Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Later! I know, and many of you here tonight know, that it has not always been easy being my friend, either. I'm so deeply grateful that year after year you have kept showing up to support me and be my friend. My staff are simply spectacular, but I'll have much more to say about you a bit later on.

My journey into the Senate was not a particularly smooth one. In 2012, after long and successful careers in both the Army and the Liberal Party, I was deeply honoured to be preselected by the WA Liberal Party as a Senate candidate. Service defines who I am and what I do, and it always will. In my early 20s, I found my philosophical and ideological roots in the Liberal Party, as well as lifelong friends, many of whom are in the chamber here and also in the gallery this evening. I am a Menzies Liberal. I draw on both philosophical traditions of our great party. I'm as comfortable with supporting same-sex marriage as I am with boat turn-backs and rearming our nation in preparation for war. I've never been a member of a party faction. I understand them, but I find them distracting and often destructive.

I left the Army as the adjutant general, the senior governance adviser with responsibility for reforming the Army's compliance and assurance processes to ensure capability and the safety of our people. So, after 35 years of military and political service, I felt very well prepared to serve my state and my country in the Senate, but it almost was not to be. After the great excitement of being elected in 2013, the election was voided by the High Court, as the AEC had lost the princely sum of 1,375 ballot papers, and Senator Cash remembers that well. As third on our Senate ticket, I almost lost in the 2014 Senate election rerun. I was then referred to in the media as 'one of the unluckiest people in Australian politics'. I've got to say, after the experience of the past four years, one could be forgiven for thinking that maybe they were right, but nothing—nothing—could be further from the truth. Being elected to serve in the Senate is such a rare privilege—a privilege that comes with great responsibilities but also great opportunities to do wonderful things for our nation. I've never lost sight of that—not once, not ever. Since Federation, I'm the 569th of only 648 Australians who have served in this place. I'm the 87th of 125 women, the 90th Western Australian and the fifth Liberal woman from Western Australia to have served in the Senate. At the last election in 2019, I had the great privilege of leading the WA party's Senate ticket.

In my first speech—at that bookend—I focused on the themes of democracy, of leadership, of change and of gender. They were all causes that I have consistently and passionately pursued in this place both as a senator and as a minister. In that first speech, I also reflected on the values that underpinned my approach to life and to work, the dominant value being respect, which I learnt from my parents very early in life: self-respect, respect for others, and respectful compassion and support for those who genuinely need it, but also respectful but tough actions against those who ruthlessly exploit the compassion and the vulnerability of others and against those who seek to do us harm.

On reflection, the most important lesson I take away from this place is the need to constantly recalibrate your own moral compass. We must be vigilant in here in ensuring it remains always pointing true north. I have Army to thank for instilling this practice in me. Constantly doing so has made it possible for me to navigate through some of the most challenging circumstances, and it has made complex moral decisions far easier.

It also made the challenging issue of leadership challenges—three of which I went through—a relative breeze. My motto was: 'You always support the leader, unless there is a serious misconduct.' And if you support the leader, you walk with them to the spill. I'm proud I walked twice with the leader, but today, on reflection, I must confess I have some degree of buyer's remorse for the second.

Since my early 20s, I've worked in this building in very many different capacities, so when I came in I really thought I had a good handle on what to expect as a senator. However, the past 11 years have far exceeded my initial expectation in so many really wonderful and often challenging ways. I've had the privilege to serve in two constitutional roles: in the legislature and in executive government—and I'll address each in turn. But there was never any doubt in my mind that, if I was going to put my hand up for federal parliament, it would be for the Senate. I have such a deep respect for the Senate and its role in maintaining the strength and stability of our democracy.

But it was in the committees that I found my greatest joy and purpose in the Senate. I counted it up—actually, one of my staff members counted it up—and I've been a member of 30 different committees, many of them on multiple occasions. I've chaired and deputy chaired seven and participated in hundreds of inquiries. I'm proud of all the inquiries and the reports that I've put my name to, but sometimes you're a little prouder of some than others.

