Peter Whish-Wilson (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I have been listening to the contributions. Sorry I haven't been here for all of them. I want to thank you for your work as chair of the party room for so long, for all the things that you have been part of and witnessed over the years and for the way you have been able to guide us through some highs and lows. I genuinely don't know how you do that. With your patience, your kindness and your compassion, everybody feels the same way towards you, which is pretty rare and which I haven't seen.

I remember when you got the news about Penny, in here, in the Senate. I was next to you. At the time, I thought you couldn't have been in a worse place to get that news, in the middle of proceedings. But in many ways, I think it was symbolic of the life you were living, the sacrifices you were making, that we all make as senators. I just wanted to say I think Penny would have been very proud of everything you have achieved here. I am sure she would have loved to have been here to see this, and you certainly have done Penny proud.

Lastly, forests: with your connection to nature, there are lots of things to cover. Look, I am going to miss you greatly. Going back to the origins of the Greens and how we started, we had our 50th anniversary celebration down in Hobart in 2022 with a lot of the original members. For me, it is an almost spiritual thing to be part of the movement that you have been a giant in. You have carried that all the way through to the parliament. A lot of the original members, Di Hollister in Tasmania, Bob and Christine and others—they're quite happy out of parliament, by the way! They get to go back to what they love to do and where they originally started.

For those who aren't aware, when the UTG—the United Tasmania Group—first started, the kinds of people who joined that party to go into parliament or take their issues into parliament had to draw names out of hats for candidates. Nobody wanted to put their hand up to be a candidate so that's why they were forming a political party, because they knew they actually had to do it. It wasn't seen as something that was—no-one was interested in power and the trappings or anything that goes with it. They were there for one simple reason, and that was to put the environment and their issues, the four pillars, which started with the UTG, front and centre and to change things from within the system.

It's a bit like being a ring bearer in the Lord of the Rings. There will be things that will stay with you for the rest of your life from your time here. Nevertheless, it's not an easy thing. I applaud you for what you have done and I look forward to a few fireside chats, whether it's Sisters Beach or Bicheno or somewhere else down in Tasmania, and spending some time with you in the forests. Thank you for everything.