Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to join with colleagues in acknowledging the service of former Senator Jim Molan AO, DSC. I will just make a few comments today. I have a fairly short contribution. I also want to associate myself with the comments previously made by others.

While many senators so far have reflected on various aspects of Senator Molan's service, including his extensive defence work and his national security work, I, like Senator McCarthy, really want to focus on the work we did together on the Select Committee on Stillbirth Research and Education, along with Senator McCarthy, Senator Rice and former senator Kristina Keneally. This was the only committee I served on with Senator Molan. Like me, he had been touched by the tragedy of stillbirth, having lost a grandchild who was born still in 2007. This was a tragic event for his family, particularly his daughter and her husband, but it did give Senator Molan, I believe, a perspective on stillbirth that made his contribution to the inquiry all the more valuable. He was the only male on the committee, and I don't think there could have been a better rep from the other side.

As Senator McCarthy and others have said, in this place, working on committees together, you get to know people and you get to understand them. Although I've been here for a very long time, this was, as I said, the only committee I worked on with Senator Molan. Prior to that committee I'd always thought: 'He's a happy guy. This guy is a happy guy.' He would always say hello to you in the corridors. He would always have a smile. That never, ever changed. From the first minute he was here, that's how I always thought of him. I didn't know him that well, and then we did the stillbirth committee. It was a bit of a challenge to some of us but it was a pleasure to have Senator Molan on that inquiry, although it was such a tragic and heartbreaking subject. We listened to witnesses who were traumatised and grieving, and Senator Molan, along with the other members of the committee, was hugely respectful, considerate and caring towards those witnesses. I thought the compassion, the thoughtfulness and the humility that Senator Molan demonstrated throughout the inquiry was highly admirable. I firmly believe that was how he was in life, and, listening to other people today, I think I'm right in having that view.

Like the other senators on that inquiry, Senator Molan understood that it was a tough conversation to confront but one that Australia had to have. It was a conversation for some of us, including him and me, that caused us to at times relive painful memories. Nevertheless, the work was done and it was done collegiately. Whether they were Labor, Liberal or Greens, the people on that committee truly showed the parliament at its best. I've been here for 15 years. I've got to say that I think that committee really did show the parliament at its best, and I would like to thank Senator Molan for his truly valuable contribution to that effort. Senator Molan's advocacy for supporting families affected by stillbirth and for reducing rates of stillbirth in Australia didn't just start and end with the inquiry. He continued that work afterwards as well.

We weren't close friends but, as I said, he was friendly to everyone. It was in his whole nature. As I said, he would always smile and say hello when passing in the corridor. I found out that his birth name—his first name—was Andrew. I used to think it was James and he was just called Jim but then I found out it was Andrew, and so I would always greet him in the corridors with, 'Hello, Andrew.' He would always laugh, always have a smile and always respond very cordially, 'Hello, Senator Bilyk.' But I would always say to him, 'Hello, Andrew,' and he always took it in good humour.

Senator Molan and I belong to a very select group of people. I am a cancer survivor—well, I'm in remission—as everybody in this place knows. I didn't talk to Senator Molan about his illness all that much, but can I say that just staying on top of it takes a lot of personal courage. Just being able to get up some mornings takes a lot of personal courage, even when you're in remission. From that perspective, I take my hat off to him for always being cheery. I'm not like that. Some days I'm like: 'Why me?' Of course, the question is: 'Why not me?' I don't think Jim was ever like that. Certainly, I don't think anybody in this place ever saw him like that. So I do take my hat off to him for that.

I would like to convey my sincere condolences to Senator Molan's family, his friends and his former staff. It's pretty hard work, I think, when something like this happens to your boss. I know through the stillbirth inquiry how much respect he had for his staff and they had for him. To his family I will just say I knew him as a kind, considerate, compassionate gentleman. You are no doubt proud of his legacy, and deservedly so. I hope you have very fond memories of him and I hope they help you at this very sad time. Vale Jim Molan.