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

She is not a very good buddy, I have to say! She is right into technology, so she does not really talk very much. I just want to put on record that from the very first moment I met Louise she was right into pushing for those issues and for those groups that were marginalised in the community. She never stopped. I do not expect her to ever stop until we have achieved what we have set out to achieve. Louise has been heavily involved in social justice issues, LGBTI issues, community groups and Indigenous groups. She is passionate, as she said in her contribution here today, about equal rights. That, of course, comes to marriage equality.

We have had some ups and downs in terms of the Labor Party when we come to marriage equality. We have had some downs in terms of the legislation that has been introduced in the parliament on marriage equality, of which Louise was a sponsoring senator. As Senator Penny Wong said at the time, 'We might not win the vote here today, but we are on the side of right.' I can assure Louise—and I know that Louise will be there with us—that we will pursue this issue until the right thing is done and there is true equality in Australia regardless of one's sexuality. I would also like to wish Louise and Aram well into the future. I wish her well with the impending birth of her child. I know that when her baby arrives, that is when the joy will commence. It has been a privilege knowing you as Senator Louise Pratt, but I also look forward to knowing you as Louise my friend into the future.

Before I finish, I would like to just touch on Ursula Stephens. I was tempted to do a little limerick, but Ursula is such a hard name to rhyme. All I would like to say to Ursula is that I have really appreciated her friendship and advice. She is a truly remarkable woman. She gives of herself willingly. She has achieved such a lot in her time in the Senate. As Ursula herself has said and also as Penny Wong has said, the work that she has done in the voluntary sector has been remarkable. She works hard. She is always respectful of other people's points of view. I will miss her as well, and I wish her the very best into the future.

I would also like to put on record my appreciation of Senator Tillem's term here in the Senate. I did not work with Senator Tillem on any committees but, as anyone who has known Mehmet for very long would know, he is a truly genuine person. He has a very wicked sense of humour, and I wish him and his family well into the future.