Perin Davey (NSW, National Party, Shadow Minister for Water) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Nationals in this place, I rise to acknowledge and pay tribute to Gary Nairn. Gary Nairn, while Liberal, was also a regional member of parliament, and he was the epitome of a good and hardworking local member.

In his community, he was much loved, and he was a highly respected member for Eden-Monaro, a federal seat that was always regarded as a bellwether seat, and it was challenging to make sure that he continued to retain that seat. The fact that he held it from his election in 1996 through three elections until the change of government in 2007 is absolute testimony to his ongoing popularity and the hard work he did for his constituents on the ground.

But his interest in politics predated his election to parliament by some years. He started in the Northern Territory, which is an unusual place for a Sydney boy to end up and commence his working career, but that's where Gary Nairn started his interest in politics. He joined the Northern Territory Country Liberal Party and, through his work behind the scenes with the grassroots membership, he was elected party president, a position he held for four years before he returned to New South Wales in 1995. Indeed, his work as party president was rewarded when he was made a life member of the Country Liberal Party following his retirement from that position, a party award that was well deserved.

He returned to New South Wales and, fortunately for the Eden-Monaro electorate, he moved to Queanbeyan, where he joined the Liberal Party. Then he fought the election in 1996 and was successful in being elected to the House of Representatives. Typical of his commitment to the region, Gary was appointed to head a federal inquiry into the 2003 bushfires, which was a tragic event for the district. As mentioned earlier by my colleague Senator Birmingham, the inquiry was far-reaching and in-depth and was really the first of its kind in the federal sphere. The following year, he was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, John Howard, and in January 2006 he was promoted to the front bench as Special Minister of State, prior to losing his seat in the Kevin 07 federal election.

But his life after parliament was just as impressive and just as devoted to public service. He maintained an interest in his local community in Eden-Monaro, and his activities that he was involved with covered a range of issues and organisations, including the local Rotary club, the Monaro Early Intervention Service for children with disabilities and the work that has been mentioned with the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Australia.

Gary was also appointed board member of the Biodiversity Conservation Trust of New South Wales, and it was this interest in landscape, biodiversity and soil conservation that led Gary to his association with the Mulloon Institute, for which he was appointed chair from 2018 to 2023, when he stood down due to his ill health. The Mulloon Institute is widely known, very well respected and dedicated to landscape rehabilitation and rehydration. It epitomises what we hear a lot of people talking about when they talk about regenerative agriculture and rehabilitating the landscape. Gary has been widely respected in that role as chair of the Mulloon Institute. In fact, as late as last weekend I met with people from the Mulloon Institute, and I'm meeting them again this week. They paid tribute to the work that Gary had done in his role as chair and they expressed their sadness and sorrow at the passing of Gary.

The Mulloon Institute's work in research, education and advocacy is testament to the passionate support of people like Gary and the institute's founder, Tony Coote, who are all supporters of sustainable agriculture, and this is what we in this place—and certainly through the Nationals—strongly support recognising: that agriculture is part of the solution for an environmentally friendly, cleaner, greener future. The Mulloon Institute, which is recognised globally, is an absolute demonstrator of sustainable agriculture and that form of environmental regeneration through landscape rehydration and restoration, recognising the important role of carbon soil sequestration in our cleaner future. The institute fitted perfectly with Gary's interests, and his professional expertise absolutely helped with his contribution to the institute and will no doubt be sorely missed.

On behalf of the Nationals, we pass on our sympathies to his wife, Rose; his children, Ben and Deborah; and all his grandchildren; and also the people of the Eden-Monaro, who have lost a great citizen who continued to represent their region well beyond his years in this place.