Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the Senate records its profound sorrow at the death, on 25 February 2019, of the Honourable Dr John Herron, AO, a former Senator for Queensland, Ambassador and Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs in the Howard Government, places on record its gratitude for his long service to the Parliament and the nation, and extends its sincere sympathies to his family in their bereavement.

World-class surgeon, humanitarian, senator, minister, ambassador, husband, father and grandfather: having dedicated himself to the service of his nation, his state, his family and his fellow human beings, in the life and example of the Hon. Dr John Herron AO we see so very much of what true moral leadership means and of what it can achieve.

Born on 4 September 1932 in Home Hill, Queensland, John was the son of Irish immigrants James Herron and his wife, Elizabeth. By day they ran a family newsagency in Paddington and, for two years during his childhood, John would ride in the sidecar of a Harley-Davidson and deliver the morning paper, an experience that stoked a lifelong enthusiasm for that motorbike. Those formative years spent in a hardworking family setting shaped his own character and mentality and no doubt played a role in his future achievements.

A gifted student, after high school John secured a scholarship that allowed him to study a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery at the University of Queensland. So began his enduring passion for medicine, the vocation that would become the clear, golden thread that ran throughout his life. In a testament to his good nature and portending his future political interests, John expressed his gratitude for that scholarship in a personally penned letter to the then Prime Minister and founder of the Liberal Party, Sir Robert Menzies. At university, he dove head first into student life. He was elected president of the university's medical society and as a student union councillor, while also being a prolific contributor to the university's medical school journal.

Upon his graduation, he set to work as a surgeon, first at Princess Alexandra Hospital between 1968 and 1974 and later as the senior surgeon at Mater Public Hospital from 1974 until the year of his election to parliament in 1990. Rising to become one of Brisbane's most prominent and well-regarded doctors, John served as president of the Queensland branch of the Australian Medical Association from 1988 to 1989, and, commendably, in the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps and the RAAF Reserve for a full three decades.

On 9 March 1958, John met the woman who was to become his wife. He married Jan Kenny less than a year later, on 30 January 1959, and they would go on to raise a large and loving family of 10 children: Maryann, Elizabeth, Nicholas, Samantha, Maryrose, Catriona, Annabel, Wilhelmine, Thomas and John, each of them loved dearly. Together they comprised the family that was always the light of his life.

Family life was not without its challenges. Maryann, their first born, was born with Down syndrome and was unable to talk. Former Senator Sue Boyce has told me that John used to frequently tell the story that at the time of Maryann's birth doctors said to her parents to put her in a home and definitely not to have any more children. John used to chuckle as he reflected that that advice was, of course, advice they clearly rejected, going on to have a further nine children. Through the Herrons' lives, they were, though, touched with the tragedy of Maryann's passing in 1997. Their love for her drove them through her life and after to advocate passionately for the rights and dignity of Australians with Down syndrome. They played a leading role in the formation of the Down Syndrome Association of Queensland in the 1970s and, throughout their lives, commendably turned their personal and family hardship towards the public good.

True to form, it was John's concerns about the direction of public health policy that first spurred him into political action. John was an active and well-regarded member of the Queensland Liberal Party for many years and served as its state president from 1980 to 1984. He entered the parliament as a senator for Queensland in March 1990 but returned to the state presidency in mid-2001 and played a key role in bolstering the Queensland Liberal Party in support of the Howard government's re-election, which was secured later that year.

In this place John served on a number of committees and played a key role in two major Senate inquiries, addressing breast cancer screening and the Australian tobacco industry. As a surgeon who often treated women who were battling breast cancer, he was a reliable advocate for additional funding and support for breast cancer detection at a time when it was nowhere near as prominent and successful in the public mind as it is today. John also served as shadow parliamentary secretary to the shadow minister for health and, later, also for human services from 1994 to 1996.

With the election of the Howard government in 1996, John was made Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs. As minister, John's emphasis was principally on Indigenous health and welfare. For him, material improvements in the lives and fortunes of our First Australians were of utmost importance. Although he inherited the portfolio at a time when it faced sensitive and protracted issues, at his retirement he reflected not just on the portfolio's influence on his life and world view but on his contribution to making a difference in that important space.

John's outstanding moral character also shone through outside the walls of this parliament and, indeed, outside our nation. As the world reeled at the scale and carnage of the Rwandan genocide in 1994, John leapt into action and volunteered his surgical skills to save and rebuild lives. Taking leave from the Senate, he spent six weeks in Zaire's Katale refugee camp—a shocking experience that impacted him to his core. He let those experiences fuel his passion for justice. Once back home, he played an important role in ensuring that Australia ratified the creation of the International Criminal Court. He also advocated for additional Australian funding for the re-establishment of Rwanda's health services. His time in Rwanda tied him inextricably to its people. He keenly supported a young Rwandan refugee in starting their own medical career in Australia. Just last year, he served as guest of honour at the commemoration of the genocide's 24th anniversary in Brisbane. For his years of dedication he received the Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal in 2000 and the Australian Service Medal. Rwandan community leaders have been amongst the many tributes and accolades that have flowed since John's death. It is clear that his love and care for Rwanda's people were richly reciprocated, and rightly so.

Those acts of kindness were the hallmark of his life in parliament and more broadly. When then Democrat Cheryl Kernot lost her home in a 1991 arson attack, fellow Queenslander John was on hand not simply to console her but also to give her practical advice gleaned from the loss of his own home in a fire years earlier. It was unprompted acts of kindness like that which leant John such moral authority and earned him the respect of colleagues on all sides of politics.

Departing from the Senate in 2002, John's service to the nation was not finished. He went on to serve as Australia's Ambassador to Ireland and the Holy See from 2002 to 2006. Having been born into a family of rich Irish heritage and having concluded his senatorial career with a famous Irish blessing, there is no doubt that John's personal affection for Ireland helped him to serve ably as Australia's representative there.

After his diplomatic posting, he leveraged his decades of medical expertise as chair of the Australian National Council on Drugs and brought down a landmark report dubbed the Herron paper, which called for strong action on the growing use of ice and amphetamines. My wife, Courtney Morcombe, recalls serving alongside John as a member of the ANCD and remembers fondly his work, leadership, insight and compassion in that role. He also served diligently as the chairman of the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital Foundation from 2007 to 2010.

As a devout Catholic, John also worked as a World Youth Day ambassador in 2008. He relished the chance to guide and counsel young Australian Catholics in that role. John's deep and abiding personal faith and his lengthy service to the Catholic community saw him appointed as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and as a Papal Knight of St Gregory years earlier. This was later complemented by his receipt of the Australian Catholic University's highest honour, Doctor of the University, in May 2012. Finally, in recognition of a life given selflessly to the service of his nation and his fellow human beings, in 2012 John was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia.

Upon reflection, it is clear that John Herron lived many remarkable lives all in one. The scale and diversity of his achievements speak to a man of drive and energy and also to one of kindness and generosity. Nowhere was that kindness more on display than in his family life. For all of the success that he enjoyed, it speaks volumes of John's humility and character that he always held his 60 years of devoted marriage to Jan to be his greatest achievement. It is to his large and adoring family that I speak in concluding. To Jan, John's nine surviving children, his 24 grandchildren, their extended family, and all those whose lives were touched by his, on behalf of the Australian government, I offer our sincerest condolences on the passing of a loving husband, a wonderful father and a truly great Australian.