I think in this place we always have that moment where we realise the power that we possess to champion causes and change so many lives for the better. There are no topics off limits for senators, but we do have to choose which ones we pursue and for how long we pursue them. Now, that realisation came to me when I learned that thousands of young Australians with serious and permanent disabilities were forced to live in aged care. There was simply nowhere else for them to live. I'm so proud that the result of the inquiry, the report itself, was implemented. It has taken time, but thousands upon thousands of those people are now living with support and dignity in the community.

In fact, my very last committee report was tabled today. It was the second community affairs committee inquiry into tick bite diseases. I had promised Senator Rachel Siewert at her own valedictory that I would continue the fight for justice for the thousands of Australian victims of tick bites who are so disgracefully and shamefully treated by the medical profession. I now ask my fellow senator, Senator Kovacic, to take on the challenge and to keep the fight going for those people.

Sometimes, as well, issues just come across your desk—ones that you actually know very little about, but when you look at them, you just know there is something not right; there is something a little bit stinky. One such issue was the sudden axing of the Western Force club from Super Rugby by the Australian Rugby Union. This devastated fans, players, their families and their club. Now, I couldn't even identify a rugby ball—sorry, some of my friends up there, but I still can't after all these years. They were completely devastated. They could not understand why it happened, so, as the sport was partially federally funded, I sponsored a Senate inquiry. We did get answers for fans and the team, but unfortunately the Australian Rugby Union was never held accountable for their many quite questionable actions that sat behind that reason.

Committees in this place can also lead us to very unexpected places. Over time—I'm sure like all of my colleagues here—I came to realise that sometimes solving or addressing some of the issues that we deal with goes well beyond our own national borders. For me, one such issue is tackling modern slavery. This is a crime that exists not just overseas; it is hidden in plain sight right across Australia. As a Liberal, there is no more important freedom for us to fight for than the freedom from slavery and servitude. As a direct result of my work in this place on tackling trafficking and slavery, I now lead global reforms on child trafficking and forced labour, particularly orphanage trafficking.

This journey began in 2016 with two parliamentary study programs. The first was a CPA UK sponsored parliamentary education program for Commonwealth MPs on how to tackle modern slavery in legislation. The second was a Save the Children parliamentary study tour to Cambodia. This is where I learned that Australian donors, donors from many other countries and volunteers had inadvertently created a trade in children to satisfy their need and desire to help poor children. It's hideous. But the inquiry report that we initiated when we returned, called Hidden in a plainsight, recommended the introduction of modern slavery legislation in Australia. Significantly, the report also recognised orphanage trafficking as a form of modern slavery, and we were the first country to do so. One of the proudest moments in my ministerial career was when, as the Assistant Minister for Home Affairs, I carried the legislation through the parliament. Since that time, I've worked on developing global partnerships to implement global reforms to stop orphanage trafficking and to reunite over five million children who've been trafficked back with their families. These efforts are coordinated through the orphanage trafficking working group that I chair at a DC based inter-parliamentary taskforce on human trafficking. I'm in this for the long haul.

Unfortunately in this speech I can't completely avoid dealing, at least in part, with what I now refer to as 'the plan'. I have never disputed, not once, Brittany Higgins's claim about what happened in my office in the early hours of one Saturday morning. Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz developed a political #MeToo plan based on a simple but very powerful lie—a lie that has now resulted in the longest and largest political scandal in our nation's history and one that is well into its fifth year. Brittany always knew the truth. Justice Lee dealt with this in his judgement, where he sets out the false representations and false warranties given in her settlement deed. Justice Lee said, 'What is notable about Ms Higgin's account of a cover-up or victimisation allegation is not only its inconsistency with the contemporaneous records and its falsities, particularly as to Ms Higgins's dealings with Ms Brown but also its imprecisions and reliance upon speculation and conjecture.' He also said:

… putting what occurred at this meeting—

on 1 April—

and the events of the preceding days together, a clear picture emerges, but it is entirely at odds with the notion of an attempt being made to cover up an allegation … by discouraging it to be reported to the police.

