Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Hansard source

Given the comments you made, Senator Brandis, I'll take this opportunity to make some observations from the chair myself as well. I'll commence by thanking you for your very kind comments and also for your friendship over many years. We came from different groups of friends with subtly different traditions in the Liberal Party, but as time moved on and as we spent more time together, particularly in this place, we both knew that our subtly different traditions had a great deal more in common than any differences we might spends hours debating over a glass of red.

I was first introduced to you, George—a time you said to me once you don't remember—nearly two decades ago by our mutual friends in the Queensland Young Liberal Movement. You were introduced to me at that time by some of my friends there as being almost Victorian in your views. Unlike most Queenslanders, you took that in your stride as a moment to be proud of, given your great support and respect for Alfred Deakin, which was the topic you immediately turned to upon being introduced in that way.

I next met you through our good friend Senator Fifield, not long after my own election at the end of 2007, in the lengthy wait before taking office. In your immutable style, you said that I would enjoy the Senate and we would get along very well—in fact, famously—although occasionally there'd be only small groups of us, as you understood and recalled that I liked books. You highlighted that as a key difference between the two chambers. Indeed, when we went through our collections we had similar collections, and we often discussed our reading. As others have commented, no-one's shelving is quite as famous as yours, nor as distinguished. When that matter came to public attention, the fact that you so openly defended it because of the importance of books, reading and consideration in politics actually said something about you—you didn't resile from the bookshelves, because of what they held.

I want to note a moment that others have also noted tonight. Late last year, as many people know, I was ill. I was lying in bed at home, recovering and watching Senate question time—which, some said, might have actually been delaying my recovery! On that day you made a statement following our Senate colleague Senator Hanson's entry wearing that particular garment. Obviously I make no comment on the incident itself, but I do want to acknowledge your impromptu and heartfelt speech, which was as forceful an argument for the liberalism that so many of us hold dear as I have heard in this place. It is so much more important because it was impromptu, and therefore everyone knows it was something you genuinely felt.

You made some very kind comments about me in your speech, but your departure leaves a hole that will not easily be filled. The liberal flame will be a little bit dimmer in the Liberal Party following your departure. One of our mutual acquaintances once said—we've discussed this often—that you can tell the difference between a liberal and a conservative by asking them to pick a side between Paine and Burke or Gladstone and Disraeli. But you knew that the unique nature of the Liberal Party we represent and hold so dear is that we represent both. At the same time, we always knew which corner you were in. So it is extremely appropriate, I think, that we're sending you to London in this 150th anniversary of Gladstone's first ministry. I imagine you will participate fully in those celebrations and commemorations later this year.

Valedictories too often sound like wakes, but they're not. You were a senator's senator. You were a proud defender of this chamber, its difference from the other place and the role that all senators play in representing their parties, their communities and their states. Let me finish by saying that, while you will be missed in this place, you have made many friends who I'm sure will maintain their contact, and none better than I.