Claire Chandler (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to pay respect to an upstanding member of the Liberal Party, a dedicated representative of New South Wales and a distinguished major-general, Andrew James Molan, AO, DSC, who we all knew as Jim.

Senator Molan's passing is being felt around this chamber and in this parliament by all of us who knew him and by the Australian community who so greatly admired him and his lifetime of dedicated service to our nation. As a representative in the Senate for New South Wales, Jim was a champion for his state: a man of honour, who worked with distinction to serve the interests of his community. He was a proud Liberal, but above all he was a proud Australian and a fierce defender of our national sovereignty, both in the parliament and in his distinguished career in our armed forces.

Jim will be remembered as one of Australia's most important voices in speaking up eloquently and persuasively about the increasing security threats Australia faces and the need for us to more urgently prepare for those threats. Jim's deep knowledge and understanding of issues of national security and Australia's armed force capabilities stemmed from his time serving in our defence forces, where he attained the rank of major-general in the Australian Army. With a number of published works to his name, the breadth of Jim's expertise made him a highly respected voice on such matters. His final book, published just last year, Danger on our Doorstep, made a sobering assessment of the challenges to regional and global security posed by an increasingly aggressive Chinese Communist Party.

On a personal level, I was honoured to have worked with Jim on the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee, and I always deeply valued his wisdom and the guidance that he provided to me. I think I will continue to value that wisdom and guidance in retrospect from here.

His passion and his single-minded focus on issues of national security proved to be an invaluable asset when it came to scrutinising Australia's defence policy and military capability. It was a measure of Jim's character and dedication to Australia that, despite his ill health, he attended Senate estimates in November last year and asked a series of questions about our nation's defence capabilities that were, as usual for Jim, incisive, pertinent and deeply relevant to Australia's future challenges. In the years ahead, I and I'm sure many of my colleagues in the Liberal Party will do our best to continue Jim's legacy by asking the questions that Jim would have asked and speaking openly and without spin about the threats that Australia faces and what we need to do to counter them.

He was a good friend to all of us, a mentor to many and a voice of reason within our party room and the parliament, and I know that he will be deeply missed. I extend sincere condolences to Jim's family, particularly those who are here today, who I know have lost a loving husband, father and grandfather. Rest in peace, Jim, and thank you for your service.