Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Multicultural Engagement) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, President. I congratulate you on those words. I think your words underline the great impression Linda had on people whom she knew a long time and, in my case, someone who knew Linda only far, far too briefly—over 1½ years. I wish to express my sincere and profound condolences to Linda's family, her friends, her staff and—I use this term out of deep respect for Linda—her comrades in the Labor Party and across the broader labour movement.

I worked closely with Linda in two contexts. The first was on the Scrutiny of Delegated Legislation Committee. As Senator Wong said, it is one of the oldest and most important committees in this place. It upholds scrutiny principles which this chamber has unanimously agreed to. Those are important scrutiny principles about the protections of Australians' rights and liberties. They are about making sure our delegated legislation is constitutional and that things aren't put in delegated legislation which should be dealt with in bills. Senator White was an outstanding chair of that committee. First, she did the hard work, she got across the detail and she understood the arguments. Second, she was committed to those scrutiny principles and applying those scrutiny principles on a nonpartisan basis. And third, she was courageous and fearless in terms of raising the arguments with ministers.

One of the things I profoundly enjoyed about working with Senator Linda White was those times when we would call ministers before the committee. Speaking out of school, we used to caucus between each other as to how we would approach the ministers. I would typically be the lead attack dog, and Linda would follow up at the end and do such a wonderful job. At times you could see the looks on the ministers' faces as they confronted my questioning and got through my questioning and then turned to Linda and thought: 'Maybe I've gotten through this now. Maybe I've managed to get through this, and I've beaten this process.' Then Linda would come in at the conclusion and reinforce the arguments that we'd made. I greatly enjoyed that process with Linda, and she brought to bear on that process her wonderful, wonderful sense of humour, which I dearly miss.

I also worked closely with Linda under her chairing of the joint select committee that looked at the NACC legislation—one of the most important pieces of legislation to come before this parliament in many, many years. At the start of that process, Linda and I had a discussion in which we said it was so important that that joint select committee deliver a unanimous report. We wanted to deliver a unanimous report with unanimous recommendations, and we were both committed to that process because we thought that was important. It was important, as that new institution was set up as part of Australia's governance processes. And we delivered that.

I can remember laughing with Linda, and I have no doubt her staff will remember this, when an article appeared in the AFRyou know what I'm talking about—which referred to Linda having been given a job to 'sit and steer'. Linda and I had a deep chuckle about that at the time, but can I say: Linda did not sit and steer; Linda led and delivered. I can remember, in my discussions with Linda during that debate, that there was one moment—when you're having discussions in relation to things like this, you push as far as you can—when we gave another gentle push, and I saw a fire leap in Linda's eye and I thought, 'Senator Scarr, that's as far as we're going to get here!' It was time for a tactical withdrawal. The second thing I thought at that time was: 'Gee, I like this woman. I really like her.'

I want to read to you and put on the record a media release that was put out by the Attorney, the Hon. Mark Dreyfus, on 22 November, just to underline the positive impact that Senator Linda White had in relation to the work of that committee. I'm going to read this for the Hansard record. To Linda's staff: you share in this achievement.

The Government has today tabled amendments to further strengthen the National Anti-Corruption Commission Bill.

These amendments follow careful consideration of recommendations—

and they were unanimous recommendations—

made by the reports of the Joint Select Committee on the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights.

These amendments will:

not members of the AAT but judges—

that is, the oversight body of the NACC—

regarding witness summons and arrest warrants—

and there were also provisions to enable the inspector to conduct audits. It goes on:

These were all such important reforms that were the result of that work on that joint select committee over a period of just six weeks. So the legislation passed in this parliament was so much better because of the work of Senator Linda White and the way in which she carried out that work. As I said, it wasn't a case of sit and steer; it was the case that Senator White led and delivered.

When I heard that Linda had taken a prolonged leave of absence, I did write her a note in December last year and I sent her some books, which is something I do typically to members across the chamber. The books I sent to Linda—and I do put some thought into this when I do this—included a book entitled The Silence of the Girls by a wonderful UK author by the name of Pat Barker, which told the history of Troy from a women's perspective. I thought that has got to be right on the mark in terms of showing appreciation and respect for the work that Linda has done in promoting the rights and liberties of women and their participation in places such as this.

I do appreciate the fact that I've had the opportunity in this place, in the presence of Linda, to express my appreciation for her work as chair of the Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Delegated Legislation and as chair of the NACC, and I'm so appreciative. It's a blessing I had the chance to express those words in this place, in the presence of Linda. I say to Linda's staff, to echo the words of the President: Senator White is now part of who you are. Her principles, her values, her dedication and her sense of humour are now part of who you are, and each and every one of you will be a living tribute to Senator White as you proceed through your lives and your careers and the way you conduct yourselves.

I am deeply grateful that I had the opportunity to acknowledge Linda's work in her presence. I will dearly, dearly miss Linda and say it has been such a great privilege to have had the honour of serving with Linda in this place.