Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment) Share this | Hansard source

I wish to make a couple remarks about my good friend and colleague on this side of the chamber, Senator Helen Kroger. Senator Kroger has always been a person of class in the way she conducts herself and in the undertaking of her duties as a senator and indeed in her day-to-day life. We saw that in spades with her valedictory statement this evening—the class shone through, her achievements in this place were demonstrated and her commitment to principles and values were clearly on show.

Helen's leaving will be an enormous loss to this place and to the Liberal parliamentary team but by no means will she be lost to Australia. I am confident that Helen, great friend that she is, will continue to champion the causes and the issues that are dear to her heart, will continue to speak out when it is warranted and will continue to make a big and lasting difference. I have been proud and pleased to call Helen a friend, to support her in this place and to give her support in performing her role of chief whip both in opposition and in government, and I have been delighted to see the way in which she has conducted those tasks whilst not losing sight of the fact that she is here not just as a whip to help with the administration of the place but as a senator and an individual to make a contribution to issues, to champion the causes of her constituents and to be able to demonstrate that she can do all of the different duties that come with being a senator, a member of a party, a chief whip as well as, of course, a mother.

Helen was whip during the time that our two children were born and during the time when my youngest had a couple of operations. A whip has a special role when it comes to pastoral care in this place and being able to provide assistance, time out and opportunities to deal with the matters back home. I have nothing but praise for Helen for the way in which she helped me through those times and ensured that our family had the attention and support that was needed back home whilst allowing me to get on with the job here. As many have said, Helen will be dearly, dearly missed. I associate myself with the remarks of others in that regard, and I look forward to maintaining a continuing friendship with Helen that will last many, many years—a lifetime, I am sure—into the future.

I will also quickly reflect on my South Australian colleague, Senator Farrell. Don and I may not share a lot when it comes to politics, views and policies, but I do respect him. Don has been an incredibly effective political operator in South Australia for a very long period of time. He is one of the reasons the South Australian Labor Party has been electorally dominant at a state level in SA for such a period of time. He deserves credit and respect for what he has done in backroom roles in that regard. I also know that in this place Don has been somebody to champion the issues and values that are important to him and to those who put him here. A couple of months ago I had the pleasure of welcoming the historic clipper ship City of Adelaide back to Adelaide. It had been saved from being demolished and destroyed in a shipyard in Scotland, thanks to the work of Senator Farrell. When he was parliamentary secretary to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Senator Farrell ensured that the ship could be returned and that that piece of Adelaide's history would come back to Adelaide. That is one of his accomplishments.

In this place I will miss hearing some of the war history and family history that Senator Farrell has shared with us many times during the adjournment debates. His stories have always been thoughtful and considered, and a demonstration as to why he was an appropriate fit to be the shadow minister for veterans' affairs, given the deep sense of commitment he has shown to those issues. I do wish Don as well as his wife, Nimfa, and family all the best for the future, and I am sure I will run into them in the Clare Valley at an appropriate time in the years ahead.