Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Randwick! Goodness! Hello—I take it back, I withdraw: it was Randwick. It was a very serious race, so little wonder that Marise, being diligent enough not to have swapped her frontbench duty, wasn't going to miss watching the race at Randwick. So we sat there together in the seats where Senator Cash and Senator Ruston are sitting now and we watched him come home for the win. I think the clerks at the table were completely befuddled as to what on earth was happening in the seats next to them as we saw Marise's horse win.

Marise was a challenge, I'm sure, for Penny to follow in the foreign ministry in a range of ways, but was so equally for me in international engagement—and, no doubt, for Don. It's because her precise pronunciation and elocution in everything is something none of the rest of us can live up to. Former senator Fifield used to love to play a particular game with Marise, back in the days when you could find a karaoke bar in Canberra and it was acceptable to go there at night. Outside the karaoke, Mitch would pose questions to Marise about when something or other would happen, desperately hoping that the answer would mean her saying 'Wednes-day'. I'm still not doing it justice—Wed-nes-day! Indeed, every syllable was precisely pronounced. But that certainly served well in international engagement.

President, against the realpolitik we all work within, Marise has held true to her values and beliefs, and fought tirelessly for the people of New South Wales, in particular in Western Sydney and particularly alongside Stuart. She has been a passionate liberal, both philosophically and politically. The high regard Marise enjoys internationally is exemplified in her recent nomination by the United States, as she started her remarks with, to act as the ship's sponsor for the USS Canberra, the first US Navy ship to ever be commissioned outside the US. She already serves on the board of the Observer Research Foundation America, and I have no doubt there will be many more such contributions to come. It's impossible for me to meet with foreign ministers, or former foreign ministers, around the world in my current role and not have them speak highly of Marise or extending their best wishes to Marise. I know that so many of them continue to engage with her.

What she demonstrated today was a reminder to all of us that being here matters, that it always matters and always deserves our respect and gratitude for the opportunity to be here. So we farewell Marise from this Australian Senate, but I know that the work she does in the future will always matter; that she will continue to work for Australia and for global peace and prosperity, and that I will leave here with a very dear lifelong friend.