Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make a contribution on this motion, cognisant of the fact that all those opposite knew Linda much, much better than anyone on this side of the chamber. I first came across Linda when I was in charge of what is colloquially called 'Senate school'. As one of the quirks of this place, even though the new Senate had been elected, I was still President of the Senate when Senator Linda White first came into this place. My immediate reaction was, 'Oh my goodness, this is a formidable Labor warrior who has entered this parliament.' And, in the time subsequent, that view did not alter one little bit. But, knowing that, and knowing that she was a fierce advocate for her particular view of the world, I also saw that she was, on entering this place, an extraordinary advocate for the Senate—for the traditions, the meaning and the things that make the Senate different to the other place and that make it such a vital institution in its own right. I will give two brief examples.

One is: I sit on the Joint Committee on the National Anti-Corruption Commission. Senator White was the chair of that committee. That committee is one of those committees—a bit like the committee I chair, the Privileges Committee—in which whilst we can never take our partisan hats off completely we do have to put them to the side occasionally because we are looking at matters of such importance, matters that go to the very foundation of our democracy, so we perhaps do need to look at things from a broader perspective. And Linda was able to do that. Although she was a strong partisan warrior, she was still able to take the broader view of the institutional necessity of making sure that the NACC oversight committee was above partisan politics and did make decisions based on the right thing to do.

The other example I will give is: when we came back to this place—the change of government—there was some unfinished business in terms of working out a new memorandum of understanding with the Australian Federal Police on the issue of privilege. Now, this is a highly technical area. I dare say there are many senators in this place whose eyes glaze over when they hear a phrase like 'a committee to look at the interactions of the AFP with political privilege': 'What does that even mean? Why are we doing it? What's it all about?' I was very surprised to see a new senator tasked by the Labor Party with assisting in the drafting of that memorandum of understanding. But, literally, in that first meeting, when we sat down to discuss the MOU, the reason Senator Linda White had been chosen by the Labor Party became very clear. Not only did she have a forensic legal mind about what was required; she also had a very visible and well-articulated understanding of the importance of parliamentary privilege, and I think it is fair to say that that isn't necessarily something many people naturally bring in to this place. But Senator White did. She approached that task with energy but also with passion and with an understanding of what is a highly technical part of what we do here. That was something that will never leave me. It's certainly a model that I would seek to emulate.

Even though Linda was only here for far too short a time, she has certainly left an invaluable mark on her friends in the Labor family. My heartfelt condolences go to her family and particularly to her staff. We do feel for you, and we know the loss you are all suffering now. If it is some comfort, the contribution that Linda White made in this place will not be forgotten.