular day after I had been here for quite some time. All you really want is some respect from Bozzie when you come into this place, and the day I really clearly remember was the day he called me 'mate'. That was when I knew I had really managed to get myself into the Nationals Senate team, and it really was a beautiful moment.

It is very, very hard to say no to Bozzie. Sorry, I am not using 'Senator Boswell'; it is very hard to say 'Senator Boswell'. It is very hard to say no to Bozzie. I remember one of my very, very early joint party meetings. I am not going to talk very much about what happened in there, but we were discussing an issue relating to ethanol. This was in my very early days. John Howard was Prime Minister. It was a big party room. This issue came up, and Bozzie said, 'You're going to have to speak on this,' and I remember being completely terrified. But you just cannot say no to Senator Boswell, so up I got, and it was the start of many a contribution.

Bozzie mentioned earlier that he was the first to speak out against the ETS, and he was absolutely right. I know because I was sitting there. It was during an MPI on a Wednesday, and I was sitting in front of him. Bozzie stood up and gave this great speech about the ETS—at that point, I had very little idea of what he was talking about—and that started a path that changed the course of history. For that, Bozzie, we all thank you for your leadership in knowing that what you were doing was right. We followed you, and we won. Thank you, Bozzie, for that.

Continuing on the theme of it being very hard to say no to Senator Boswell, it is hard to say no to him not only because he is like a steamroller—it is very hard to say no to Bozzie, as my colleagues know—but because he is very, very often right. We had an issue in the early days of being in opposition relating to some carbon sink legislation that was giving tax breaks to the big end of town. Bozzie understood this. We inherently, because of Bozzie's knowledge and understanding, came to learn very, very quickly that he was absolutely right. With that, we had a piece of legislation that was coming in here—I think it was a disallowable instrument. One of the phrases that has not been used that Bozzie used to use a lot was, 'I'm blowing the whistle; we're going over the top!' Bozzie said that and we all rapped with him—Senator Williams and I did—and we actually voted with the Greens against the other major parties. I subsequently got sacked from the front bench. Clearly it has been a long way back—thanks, Bozzie! But, while that had very serious consequences, it was absolutely the right thing to do. It was Bozzie that first pegged that that was the right thing to do. It was a wonderful thing to follow and walk with him when he blew that whistle and we went over the top.

Bozzie, we can only aspire to change the course of the nation's history in the way that you have. Even if we come some small way to changing the course of history in the way that you have, we will all have done very, very well. We love you. We will miss you. But your legacy and your spirit will be here with us always. Thank you.