Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I'm going to say it at the start, Janet: I will miss you so much. I said that to you many times since I heard you were leaving. Senator Janet Rice has not just been a fierce champion of equality in this chamber, she has been a remarkable colleague and a very dear friend to me. When I started here I was lucky to get an office right next to Janet's and that meant I got wonderful doses of Janet's optimism—her glass half-full philosophy—sunshine and positivity. With our two offices being the furthest away from this chamber, Janet and I were often running partners in the race to come here and beat the bell. On the way back, I got to see sunshine if I followed you through the outside route. I guess it is these little things and the incredibly big things that you have done, Janet, over your 10 years in here that we will miss and we will remember forever. I can truly say, Janet: you are the most caring, genuine, heartwarming person in here. You truly are. Others have said it—your heart is so big; it just gives to so many people.

As you retire, you leave an indelible mark on this place and on our collective struggle for social and environmental justice. There are too many examples to give but I will mention a few. You have been such a tenacious advocate on LGBTQIA+ rights and for the community, fighting so passionately for equality, for acceptance, for dignity. Your proud presence and work in the Senate, I think, has actually changed what it means to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender diverse, intersex and queer in Australia today. I think that is the level of impact that you have had. Just over six years ago, when the marriage equality bill finally passed through parliament, it was the culmination of your tireless work, Janet, and of so many other Greens and so many others in the community for decades. Your legacy, Janet, for me, continues to be a beacon of hope and a stimulant for progress on the challenges and discrimination still faced by so many LGBTQIA+ communities.

So many have spoken about your work on protecting native forests and I will as well. The 10 years of asking about the endangered Leadbeater's possum recovery plan—I will not forget that—is really testament to your deep love for nature and your resolve to safeguard it for the future. With your mantra of poverty is a political choice, you have brought so much care, attention and energy to our work on social services, which has continued the Greens legacy of fighting for fairness.

I will talk about the party room as well. I won't reveal any secrets, but I will mention your wisdom, your integrity your compassion and your practice of consensus as chair which you brought to our party room and which has really enriched our deliberations and our decisions in the end. Who can forget you holding up a Palestinian flag as we walked out of the Senate in protest? Who can forget your recent protest and your really deadly speech on human rights in the Philippines? It made me, yet again, proud to be your colleague and friend. It truly epitomises your courage and your determination to uphold human rights here and everywhere else in the world. So you will be very, very deeply missed.

I feel this real pang of sadness at your departure. I am truly thankful to have spent the last five years with you as a colleague and a friend. From the bottom of my heart, I really wish you the best of times to do the things that you haven't been able to do as much as you wanted to do during your time here, because it does take over your life—to spend time with family, friends and loved ones, to campaign more, to be out and about cycling and walking in the bush and also, hopefully, knitting more colourful scarves for equality. I love you, Janet. Thank you so much.