The moment Labor's leadership made the conscious decision to politically weaponise Ms Higgins's allegations, my life and the lives of so many others were changed forever. Every human being, no matter how strong they are, has a breaking point. Labor deliberately and so very surgically and relentlessly found mine—whatever it took. That type of persistent and aggressive personal attack would never be tolerated in any other workplace in this country. Labor so badly wanted the allegations that a female cabinet minister and a prime minister had covered up the rape of a young woman to be true that they didn't actually care if it was true or not, I believe. Consequently, as a result of their actions, Labor failed to exercise any proper judgement or independence before becoming so publicly involved in perpetuating a story that Justice Lee described as 'insufficiently scrutinised and factually misconceived conjecture'.

I never wanted to sue Brittany or David, but ultimately I was left with no choice. I've been asked why I did it. Once the Attorney-General barred me from defending these highly defendable workplace allegations, he left me with no other alternative but to fight for the truth and for justice under defamation law. The Commonwealth's conduct in the swift settlement with Brittany sent a clear and very unequivocal message to the nation that these demonstrable lies were in fact true. This enabled me to continue to be grossly defamed. As a senator in this place, I had to fight for my and my staff's and my family's reputation. People ask why, but if in the Senate, in this chamber, we don't fight for truth and justice, where on earth in Australia do we fight for it? I had no choice. Of course I had to fight. Once Justice Tottle has delivered his judgement then I will have a lot more to say about this. However, I conclude on this matter by saying this: in the next parliament, it is my great hope that all parties can come together to agree on how we set the standard in this place and calibrate it so it is the same standard that we legislate for every other workplace in this country. To do that, to set the standard, those in this chamber—not 'we'; it won't be 'we' anymore—will have to agree on where robust and privileged debate finishes and where inappropriate workplace behaviours and bullying starts. The abuse of parliamentary privilege is no longer acceptable.

Scott Morrison appointed me to several portfolios over his tenure as Prime Minister, and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities that he gave me: emergency management, defence industry, Defence, the NDIS and government services. Scott and I spent much time together in 2019 and 2020, visiting a range of natural disasters across this country, and what I saw in him was a leader who had great empathy and demanded decisive action for those in urgent need. What he saw in me then as emergency management minister he also saw in me as defence minister. We may have had our differences on occasion, but, when I collapsed in this place, Scott rushed over to the anteroom and he was so incredibly kind. He sat with me for over an hour while I was sobbing hysterically and completely incoherently. He sat there, he looked after me and, throughout my recovery, he stayed in contact with me and my doctor. When others were baying for my head, he kept me in cabinet, which gave me a new purpose. It gave me a new challenge and it gave me hope. What happened to me also happened to him and to his family. He was also a target of the plan, of the lie. So, Scott, I thank you for your service to the nation and for your stewardship of this nation through the COVID-19 pandemic. Your leadership and the decisions you took saved tens of thousands of Australian lives, millions of jobs and thousands and thousands of companies. I thank you for that. It was an extraordinary time in these portfolios, but time doesn't permit me to address them all tonight.

Scott and I had a shared understanding of what our nation needed for its defence, and together we delivered it: a defence strategic update and an accompanying force structure plan; the budget to fund it; new agreements with the United States. I signed an agreement with NATO. And, with some of the people in the chamber tonight, we set this country on the pathway towards nuclear submarines.

I came into the Defence portfolio well prepared after a long career in the Army as a senior officer, having worked at higher headquarters and having completed a master's in strategic studies at the War College. It was very clear to both Scott and me that we were facing a higher risk and a rapidly changing strategic landscape, the worst since World War II. Not long after becoming the minister, I gave a keynote speech at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC. I started with the observation that the rules based order we had lived in since the end of World War II was no more and was not coming back. Sadly, that has proved to be true. Alarmingly, the threat has only increased since then. That is due in large part to not just China but the new axis of convenience—China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.

