Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Con Sciacca: friend, mentor, successful politician, lawyer, businessman, failed punter, failed racehorse owner, failed greyhound owner, restaurateur, raconteur. The three words that always come after Con's name are 'larger than life', and I think just about everyone has used them today. I have never met a Labor person who was better company than Con. If you got that phone call from him or his diary person to say 'Con wants lunch', you cleared your diary, you blocked out the rest of the day, because you knew you were in for a very entertaining day—not always politically correct but with plenty of colour and always good fun.

Con's passing is being acknowledged by all sides of politics and, indeed, people in all walks of life. What I believe is the essential element of his character that has led to this is his generous heart. It really pained Con to say no to anyone. I think that is what made him such a good friend and a good politician but probably what made him a bad punter and racehorse owner. One memory I have of Con was meeting him for lunch after he had lost Bonner in 2004. He had a lot more time on his hands for entertaining and he was happy to take a young political activist, particularly one from the Right of the party, under his wing. His regular haunt in those days was Il Centro, and anyone who knows anything about Brisbane restaurants knows that that is the place where Con used to go. Later in the afternoon, Con, in a panic, said: 'What's the time? I've got a dog racing in 10 minutes. Where's the nearest TAB?' Being, at the time, a young person who used to frequent some of the establishments around the town, I quickly led him to the Victory Hotel. Thinking, 'Oh well, Con's putting some money on this dog; I'd better put some money on too,' I got out 10 bucks. Con got out his role of hundreds and started peeling them off to put money on the dog. The dog was called 'Bonner Blitz'. This was after Con had lost, so it was bringing up some bad memories for him, and he told the story of the dog: 'Well, the person who trains the dog, they rang. I can't say no to them, so I bought the share.' So we put our money on this dog. Con put a few hundred on. I put my 10 bucks on. The dog ran stone motherless last!

But that day was not a complete failure, because what also happened, which not many people know, is that Con ran into a lady called Karen, whom he subsequently went on to marry and who has been caring for him in recent months. So, whilst the dog was a failure, the visit to the Victory was not. Con was not the first person to find love at the Victory, but normally they are 18- or 19-year-olds. I think for someone Con's age it was a bit of a rarity.

A few people have mentioned that Con had a number of attempts at entering parliament, but probably the one for which he is most famous in Queensland Labor history was his effort to win the state seat of Redlands, which was within the federal seat of Bowman, which he later won. In a mighty preselection challenge he saw off the then state secretary, Peter Beattie, who was desperate to get into parliament. There were accusations of branch stacking and whatever else—none of which went on in the Queensland Labor Party at the time!—but Con managed to win that preselection and go on to contest the seat. Unfortunately—or fortunately, depending on your view—he lost the seat at the 1986 election. There was a time when Peter Beattie was complaining heavily that Con had moved a motion at the admin to have him gagged as state secretary—and, having been in that job, I know how hard it would be to do if you were gagged. Such was the bitter rivalry at the time that exemplified the wounds that stemmed from intervention. But, in true Con style, he and Peter Beattie became great mates and remained great mates until Con's sad passing.

As was often the case, Con dusted himself off, got back up and contested another preselection the following year, where he defeated Len Keogh, who was the sitting Labor member for Bowman and well regarded. I have spoken to Peter Shooter—who Senator Moore, who is in the chamber, knows—who was involved in that preselection. To win, Con needed cross-factional support, and the Left rallied behind him. He won the preselection. That was controversial at the time, because Con was, as many people know, a conservative member of the Labor Party, but the Left of the party saw great merit in his advocacy. Obviously, the Labor Party in Queensland was quite Anglo at the time, so having a multicultural voice was very important for us. I spoke to Peter Shooter before I came in today, and he said that not once did he regret that decision for the Left about Con, because he did make such a great contribution.

But, as we know, when you get elected to caucus, there are some people who have long memories and are very loyal to previous members. Con turned up at the now Old Parliament House, very keen, and he quickly got shafted into the worst office there, which he claimed was basically a broom cupboard. And he used to smoke like a brown log. He had a junior staffer at the time called Mike Kaiser, who almost died of smoke inhalation in that small office! I remember other stories from Mike about working for Con at that time. I think Con had a unit out at Queanbeyan, and he was known for having a fantastic video collection that I think he might have picked up from Fyshwick that was very popular with some of the young Labor members at the time! Con was always very colourful in terms of his behaviour.

He very quickly became influential in caucus affairs. No-one was ever uncertain about who he supported in leadership ballots in particular. He was a very strong supporter of Prime Minister Hawke and then subsequently Kim Beazley. As Senator Ketter alluded to, Con was always someone who wore that on his sleeve. I think it is important to note, though, that despite this, it was actually Prime Minister Paul Keating who promoted him to the ministry. A number of people here have spoken about his work with Australia Remembers as the veterans' affairs minister. He still is recognised in RSL clubs and the veterans community across Australia for his work during that time.

As I mentioned, I got to know Con more after he lost the seat of Bowman, when he had more time for hosting his legendary lunches, which were first at Il Centro and then later at his own restaurant, Alimentari. In my first speech I mentioned how I was named after Anthony Porter. Con's original business partner in Alimentari was David Porter—I was named after his brother. David reports two things about being in a restaurant with Con. Firstly, it was one of the greatest adventures of his life. Secondly, it was one of the poorest financial decisions he ever made, because Con was the best customer at his own restaurant. But it was always great to see Con there, in his element. He thought it was a little part of Italy that he had brought with him from his childhood and it was something that he was very proud of—as well as the role his family played in that restaurant.

I will finish on this. Con was also a very sentimental person, and he was certainly impacted by the passing of his son, Sam, in 1992. I recall that in 2014, which would have been one of the last times I had lunch with him—actually, I was meeting him for a coffee, but he asked me to stay a little bit longer because he had Ted O'Brien coming in, and Ted had just been elected too, as the member for Fairfax in the other house. The reason Ted O'Brien was coming to have lunch with Con that day was that, in Sam's year at Nudgee college, Ted O'Brien was the school captain, and once a year, on the anniversary of Sam's passing, Con had dinner with Ted O'Brien and a number of the other boys who were in that class. I think that shows where Con's heart lay, and how much Sam meant to him. I know that in this place we all have different beliefs, some are religious, some are not, but I hope we can all have an image of Con with his arm around Sam, catching up on the last 25 years.

Question agreed to, honourable senators standing in their places.