Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Hansard source

It was close! What it demonstrates is that Bozzie has his own way of doing things, and I think that has been demonstrated by the presentations made here tonight. There is a Bozzie way. He said in his speech that you need to have the power to endure, and that is certainly a feature of Senator Boswell. Once he had the bit between the teeth, once he had the destination in sight, there was very little that you could do to divert him from the purpose. And that is the conviction that all of us have recognised in Boz. If he wanted to talk to you about something, there was no escape. He always found a way to find you, even if it was by pressing the button, dialling 9, and saying, 'I want Senator Colbeck.' There was no hiding. But he was persistent in his perspectives and, as Senator Abetz said, if he wanted a question up, he got a question up.

It is that persistence and perseverance and conviction that actually gets results in this place. So, Boz, congratulations on that, over a distinguished career. Senator Nash is right: we all love you. In fact, you've gotta love Bozzie. You just gotta love Bozzie.

I have really enjoyed working with you on a number of issues that were important to both of us. It was great to get results on things that were important. That is why we are here, to do things that are important for us but, more importantly, for our constituencies. You were always a great radar on your constituency and the people you came here to represent. You were always about getting results for them around the sensible use of our natural resources. I think that is a really important point to make. You were not about doing anything that was going to cause damage, but you wanted sensible natural resource use. You wanted to account for the people who were in those industries and to ensure that they had a fair go, along with all of the other considerations. So congratulations on an extraordinary career and to you, Leita and your families: all the very best, Mate, for the future. I look forward to catching up on the south island occasionally or perhaps overlooking the river in Brisbane. You have made a significant contribution. All the very best for the future.