James Paterson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Cyber Security) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make a short contribution in tribute to my friend and our former colleague Senator Jim Molan. In doing so, I acknowledge his family, his friends and his former staff who are with us here today on what I know is another difficult day in the last couple of very difficult weeks in their lives. I associate myself with the very fine words of other senators who have spoken already in this debate, particularly those of Senator Birmingham and Senator Wong. It is a wonderful tribute to Jim as a person that he has been so warmly remembered by people from both sides of this chamber, and it is a reflection on the very fine way in which he conducted himself here.

I won't repeat his very distinguished CV and record of service, except to note what a rare and remarkable and amazing thing it is to have someone who has dedicated almost every single day of his life to the service of his nation—in uniform, in civil society organisations and, ultimately, here in in place. Jim lived a life for others and for his country, and that is a great act of selfless contribution to our country, for which we should be very grateful and for which he should be very warmly remembered. I hope his family is very proud, because it's an astonishing legacy and an example that he set for all of us.

Jim and I were collaborators in this place on issues of national security. We were both concerned about the strategic circumstances that our country finds itself in. The perspective, authority and credibility that Jim brought to those debates and public conversations were so important. He is in very large part to be credited for the very significant change in posture that Australia has adopted in the last five years to take much more seriously the threats that we face as a country and to see the world as it is rather than as we might prefer it to be—to accept the reality of the circumstances that we find ourselves in.

I've been reflecting over the last two weeks on the best tribute that we can pay to Jim and the best way in which we can honour his service, and I think it is by continuing his life's passion and life's work as best we can. We will be imperfect custodians of his legacy, because none of us can replicate his record of service and insight, but we can do our very best to carry on his progress and his mission.

I know Jim was gratified, grateful, proud and pleased of the progress that our country has made, particularly over the last five years, in readying ourselves for the period of conflict that we know is a possibility that will come in the future, but I know he was also dissatisfied that that progress wasn't far enough, swift enough and comprehensive enough. I know to his very last days he was agitating for more, faster, swifter and more comprehensive action to make sure our country is resilient and can navigate the tumultuous times that we suspect we will face in the decades to come.

Jim was absolutely right to view the national security challenges we face as a country holistically, to understand that it's not just about the capability or the kit that our defence forces are able to acquire but about our whole-of-nation resilience and readiness to survive a period of conflict. He was right to call out weaknesses, like our failure to ensure we have sufficient liquid fuel stocks here onshore in Australia. He was persistent in raising that and gained very significant and welcome progress, but I know in his view insufficient progress. That must be continued.

Jim had a very deep understanding that the prosperity, the harmony and the democracy that we enjoy here are historically rare and fragile, that there's nothing preordained or guaranteed about that being passed on to future generations—that there's no certainty of that—and that the only way that we can ensure that that happens is if we work assiduously at that task.

So I think it is important that we carry on his vision and that we heed the lessons particularly of his book Danger on Our Doorstep, which was really to wake us up out of the complacency that developed in some quarters in our country in recent decades and to get people to appreciate the very serious challenges that we face and the very dangerous circumstances that we live in, and to respond accordingly and with the necessary drive and action required to meet it.

I want to finish by reflecting, as others have, on Jim's personality. As many senators have noted, he was a warm, generous, funny and decent man. He was in many ways a happy warrior. He was a warrior for his cause and for the issues that he cared about, but he never allowed himself to be downcast, depressed or negative about it, even when he was battling very serious health challenges for many years. The fact that he was able to write a wonderful and important book, which I commend to all Australians, while receiving treatment for cancer is an extraordinary feat of personal resilience and strength that I think we can all draw inspiration from.

It was that sunny disposition and warm and friendly nature of his that I admired the most, despite the challenges he faced in his own life and despite the seriousness of the issues that he worked on. I hope that as senators we can honour that part of his legacy too and continue to conduct ourselves in a way that he would have hoped that we would—with decency, courtesy and politeness—while also tackling the very big challenges we face.

So I thank you, Jim. I thank you for the life of service that you have given to our country. I thank your family, who lent you to our country for 72 years. I thank you for the impact and legacy that you leave, and we will do our best to honour it.