Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the Senate records its sadness at the death, on 6 September 2024, of John Richard Coulter, former senator for South Australia, places on record its gratitude for his service to the Parliament and the nation, and tenders its sympathy to his family in their bereavement.

I rise on behalf of the government to acknowledge the passing of the former senator from my home state and former Leader of the Australian Democrats, Dr John Richard Coulter, at the age of 93. I convey at the outset the government's condolences and my personal condolences to his family and his friends. I particularly acknowledge his daughter, Kiersten, and thank her for the material she has contributed towards this speech in memory of her father, which has enabled a more detailed understanding of his life and legacy. Similarly, I also acknowledge Natasha Stott Despoja, who succeeded him in the Senate and became also the Australian Democrats leader. I'm grateful for the reflections she's shared with me in the preparation of these remarks.

John Coulter was a politician driven by principle, a man who hails politically from South Australia and, I like to think, who is another exemplar of a political tradition that I hope spans parties from South Australia—of decency and taking a considered approach to politics. John Coulter brought his passion for the environment and science, for the voices of Indigenous Australians and against the nuclear fuel cycle to the Senate. He did so at a time when his political party sat at the fulcrum of Australian politics. Whilst it is over 16 years since an Australian Democrat senator sat in in place, between 1980 and 2005 the party either shared or held the balance of power in its own right. As senator and leader, John Coulter sought to leverage this position to pursue the values that sustained him both before and after his parliamentary career. As Natasha Stott Despoja said:

He was a critical thinker, an intellectual, but not afraid to get his hands dirty, literally while tending to an orchard or protesting in the streets.

Born in Western Australia in 1930, John Coulter arrived in South Australia in the late 1940s, having transferred to commence a degree in medicine at the University of Adelaide. His primary career ambition was in medical research, and after practising as a general practitioner, including as a locum in remote areas, he gained employment with the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science in 1958. His research ultimately led him to investigate petrochemicals used in agriculture and household chemicals, identifying potentially mutagenic and carcinogenic agents. He stood against fierce opposition to exposing these chemicals, their manufacturers and the dangers they posed to people and the environment. On this, he seemed well ahead of his time.

He was also active in a range of environmental and conservation campaigns and organisations, as well as in local government. He was affiliated with what we know as the con council, the Conservation Council of South Australia—of which he was a founding member and later president—the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Underwater Research Group, the Town and Country Planning Association, and what later became Sustainable Population Australia.

John Coulter was elected to the Senate as an Australian Democrats senator in 1987, and he was part of a vanguard of environmentalist politicians, of which party founder Don Chipp was another. In his first speech, and in many that followed, he warned of the impact of human activity, particularly carbon dioxide, on the earth's atmosphere. He exhorted fellow senators to recognise the impact of human activity on finite resources, just as he had campaigned for decades and would continue to as a senator. Throughout his time in the chamber, familiar themes recurred—his advocacy against Australian involvement in the nuclear fuel cycle and his advocacy for conservation, such as his private senator's bill to ban the importation of logs, sawn timber, veneer and plywood from primary tropical rainforests. He similarly introduced legislation to introduce controls on the use of chlorofluorocarbons and in 1995 proposed that the Keating government introduce a carbon tax.

In other areas he leveraged the position of the Australian Democrats to secure amendments to government legislation. When he spoke, he did so with the benefit of a genuine scientific background. He brought the rigour of this training and this insight—not unique, but certainly not widespread amongst senators—to key debates, such as the one on the patenting of genetic material. Whilst gains were made on genetic privacy, legislating to prevent the patenting of genes and gene sequences remains a challenge for the parliament.

Dr John Coulter was also a clear and consistent advocate for a voice and self-determination for Indigenous Australians. His daughter, Kiersten, reflected that in the week of his passing, he said that he believed his most important legacy from his time in the Senate was his role in supporting the establishment of ATSIC, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, and a voice for Indigenous Australians directly into the parliament.

In 1991, he won a membership ballot and became the leader of the Australian Democrats. He weathered a difficult period as the Australian Democrats rebuilt after a period of change and attempted to communicate an environmental message at a time of economic recession. Still, he found ways to bring issues of significance onto the national agenda, sometimes creatively. In 1992, his campaign to make the bilby the Australian substitute for the Easter bunny was the source of considerable publicity. Over three decades later, we still enjoy our chocolate bilbies in South Australia at Easter.

In addition to advocacy for threatened species, he led the charge against the export of hazardous waste and for the protection of inland water supplies, as well as the protection of the Great Barrier Reef. It is worth recalling that the Australian Democrats used their position in the balance of power in the early nineties to act as key protagonists in many of the procedural reforms that give the Australian Senate its modern character. In 1992, he also became the first Australian Democrats senator to chair a select committee, into the Australian Loan Council. By pushing the limits of the committee's power to call witnesses, he prompted the infamous characterisation of the Senate by the then prime minister as 'unrepresentative swill'. Perhaps that's something else to add to his legacy!

Natasha Stott Despoja gave me some insight into what Dr Coulter was like as a boss. She underwent what she described as 'the most rigorous job interview ever' and gained employment on Dr Coulter's staff. She recalled how he invested in her political talents. His office was a place of trust and of commitment to expertise, Dr Coulter having assembled a team of like-minded people driven by research and evidence, reflecting his desire to bring together people of both sound intellect and analytical abilities. But, as Natasha Stott Despoja tells it, he was quirky and funny, considerate and kind, and liked a joke too—including about himself as a member of the socks-and-sandals brigade!

Having been defeated in the mandatory party leadership ballot following the 1993 federal election, John Coulter continued to serve until retiring from the Senate in 1995. He was replaced by Natasha Stott Despoja. She recalled his enthusiasm for her candidacy, saying:

He supported my ascension and was excited to see me become the youngest woman to enter the parliament. It was an honour to fill his vacancy: my political aspirations were hugely supported by him.

John Coulter's retirement did not herald a retreat, and he continued to actively pursue those causes that had consumed his energy prior to and during his years as a senator. One personal passion that continued also was his Adelaide Hills property in my duty electorate of Mayo. In 1972 he bought a denuded 70-acre property at Bradbury that he worked to rehabilitate to its natural bush state for over fifty years. Decades of work led to him successfully transacting a heritage agreement with the South Australian government in 2015-16, which should guarantee there can be no future clearing, grazing or other use of the land other than for the full enjoyment of it preserved and maintained in its natural state. This property is now 80 to 90 per cent covered in natural vegetation, including rare and endangered native flora indigenous to that area of the hills. Sadly, it was burnt out to some extent in the 2019 Cherry Gardens bushfire. Efforts to manage the recovery of the property led to a wider group of like-minded neighbours forming the Bradbury Conservancy, which seeks to rehabilitate and protect a wider parcel of land. Dr Coulter said of the property, 'It's a microcosm of how we should live with nature and not against nature.' He remained living there and managing the property right up until weeks before his death.

John Coulter will be remembered by family and friends at a celebration of his life this coming weekend. It will take place at the property in the Adelaide Hills that he loved so much and nurtured so well. It is fitting for someone who devoted his life to conservation and the environment that this regenerated landscape will be a legacy that lasts into the future for generations to come. It is a monument to his passionate pursuit of practical change and meaningful change and his optimism for what can be achieved through dedication to a cause and a coherent philosophy.

In closing, I again express my personal condolences and those of the government following his passing to his friends and his family.