Andrew Bartlett (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to contribute personally to this debate on this condolence motion. Jocelyn Newman was in this chamber for many years, from when I first came here in 1997 until she left in 2002. For much of that time, I had responsibility for social security and social welfare issues for my party so I had plenty of cause to have discussions and debate with her in this chamber on legislation as well as outside of this chamber. I wish to pick up a particular word Senator Scullion used that I had already written down, which is 'respectful'. It is no great surprise that I disagreed with her—in fact, if I look back through the record I probably voted against most of the legislation that she put forward at the time; that is probably why I had so many exchanges with her in this chamber, trying to amend what the government of the time was doing—but she was genuinely respectful. I would also say she was genuinely sincere and competent at her work. It's not making a partisan point to say I wouldn't say that about everybody I've had exchanges with in this chamber from all sides.

All of us, if we are here for any length of time, have cause to have conversations with staffers and others who work with various ministers and MPs. It was only a year ago while I was having dinner in Brisbane that somebody at the adjoining table recognised me and started to speak to me. He had worked with a number of ministers from that time, and he specifically singled out Jocelyn Newman as the best that he had worked for in terms of her competence and her respectfulness—again, I think that is the right word. As Senator Scullion also alluded to, she certainly wasn't someone who would leave you in any doubt about what their opinion was—she was certainly very capable of being firm in her views—but she was still respectful in her dealings with everybody. That person's opinion reaffirmed what I had thought: she was someone who knew her stuff very well. That is always appreciated. You can disagree on people's policy prescriptions for something, but it's at least reassuring to know that they understand what they're talking about, even if you disagree with their view. Others have mentioned her views, her commitment and her record with regard to women, particularly her efforts on behalf of women experiencing domestic violence. I didn't always agree with her policy prescriptions, but I definitely agreed with her genuine commitment to try to assist the many women who did, and unfortunately still do, have to deal with those circumstances.

I really wanted to put on the record my own appreciation, acknowledgement and personal experience of Jocelyn Newman's very strong contribution to the role of this chamber and the way the Senate in particular works when it's at its best: not the policy positions it comes to, but the way that people engage with a genuine attempt to deal with issues on their merits and engage with all of the competing views that are put forward. I did find her to be one of the best coalition ministers that I had to engage with during that time with regard to how she went about her business, and I really wanted, albeit in very sad circumstances, the opportunity to put that on the record.

This has also been alluded to in some of today's contributions, but I also want to say something about her commitment and her genuine feelings towards her own family and her husband, Kevin, who died while she was a member of this chamber. It's funny sometimes the things that stick in your head. I particularly remember a time, it would have been a year or possibly even two years after her husband had passed away, when there was a debate in this chamber on some piece of legislation. It may have been to do with family law or divorce or sole parents—I can't remember. Senator Newman was there, and I think Senator Chris Evans from the Labor Party was there. She made an off-the-cuff comment about people who get remarried. She then said: 'I wouldn't get remarried. I've only just done that. Once was enough for me.' The memory that that obviously brought up in her of her husband, even after he had passed away a year or two before, brought her to tears here. It was sad but very touching to see how deeply that still affected her all that time afterwards. I think they'd been married 37 or 38 years, and to me it was a sign of her personal, genuine, emotional commitment to the issues she believed in and the people who she worked with. I very much appreciate being able to join in this chamber's acknowledgement of not just Jocelyn Newman's contribution to the Senate but what she also did throughout her life.