Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

I, too, rise to pay my respects to our colleague Senator Jim Molan. In commencing my comments today I do just want to acknowledge Jim's family, and in particular those members who have been able to join us in the gallery today.

In life generally Jim had so many rich experiences. There are almost too many to actually talk about. We are going to hear so many of them today, and at his funeral in particular—or at the celebration of his life, should I say—we're all able to be privileged to hear the presentation of his military record. But when you look at what was the one rich experience in life that Jim treasured more than anything—and it was one that he was so happy to talk about at any time, on any day—that was, of course, his family. That was the richest experience in Jim's life, despite serving us at the highest levels, whether that be in the armed forces or the Australian Senate. His family was the richest experience in his life.

Colleagues will recall that when Jim walked into the final coalition Senate party room—and it was unexpected to have Jim join us that day—he received resounding applause. We were just all so honoured, but so happy, to have Jim join us for that final Senate party room meeting. All of us knew he had had a battle on his hands. That was something that was on the public record. But I don't think any of us knew that we would be farewelling him so soon. We had certainly hoped not, and many of us had prayed not. The rousing applause, though, wasn't just for a man who was fighting a very brave battle with cancer. It was for so much more. It was for the man that we, as his colleagues, had come to know, respect and love.

It goes without saying that Jim was a giant of a man, and, since his passing, so many members of the Liberal Party in particular have said to me, 'Michaelia, what is the one thing you personally remember about Jim Molan?' I think, as Senator McKenzie has just articulated, that the one thing I will always remember about our colleague Jim Molan is his smile. Whenever Jim walked into a room, it did not matter what the day was, what the time was, what the issue was, what the challenge was—it didn't matter what the battle was that he was personally fighting—he was always smiling. And when you saw Jim smile you knew, 'Oh, everything's is actually going to be alright.'

He was, without a doubt, a true patriot and dedicated servant of this nation, and, of course, that wasn't just through the period of time in this place but throughout his career and life. But he was, as we have heard, so much more as well. He was, without a doubt, a gentleman—a decent and honourable man. And, as I've said, and as we are going to hear continually today, he was a committed family man, dedicated to his wife, Anne, children and grandchildren.

Jim's service to the nation began at a very young age. Jim was born into a military family, the son of World War II veteran Andrew and his wife, Noni. Jim grew up in Melbourne and dreamed of one day entering the military. At the age of 18 he was accepted into the Royal Military College, Duntroon. His distinguished career started with his first posting to the 1st Battalion, Pacific Islands Regiment in Papua New Guinea. He spent more than three years there as the regiment worked to help PNG move towards independence and democracy in 1975. As we have all heard, early in his stint in PNG he returned to Australia to marry Anne Williams, whom he had met whilst at Duntroon, and this was to form a life partnership.

Following the PNG posting, Jim spent time serving in the 9th Battalion, Royal Queensland Regiment and in the 3rd and 6th Battalions, Royal Australian Regiment. In 1992, as a colonel, Jim was posted to Jakarta as the Australian Defence Force attache, where he served until 1994. In 1998, as a brigadier, he returned as defence attache for a further two years, witnessing Indonesia's chaos following the fall of the President Suharto, the Asian financial crisis and East Timor's vote for independence. He joined the Australian Army deployment in East Timor in 1999 and later became commander of the Australian Defence College.

It doesn't stop there, though. Jim was posted to Baghdad in 2004 as Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations for the new multinational force. He effectively commanded a force of 270,000, including more than 130,000 Americans, the rest drawn from Iraq and dozens of coalition nations. In Iraq, Jim led the creation of new mechanisms to coordinate and improve the security of vital infrastructure, monitoring overall security repair, ministerial liaison, contracting and command. He was in command during the battles of Fallujah, Najaf, Tal Afar, Samawah and Mosul. Jim survived an anti-aircraft gun attack on a Blackhawk helicopter; it was one of at least 15 attacks that he survived, including from rocket propelled grenades and mortars.

The Iraqi elections scheduled for January 2005 represented a huge challenge. In the seven days before the Iraqi election in January 2005, coalition and Iraqi security forces were attacked around 800 times, and 260 times on election day. On the night before the election a rocket hit a room next to Jim's room, killing two Americans. It failed to detonate, probably saving Jim's life.

Jim was a highly decorated soldier during his military career. He was awarded the Australian Active Service Medal, Defence Force Service Medal (Federation Star), the Australian Defence Medal, the Papua New Guinea Independence Medal, the Order of the Star of Yudha Dharma 3rd Class (Indonesia), Officer of the Legion of Merit (United States) and the Distinguished Service Cross. Of that, I know his family is so very proud. He was also appointed a member of the Order of Australia in 1992 and Officer of the Order of Australia in 2000.

From the moment Jim stepped into the Senate chamber in 2017, he showed wisdom, integrity, commitment, resilience and perseverance. As we have heard, Jim's extensive and highly decorated military career meant he brought strong views into this place about Australia's place in the world, our defence capabilities and our future requirements. His military experience and security knowledge meant he was an invaluable member on the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, as well as the one for migration. Jim was, without a doubt, a conviction politician. But, at the same time, despite being a conviction politician, he was someone—and we learnt this so well—who would listen to all sides of an argument before deciding his position. But once Jim had decided a position he then fiercely held and defended it.

He was a great believer in the Liberal values and worked hard within the party to build grassroots membership and also to mentor young Liberals. He was in fact also a mentor for many in this place. Someone with so many years of experience outside of politics always has a great perspective to bring into the Senate. Jim was also a sought-after commentator, for obvious reasons, particularly on national security and defence matters. Outside of this place though, he had a great love of flying and held both fixed-wing and helicopter pilot licences. He also served his community as part of the rural fire brigade.

But, as I stated at the beginning, Jim's greatest love of all was his family, and he celebrated 50 years of marriage to Anne in April of last year. It is never easy losing a life partner, but, after 50 years together, I can't even begin to imagine what that is like. In fact, so many said to me during my time of knowing Jim that it's not often in life that you meet two people and can actually just feel they are soulmates; they have come together in this life. That is something that people often said about Jim and Anne—they are true soulmates. Jim and Anne's marriage of course produced four wonderful children, and my condolences go to daughters Sarah, Erin and Felicity, and son, Michael, as well as his beautiful grandchildren, who, as we all know, he just adored. We saw at Jim's funeral what a wonderful and close tight-knit family you are and how your strong bond will help see you through this. We are going to hear so often today just how proud Jim was of his family and, without a doubt, he was not shy in telling us that. There will always be a family within this place who will always be here for you all, ready to support and help you in any way we can.

Finally, to Jim himself: thank you, Jim, for your great service to this nation over many years. There are very few like you in this nation's history, but we should all hope that there will be more like you in our future. A finer example could not have been set. Rest in peace, Jim Molan.