Perin Davey (NSW, National Party, Shadow Minister for Water) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to make a contribution on this condolence motion for Senator Jim Molan. I am a former Defence Force member myself, but Senator Molan—Jim—was a full-time officer. He was dedicated for many, many years. I was a part-time Army reservist and a non-commissioned officer. However, you couldn't have been in the Defence Force at the time without having heard of Jim Molan and having the utmost respect for the rank, the experience and the dedication that he had.

I don't want to focus on Jim's military service, as monumental as it was. I had the joy of being the person whose name appeared above his name on the 2019 Senate ticket. As my colleague Senator McKenzie said earlier, despite the way Jim first came into the parliament and our relationship with the Nationals, we are firm friends. We always have been firm friends.

Jim first came into this chamber on a constitutional countback, replacing my colleague former senator Fiona Nash, which, I'll be honest, did rankle a few Nats, who were saying, 'Why have we got a Liberal taking what we saw as our seat?' But it was a constitutional countback. It was all above board, and Jim, through no fault of his own, came into this place and served with honour. Then, in 2019, through no fault of mine, his name appeared below mine on our coalition Senate ticket, leading to what was—as Senator Wong mentioned—probably the largest below-the-line vote we've ever seen in a Senate election. He got three per cent of the vote, which was awesome.

I need to personally thank him because that huge vote made a significant contribution to ensuring that the coalition got three senators up in that election, and I was one of them. So I'm very, very grateful to Jim, but I'm also grateful that he didn't give up, and I'm grateful that the Liberal Party saw fit to put him in, in November that very same year, to replace the casual vacancy when Senator Arthur Sinodinos retired to take an overseas position.

I didn't know what to expect when Jim came into this place while I was here, but what I met was an absolute consummate gentleman. He was such a beautiful and genuine man with such—we've talked about his smile—a smile that was absolutely infectious and contagious. He was a true optimist and also a team player. When I finally got to meet him and we had a little bit of a joke about him trying to beat me in the election, he grinned and said, 'You know it wasn't personal, mate?' and we became firm friends ever since.

Because Jim was also a regional senator for New South Wales, we shared some duty electorates and we crossed over in our representation of regional areas, so I also want to extend a massive thank you to Jim's staff who were always so professional, so accessible and so loyal. It shows what sort of a man Jim was himself to have that level of loyalty and commitment from his staff.

Even when Jim first fell ill, an outsider looking in would not have known it, because Jim stayed engaged. He kept penning articles and op-eds, and his staff remained engaged. They never stopped working for their constituency, for the people of New South Wales and for the people of Australia. So I really want to thank the staff. My staff certainly appreciated the level of connections that we had.

The last time I saw Jim was late last year when he came to our joint party room and also when the Leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, asked for all former service personnel to attend and have a photo together. I really appreciated being able to see Jim. He did not, for one second, give off the trials that he was personally going through. He still stood as tall as he ever stood. He still smiled as broadly as he ever smiled. He didn't dwell on what he was going through. He asked things like: How are you doing? How's life in the Senate? Are we keeping them honest? Like Jim, I had really hoped that he would again go into remission. I had really hoped that he would again be here with us, doing his job and doing what you could tell he found very rewarding and that kept him busy and occupied, but it wasn't to be.

So I send my condolences to Anne and to his family. I am so grateful that you allowed Jim the time to spend in this place with us, and I'm sure I join all my colleagues in sending you our condolences. I'm sure he's at peace, and he will not be forgotten.