Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to support this condolence motion on the passing of the Rt Hon. Reg Withers, a distinguished former member of the Senate. I extend the opposition's deepest sympathy to his family and his friends.

Reg Withers lived a long and productive life; he was a man who served his country, his state, his city and his party with determination and distinction. He is usually remembered for his role in one of the most tumultuous episodes in Australian federal politics—the dismissal of the Whitlam government in 1975. That was an era when many larger than life figures strode the national stage. The nation farewelled Gough Whitlam earlier this month; now, we are farewelling another of the central players in that extraordinary political drama of four decades ago. Yet, it should be remembered that Reg Withers made many significant contributions to public life, both before and after those events in 1975.

As Senator Abetz has said, he was born in the coastal town of Bunbury in Western Australia's south-west in 1924, attending the Bunbury State School and Perth Technical College before enlisting in the Royal Australian Navy in 1942. During the Second World War, he saw active service as a naval coder. After the war, he was able to study law at the University of Western Australia under the Commonwealth Reconstruction Training Scheme. After graduating, he practised law in his home town of Bunbury and served as a member of its municipal council.

It may surprise some to learn that Reg Withers' father, Fred Withers, was a locomotive engine driver and a staunch trade unionist and that he served as a Labor member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly—the 'red sheep', as Senator Abetz described him today. In fact, Fred Withers was the delegate to the Australian Labor Party's 1929 federal conference who moved the famous 'socialist objective' into our party's platform. One might imagine how different the political history of the 1970s would have been if Reg Withers had followed his father into the Labor Party. However, that was not to be, and he joined the Liberal Party. In 1966, he was appointed to fill a vacancy in the Senate and went on to be elected as a Liberal senator for Western Australia six times.

Like many of the Western Australians who have served in this chamber over the years, he was a strong advocate for the interests of the west. He also brought a business-like and no-nonsense approach to bear and quickly became known as a highly effective political operator in this place. He served as Government Whip in the Senate from 1969 to 1971 and as opposition leader in the Senate from 1972 to 1975. He became highly adept at what some might call 'the arcane art' of Senate procedure, and deployed these skills to devastating effect in 1975. As Gough Whitlam himself wrote:

It was Senator Withers who first articulated the strategy by which my Government would ultimately be destroyed.

That was the strategy of blocking supply in this place and forcing a Constitutional crisis, a strategy not only devised by former Senator Withers but also one for which he marshalled the votes needed to implement it.

The Labor Party's position on those events is well known. But today is not the day to reprise the facts and principles that we would espouse in relation to those events. Suffice it to say, we will never condone what was done in 1975. But we can acknowledge the considerable political skills former Senator Withers brought to bear. We all know that assembling the numbers in this place for a controversial measure—and holding onto those votes—can be challenging, to say the least.

After the federal election of 1975, Reg Withers became government leader in the Senate and Minister for Administrative Services. But, as Senator Abetz has outlined, his ministerial career was cut short in August 1978 when he was sacked by then Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. That was a move which many of his colleagues on both sides of the chamber regarded as unwarranted and unfair. I understand Mr Fraser himself, in later years, expressed regret over that matter. As well he might, because once Reg Withers had been dispatched to the backbench, he proceeded to cross the floor and vote against government legislation many times—a case, given his background as whip, of gamekeeper turned poacher.

I was interested to hear Senator Smith last week quote former Senator Withers, explaining why he was willing to vote against his own government on legislation that he believed was contrary to his state's interest. He said, 'It is no use just having one chamber echoing the other. That is a waste of both time and money'—a pertinent remark in light of today's debates about the Senate's role.

Reg Withers retired from the Senate in 1987, having served more than 21 years. But that was not the end of his contribution to politics and public life. He was elected Lord Mayor of Perth in 1991 and served in that position until 1994. He returned to Canberra as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1998, representing—perhaps unsurprisingly—the monarchists. It is a healthy reminder to those of us here today that there is life after politics in this place and that there are different ways that people can make their contribution.

Reg Withers passed away on 15 November at the age of 90. After his death, his son, Simon, told ABC Radio that his father was not an ideologically-driven person. He said he was just a common-sense politician who was interested in getting things done. Reg Withers certainly got things done. He made an enormous contribution to the public life of Australia.

On behalf of the opposition, I offer our sincere condolences to his widow, Shirley, and to his children, grandchildren and extended family.