James McGrath (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to join with my colleagues in honouring the public service of John Moore, the former member for Ryan, former minister and, more importantly, a husband, a family man and a Queenslander. It's interesting, listening to the speeches, to reflect on the journey of someone who, as Senator Cash pointed out, used to get on a horse to go to the local train station—and this wasn't like a two-minute ride—to get the train to go down to school. This was a kid from the bush who made his way in life, in business and in politics but stayed true to himself. And in his time on the Brisbane stock exchange, which I think could be described as hectic, he was very successful. This is someone who understood the importance of capital, someone who understood the importance of investment and someone who understood the importance of making sure that business drove the state, because from business came jobs and investment.

John went on to represent my state and my party, which was the now Liberal National Party but the Liberal Party here in Canberra. It was a hell of a journey for him. He had ups and downs, but the western suburbs of Brisbane, Brisbane itself, Queensland and Australia are better places because of the service of John Moore in this very building. He was minister for various roles that have been mentioned by my colleagues, but I really do think that it was in his role as Minister for Defence that his understanding of humanity and his understanding of getting things done came to the fore. He made sure that the Australian led peacekeeping mission in East Timor was suitably equipped, and that mission helped lead the East Timor to its independence. He was also responsible for the commencement of upgrades to the Collins class submarines, and he made many other reforms within Defence. We all know that Russell sometimes can be a law unto itself, but he brought rigour to the moneys that were being spent by the taxpayers of Australia. He brought rigour to how those moneys were spent because he wanted to make sure that the men and women who served this country had the equipment and the leadership that they wanted and requested to help make sure that Australia was a safer place.

Senator McKenzie made reference to the somewhat boisterous nature—and so did Senator Scarr, actually—between the old Liberal Party and the old National Party in Queensland—