Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Families and Payments) Share this | Hansard source

I would also like to make a short contribution to the departing senators in this valedictory speech. Many of you know—I am not sure if you all know—that Senator Lin Thorp and I are friends. We have been friends since 1992, when she stood for the Labor Party at the state election. She was unsuccessful at that time and we went on to work together as part of former senator Sue Mackay's first intake of staff.

We were also lucky enough to form a club at that time, the Thunderbirds. I would love to be able to tell you what the Thunderbirds is all about, but it is a very exclusive club. One thing that binds the Thunderbirds together is their deep commitment to one another and their support for one another. I think that Lin's speech today—and what could be her last speech to the Senate—said exactly what Lin Thorp is all about. Her speech today was all about putting on record her desires for the world and Australia, those desires being for a fair, just and equitable Australia and world. Those are the principles that Lin has always stood by.

Lin has never been in parliamentary life for herself. She has always been in parliamentary life for what she can do for others, what she can do for her community. And that is what I have always loved about Lin. You always know, from whatever position she is coming from, that it is a position she has thought deeply about and it is a position that she has taken that she believes will benefit our country and Tasmania. She loves Tasmania, as all Tasmania senators do, and anyone who has been privileged enough to visit Tasmania would know that we are indeed the best state in the Commonwealth.

Lin is also a very even-tempered senator. I would say that there would not be many in here who would have ever seen Lin riled. It would be a rare occasion. In fact, it is hard for me to remember an occasion. She is very even tempered and very respectful of other people's views. But I did see her quite riled once and this was when she was one of the very first people to be chucked out of the state parliament—by none other than Senator Polley's brother, Michael Polley! We have got rid of him, anyway. Senator Thorp at that time asked the former speaker, Michael Polley, whether he actually had the right to do that. Unfortunately, he does and he did. Lin also talked about the fact that she has only been here in the Senate for a short time, unfortunately.

I have to say, I feel that a large majority of the community and the media do not acknowledge the work of the Senate committee system or understand it. There is a lot of work that is done by all the senators in this place on committees that go on to provide valuable work and valuable recommendations that inform the policies and decision making of governments. Only today, we saw Lin's work as the chair of the Environment and Communications References Committee actually have an effect. It not only had an effect here in Australia but also internationally when we saw the World Heritage Committee rejecting the application of the government in terms of their efforts to delist the World Heritage Area in Tasmania. There are not many senators who have had their work and their reports quoted as a part of the World Heritage Committee's reasoning to reject what was an important issue for Australia and Tasmania.

I thank you, Lin, for that, and I thank you for your friendship. Also, Lin mentioned that we lived together up here. For the majority of the time, we lived together with Julie Collins, the member the Franklin, in Oxley Court. The very first day we lived together in a two-bedroom apartment, with two single beds and a double bed, Lin and I got buddied up together. It was a terrible night from me, because of the noises! She talks in her sleep, she argues and she has a clock that tick-tocks. The next day, Lin was unceremoniously chucked out of my bedroom. We put her in the double and Julie had to come and sleep with me. We had fun there. We had fun together and we had many times when we would go home and talk about what had happened in the Senate and in the House of Representatives.

Lin also gave me my first shock, as I suppose I should call it. Lin has now only been here for two years. Quite frankly, since at that point in time she crossed the floor and voted with the then opposition, I am actually surprised she lasted that long! Lin accidentally crossed the floor and voted with the opposition. That was when I was acting whip. I was never acting whip ever again. I am very proud to have served with Lin Thorp in the Senate. I am very proud to have been her friend for so many years, and I wish Lin all the best. I wish her, Toby and her family all the best. She has done a great job. She should be proud. She should be proud of the work she has done here and the work she did in the upper house in Tasmania both as a member and as a state minister. We will miss you. I will miss you and I am sure many others of your colleagues will.

I would like to say a few words about Senator Pratt, who is my buddy here.