Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the Senate records its deep sorrow at the death, on 8 November 2022, of the Honourable Peter Keaston Reith AM, former Minister for Defence, Minister for Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business and Minister for Industrial Relations, and former member for Flinders, places on record its gratitude of his service to the Parliament and the nation and tenders its profound sympathy to his family in their bereavement.

I rise on behalf of the government to express our condolences following the passing of former minister Hon. Peter Keaston Reith, AM, who passed away on 8 November 2022 at the age of 72. I do so as the Minister representing the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations in the Senate, recognising the portfolios held by Peter Reith for the majority of his ministerial career. As I begin, I wish to convey the government's condolences to Mr Reith's family and friends. I particularly acknowledge members of the Reith family who have travelled to be present for condolence motions in the House of Representatives and the Senate today.

There's no doubt that Peter Reith was a controversial figure in Australian politics, particularly for those on our side of the chamber. I do not say this disrespectfully, but to recognise that for many people he was the personification of policies they opposed vociferously and tenaciously. But Peter Reith was equally as vociferous and tenacious in his promotion of those policies, particularly in industrial relations, and the extent to which some of them became entrenched in Australia's legislative architecture is a measure of his efforts. So, too, is the regard in which he is held amongst those on his own side of politics. Whilst his life and contribution will be remembered differently on different parts of the Australian political spectrum, today we all recognise his impact on our nation.

Peter Reith was born in Melbourne and was educated at Brighton Grammar School, and then at Monash University, from where he graduated with qualifications in economics and law. He worked as a solicitor in Cowes on Phillip Island and was then elected as a councillor and, later, as President of the Shire of Phillip Island. Active in the Liberal Party from his teenage years, he gained federal preselection after defeating, amongst others, Richard Alston, who would go on to become a senator and cabinet minister alongside him in the Howard government.

Peter Reith entered federal politics in 1982 after winning the seat of Flinders in a by-election to replace Sir Philip Lynch, serving first under the leadership of Malcolm Fraser. He lost his seat the next year but was then re-elected to the House of Representatives in 1984 and further returned in 1987, 1990, 1993, 1996 and 1998. Mr Reith retired prior to the 2001 election.

Some might say the timing of Peter Reith's election was unfortunate, given it coincided with a sustained period of Labor government under Bob Hawke and Paul Keating. But, in many ways, the time Peter Reith served in opposition was an extensive apprenticeship and preparation for a sustained period in government. He was a loyal warrior under four Liberal leaders: Andrew Peacock, John Hewson, Alexander Downer and John Howard. He held office as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party from 1990 to 1993, shoulder to shoulder with John Hewson.

In addition, Mr Reith filled a number of shadow ministerial positions in portfolios including housing, sport, Attorney-General's, Treasury, Defence, foreign affairs and industrial relations. In these, particularly as the shadow Treasurer, responsible for selling tax reform with a consumption tax as its centre piece, he travelled the hard road in pursuit of his beliefs. Paul Keating once described Peter Reith as 'one of those inflatable clowns with sand in the bottom and you knock them down and they bounce back up'. I am pretty sure that was a compliment. Mr Reith also earned a reputation as an indefatigable headkicker and strong policy opponent, such as through his part in defeating the 1988 referendum proposals.

The big defeat of the Keating government in March 1996 heralded a big change in Australian politics. Whatever you think, John Howard led a transformational government that would have a lasting impact on our nation. It was not a transformation that those of us on this side of the chamber agreed with, necessarily. Peter Reith stood alongside John Howard as a key lieutenant charged with implementing some of the most contentious elements of the coalition's policy agenda. He held the positions of Minister for Industrial Relations and then Minister for Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business from 1996 to 2001. In addition, he served as Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service from 1996 to 1997 and Minister for Defence in 2001.

Peter Reith's political legacy is undeniably extensive and his pursuit of his vision for workplace relations reform was tireless. The reforms he put forward as the minister responsible for workplace relations made a significant impact on Australia in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Although the Albanese Labor government has a very different vision for getting there, reforming the workplace relations system to underpin productivity is an important policy goal. It's fair to say that we will put as much energy into reforming our workplace relations system as Peter Reith did in his time.

Peter Reith will always be remembered for the role that he played in a series of waterfront disputes in the 1990s, one of the most significant periods in Australian workplace relations history. Under the Howard government, following the keystone 1998 High Court decision to prevent deunionisation of the waterfront, Mr Reith implemented significant workplace changes. It's fair to say that this decision, and this time, was one of the most polarising periods of Australia's workplace relations history. There are images and headlines that are seared into the collective memory of the union movement and of businesses, and these are not going to be forgotten, even though it happened more than two decades ago.

Outside of his ministerial responsibilities, Peter Reith campaigned for a republic prior to the unsuccessful 1999 referendum, its defeat welcomed as he reflected a preference for a directly elected president as opposed to the model put to the Australian people.

In the final year of his ministerial career, John Howard switched Peter Reith to the Defence portfolio, which placed him as a key figure in the contentious 'children overboard' affair during the 2001 election campaign in which the then government falsely claimed that asylum seekers had thrown their children out of a leaky fishing boat, later the subject of a Senate select committee inquiry. This was a regrettable end to a parliamentary career that had spanned nearly two decades.

Peter Reith was a well-respected colleague and mentor of many in this parliament—and in the Liberal Party, in particular—across four decades. His allies regarded him as a person of integrity and trust. I pay tribute to his undoubted commitment to his community, his dedication to his portfolios and the fact that he was always true to his beliefs. Any chronicle of the Howard government would be incomplete without extensive acknowledgement of the contribution of Peter Reith.

Today we also acknowledge he has passed away at a relatively young age and in circumstances that robbed him and those around him of years and further contributions in his post-political life. I acknowledge that the fight against Alzheimer's disease is incredibly difficult for individuals, their families and their friends. The government expresses its condolences following the passing of the Hon. Peter Keaston Reith AM and we again convey our sympathies to his family and those who knew him well.