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

by leave—I move:

That the Senate expresses its sadness at the death, on 16 April 2021, of the Honourable Andrew Sharp Peacock AC, former Leader of the Liberal Party and Minister for Foreign Affairs and former Member for Kooyong, places on record its admiration and appreciation for his service to the Parliament and the nation, and tenders its deep sympathy to his family in their bereavement.

The Hon. Andrew Sharp Peacock, 'the colt from Kooyong', was a great Australian and a loyal icon and servant of the Liberal Party. A larger-than-life man with the charisma to match, he served his nation devotedly across a lifetime of public service. Born in Melbourne on 13 February 1939, Andrew studied at Scotch College before going on to study law at Melbourne university. He got his start in politics early, joining the Liberal Party as a teenager. In 1965, at the age of 26, Andrew became the youngest ever president of the Victorian Division of the Liberal Party of Australia. Just a year later he was elected to parliament, in the 1966 by-election caused by the resignation of the Rt Hon. Sir Robert Menzies in the seat of Kooyong. The constituency of Kooyong would return Andrew to the seat at a 12 further elections. All up, Andrew served 28 years, five months and 15 days as the member for Kooyong. About 10 of those years were spent serving as a government minister.

Despite his young age upon being elected to parliament, Andrew's rapid ascendancy continued swiftly. After Andrew had been just a few years in the parliament, then-Prime Minister Gorton appointed him to his cabinet, in 1969, as the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister and the Minister for the Army, during the Vietnam War. Andrew was aged just 30 years old at the time. He also held responsibility for a variety of portfolios, serving as Minister for External Territories, Cabinet Minister, Minister for Environment, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister for Industry and Commerce, under Prime Ministers Gorton, McMahon and Fraser.

As Minister for Foreign Affairs, he discharged the role with distinction and won the respect of Australia's close allies, especially in the immediate region. Andrew leveraged his strong and sincere relationship with the people of Papua New Guinea to help oversee its transition to full self-government and independence. His role in Papua New Guinea's independence cannot, and should not, be overstated. The Papua New Guinean government later made him an honorary Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu, their highest honour.

Following the defeat of the Fraser government in 1983, Andrew took the reins of the Liberal Party as its leader and as Leader of the Opposition. When then Prime Minister Hawke called an early election in 1984, Andrew Peacock was a clear underdog. However, he was widely credited with outcampaigning Hawke during a long campaign and, certainly, with reducing the margin of the Hawke government at the time. In his second stint as leader, Andrew led a strong campaign in the 1990 election, narrowly achieving a majority of the vote, but was narrowly defeated overall. At a speech on the occasion of Andrew's 80th birthday in 2019, he reflected on those battles, the Liberal leadership and, particularly, the contest for the prime ministership. He said:

Unlike most of my colleagues I did not hunger for the job as prime minister. I truly was more interested in what we were doing than the post itself. I wanted good posts. I wanted to be the foreign minister, but being prime minister was not the central orient; it wasn't the central purpose to what I was doing.

I mean it was still important and disappointing to lose … I don't want to put it down, but I wasn't sitting there like some do plotting to be prime minister. It wasn't in my nature.

My friend, former minister and former senator for South Australia, Amanda Vanstone tells me, in reflecting on Andrew Peacock, that he rose above the slings, arrows and disappointments of politics. She said that he did not let bitterness infest him. It is an important lesson and legacy that Andrew leaves for all of us who pass through this place. Indeed, Andrew continued to approach politics and public life with dignity and an unmistakable toughness, matched by his sense of humour and typically affable manner. Amanda also told me of a classic story of how one night, by then in the new parliament, Andrew sat watching other people. She recounts:

He said if someone pushed the cork into an empty bottle he was sure he could remove it without breaking the bottle.

Like a fly fisherman teasing the water he drew them in. 20 bucks per person was the bet.

Amanda credits herself as being lucky not to get sucked in. Others were not so lucky. She said that he scooped the pool and collected his cash after managing to extract the cork—one of many party tricks—and much amusement formed around the room. She hasn't yet explained to me exactly how the trick is achieved.

In similarly fond reflections of Andrew Peacock as someone able to impart a good sense of humour, sometimes even at his own expense, former Leader of the Government in the Senate Robert Hill recounts a memory that he had of Andrew. He said:

He was always fun. I remember at a meeting in Athens someone was giving a boring speech. Peacock looked at me, pulled out a set of keys and dropped them on the table.

He then looked at me and said, 'Shirley's', with a mischievous smile.

Robert, though, went on to say that, beyond the charm and style, Andrew Peacock had a substance—focused on sensible, practical public policy outcomes, directed to benefit those who most needed the support of government. Robert said, 'It's why I thought he would make a good prime minister.'

As those personal stories from those who knew Andrew will reveal, he was authentic and humorous but he had his heart in the right place and a head for good policy. He will be remembered fondly by those on both sides of the political aisle as a man who approached politics with dignity and toughness.

After his formal political career ended in 1994, Andrew continued his public service as a distinguished and successful Australian ambassador to the United States. As former Prime Minister John Howard said of his appointment of his former political rival as ambassador:

I welcomed the opportunity of appointing him as Australia's ambassador to the United States in 1996. He discharged that role with much distinction. His knowledge of American politics enabled him to provide special insights regarding our most important ally. Australia lost a man who brought flair and style as well as high intelligence to his years in public life.

I know that the current Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Payne, would wish to be here if she could to speak of her dear friend, her former employer and one of her mentors, in Andrew Peacock. It's notable that she is out walking in the steps of Andrew as our foreign minister today, representing our nation overseas, and I know that Marise looks forward, and will value the opportunity, to reflecting on Andrew more formally on another occasion.

Andrew Peacock was a great man—a great Australian who gave much to our nation, and a great liberal. On behalf of the Australian government and the Senate, I extend our sincerest condolences to Andrew's wife, Penne, and his three daughters, Ann, Caroline and Jane, and the thanks of a grateful nation for the service that he gave.