Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make a few comments, but I certainly would like to associate myself with Senator Brown's contribution. I was a younger woman when I returned to Tasmania from living in Victoria back in 1983, and, hence, when I met the then Senator Jean Hearn, she was quite an articulate, outspoken woman. I think she was a little more tolerant of me because of the fact that my own father spent 3½ years as a prisoner of war with the Japanese and the fact that there had been a long history as well with my older brother. But what I will remember Jean most for is her solemn support for peace. She was outspoken, she was passionate and she was caring. In terms of nuclear disarmament, I think there was no-one in Tasmania from the Labor Party who was more earnest in their drive to see that we took that policy and issue very seriously.

When it came to women's issues, Jean was very supportive. I remember going along to one of my first meetings of the Status of Women Committee and she was, as always, outspoken. It was in more recent years when I took on the responsibility of shadow assistant minister for ageing to the shadow minister for ageing, Julie Collins, that I went to visit her. I took one of my young staff members along because I wanted him to meet her and to understand the history and her involvement in opening many doors for future Labor women to come through, hence why I'm standing here today. She broke down a lot of those barriers for us. Jean was so engaging. She was already 95 at that stage, but she was still very passionate. She said, 'Helen, you have to get people to listen because our ageing population needs far more support.' Even though she was still living at home, she had some assistants coming in to help her. But she was determined to stay in her own home. We left that afternoon after having a cup of tea with her—you couldn't visit her without having a cup of tea—feeling quite motivated and invigorated to continue with our battle to make sure ageing was on the national agenda.

Jean's strong advocacy when it came to Steiner education and her role in supporting women have already been highlighted. Even though there were times when we were on very different sides of the political agenda, she was always respectful. She was always willing to explain to you in great detail why you were wrong, and from that you could always hear why. I, and on behalf of Senator Bilyk, want to place on record our respect for her. Her legacy will live on.