Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

I also rise to add my voice to this motion on the significant life and legacy of the Hon. Peter Reith. Like his funeral in Melbourne, which brought together many distinguished Australians from all sides of politics, the tributes to Peter Reith in this place have reflected the high regard in which he was held. John Howard was correct to call Peter Reith 'the great all-rounder'. This well-deserved title represented Peter Reith's many achievements as a minister in the Howard government, as well as his prior service to the Liberal Party during years spent in the shadow of the Hawke and Keating governments.

As we've heard, Peter Reith began his political career by winning the by-election for the seat of Flinders in December 1982. John Howard is said to have jokingly remarked to Peter Reith that his victory in Flinders was the straw that broke the camel's back, leading to Bill Hayden being replaced by Bob Hawke. Peter Reith would lose his seat in the 1983 election, but came back in the substantial swing towards the Liberals in 1984. He was the Deputy leader from April 1990 to March 1993, and would campaign with John Hewson for a broad based consumption tax which, in a policy document known as Fightback!, was the inception of the future GST. It was this work with Fightback! that made Peter Reith a household name amongst Western Australian Liberals. Western Australians endorsed the Fightback! reform agenda like no other state. In 1993, at the general election, it was Western Australia, against the odds, that won the marginal seats of Stirling and Cowan—a great triumph for the Western Australian Liberal Party on the back of the great work of Peter Reith and John Hewson.

Of course Peter Reith will perhaps be most widely remembered for his roles as industrial relations minister, cleaning up Australia's waterfront and, as Minister for Defence, in strengthening Australia's borders. It's easy to forget what was actually achieved on the waterfront after April 1998. The Productivity Commission at the time had found that container stevedoring charges were higher than overseas, that ship loading and unloading was slower and that services were less reliable. But Peter Reith's reforms had worked, and by 2003 the Productivity Commission had reported net crane rate for terminals at Australia's five main container ports exceeded the 25 containers per hour target for the very first time.

Peter Reith's passing is an opportunity to remember the life of a great and wide-ranging parliamentarian. A long-time Peter Reith staffer had reminded his peers that Peter Reith had often championed lesser-known causes. One of those was a local constituent who had been sexually harassed while serving on HMAS Swan. A government inquiry, prosecuted then by Peter Reith in opposition, led to changes to how women were accepted and treated in the Navy. And, as we've heard, another was his low-key advocacy for Indigenous employment conducted during a series of trips throughout regional and rural Australia, without the media in tow. His staff have often said that Peter Reith was someone who believed that there was no point in being in parliament unless you were going to do something.

Peter Reith sometimes held unique and surprising positions on various topics, like being a supporter of citizen-initiated referendums and direct elections for an Australian head of state. But Peter Reith always took a very principled position and campaigned against the republic model in 1998-99, often copping criticism because he did not believe it was the best form of governance for Australia. Of course, inside the Liberal Party opponents found it difficult to pin on him a faction or a camp, which again I think is why Peter Reith was a great all-rounder—someone who practiced pragmatic and practical politics but always delivering lasting, tangible results. After he retired from politics in 2001 he continued to be an active member of branch politics and, in 2010, Peter Reith chaired the Liberal review for the 2010 election and discussed the benefits of party plebiscites for pre-selection nearly a decade before they became a commonly accepted mechanism.

Our party is a stronger party for the contribution of Peter Reith, and this afternoon I add the condolences of every Western Australian Liberal to his family and acknowledge his tremendous strength of character, his policy foresight and, as has been mentioned, his tenacity.