Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

RES (—) (): It is completely appropriate that the Senate pause for a period to reflect on the life and service of John Kerin. I do want to thank the speakers thus far—the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and the Leader of the Nationals in the Senate—for their thoughtful contributions. It does reflect, I think, the fact that John was widely regarded as a remarkable—we might argue about whether he was the best—contributor in agriculture and across a range of policy areas. He was loved across the parliament, particularly in the Australian Labor Party, for the seriousness of his convictions and the way that he approached the task of politics.

As Senator Watt said in his contribution, a number of us have benefited from engaging with John over the years, and I'm one of those people. He was very generous. For a bloke who was very busy in his retirement, he was very generous with his time. He had a thoughtful approach to the challenges that faced modern Labor in this parliament and the parliaments before it. I am very grateful. I came from a background where my family valued farming, agricultural science and education, and John Kerin epitomised those values and drives in a way that is very uncommon in modern politics.

I don't intend to traverse all of the details of John's history here—and his later life has been done very well so far—but I want to make a couple of reflections. His intellect and capacity to bring a sharp, well-read policy brain to the problems of the era that he was engaged in had their foundations in his own drive for self-improvement. He didn't do undergraduate study on a university campus. He did it at night-time, studying at night school to finish his high school education and by correspondence to complete his university education—and it was all done after the farm work was done. He worked through the night.

His brother gave a very compelling account of the hard work and commitment required for John to get the education that he got, and that drive for self-improvement continued all through his life. He's left a legacy of reform in agriculture. He certainly was a person who could draw the relationship between agriculture policy, trade policy and industry policy, and he knew that reform agenda and issues like no other Australian politician. He was deeply sceptical of the Australian Senate. It would have come as no surprise to him that our condolence motion for him was delayed by a further hour and 40 minutes because of some debates and playing up in the Senate! He would have found that irony pretty rewarding.

His book, 450,000 words on agricultural policy, and with him having been an agriculture minister, is available in the Parliamentary Library. It is absolutely worth grabbing. It is a show stopper—possibly a doorstopper—a real page turner. It's absolutely worth grabbing for anybody interested in agricultural politics, research and development, science, industry policy or thinking about their role as a member of parliament or senator. His contribution after his retirement had been immense.

I want to express on behalf of all of my colleagues, particularly those from New South Wales, how well loved and deeply respected John was. His state funeral was a remarkable occasion, in the Old Parliament House, and I pass on my respects and condolences to his remarkable family. Vale.

Question agreed to, honourable senators joining in a moment of silence.