Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Australian Greens, I offer my condolences to the family and friends of Major General Michael Jeffery. As others have noted, Major General Jeffery had a distinguished career in defence, before serving as Governor of Western Australia and then Governor-General of Australia. These are important roles and we thank him for the care and the dignity that he brought to them.

I want to speak very briefly of his longstanding passion for environmental stewardship. He was a committed advocate for land care, for regenerative agriculture and for sustainable vegetation management. He spoke about the value of soil carbon long before it became a government buzzword. He had long discussed the need for agricultural practices to build resilience and adapt to a changing climate. I acknowledge his tenacity and the work that he did as National Soils Advocate to secure the national soils strategy. I hope that the government will respect his legacy.

Major General Jeffery was also someone who understood the importance of time with family in nature and away from the cut and thrust of political life. I was pleased to discover that, when asked about his favourite holiday destination, he nominated Stradbroke Island, or Minjerribah. That is something that we shared. He said of the time spent with his wife and children on Straddie, escaping the sometimes punishing schedule of events at Government House: 'Just the sight of the white sand and the sparkling blue water lifts the spirits. It is nice, therefore, to have some time to ourselves, and that is one of the major attractions to holidaying at Stradbroke. Days just meander by and we feel part of the local community. We might end the day watching a beautiful sunset, followed by a game of Scrabble. For us that is bliss and we've kept coming back over many years.' I would encourage as many people as can to also come to enjoy Minjerribah, or Stradbroke Island, in my home state of Queensland.

I'm sure that the memories of those times together are a comfort to Major General Jeffery's family. Our thanks go to Major General Jeffery for his years of dedication to governance, environmental protection and sustaining the planet for future generations.