The brutal reality we very rarely discuss in this place is that we have a four-nation axis of dictatorship and authoritarianism that has a shared enemy, and that is democracy and that is us. This axis is rapidly expanding its political and military spheres of influence. All these regimes have nuclear capabilities. They exert brutal control over their citizens, they have no regard for human life and they have a shared hatred of democratic values. This axis has already progressed from non-kinetic to kinetic war in two theatres of war—Russia in Ukraine and Iran in Israel and the Red Sea, with the support of proxies Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

I acknowledge the Ukrainian ambassador, who joins us here this evening. He has been an astonishing advocate for his nation. I am in complete awe of the work you do for the family and the friends that you have lost yourself and for seeing your country under such relentless attack. I acknowledge the bravery of the Ukrainian people. As I've said many times in this place, their war is our war. Absolutely, their war is our war, and we need to be doing far more to help Ukraine defeat Russia. I know there are a lot of discussions going on globally at the moment, but, as I said in here in a much longer speech, appeasement of Russia will not work. The United States appeased Russia 10 years ago and gave them Crimea: 'They won't take anything more'—until they did.

It's not just Russia. China has a vice-like grip on the South China Sea and is well advanced in its preparations to cross the Taiwan Strait. North Korea continues to advance its nuclear and long-range strike capabilities. They are providing ballistic missiles to Russia and are gazing oh-so-longingly over the DMZ.

What this axis have over us at the moment is they understand the benefits of shared industrial and military alliances and materiel alliances to achieve what they cannot on their own—and they're not just doing it as the four of them anymore. They're doing it with many BRICS members, who are not even hedging their bets anymore; they've just jumped ship.

As a Western Australian senator, I've been aware for many years that China has been quietly and persistently manipulating critical minerals and rare-earth commodity markets globally. They've done this to stockpile offtake and monopolise processing. This, combined with the CCP's prolific use of slave, forced and bonded labour, provides China provides with an overwhelming economic advantage in the new energy technology sectors. This is something that those opposite know only too well, but it is inconceivable that anybody in this nation would choose a solar panel, a wind turbine or an electric vehicle over human life. We have to find ways in this place to deal with both—to stand up for human life while we transition to net zero.

Robert Menzies observed in one of his many 'Forgotten people' speeches that Australians take a great many things for granted, which I think was just as true then, in 1942, as it is now. One of the most important things we take for granted is the health of our democracy. We have forgotten as a nation what it takes to preserve and strengthen our democracy. How do we strengthen the institutions that prop up our democracy? But I don't yet see a catalyst for change. That is one of the next things—it's unfinished business for me—that we need to review.

In both my military and my civilian career, I've not just had command positions but led three successive reform projects that deliver change, and change that has stuck. I know that change is never easy, but it is always possible. During COVID-19, we, in this place, and the government demonstrated that we can do things quickly. We can get things done quickly. We can create vaccines. We can get the public servants to get money out the door the next day. We can do things, but, if identifying problems was an Olympic sport, Australia would lead the gold medal tally. We have endless royal commissions, we have inquiries, we have reviews, and we inquire into hundreds of issues every year in this place, but the recommendations are rarely, if ever, fully implemented—if at all. Being Deputy Chair of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit, I know that every single report, for decades, has said the same things over and over. We make policy and we implement legislation, but little of it actually gets implemented effectively.

I'm a transformative conservative; I'm not a radical one. There's a lot of discussion and debate, particularly in the United States, about this at the moment. I don't believe that the radical destruction of the status quo will automatically result in the delivery of better outcomes. It will certainly tear down underperforming institutions, but we need more than that. We need a plan for how we rebuild. For what we cut or what we remove, how we are actually going to make what we replace it with far more efficient and effective with the taxpayers' money?

I will finish off with a couple of ministerial observations. One of the greatest joys of my time in this place was being Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. The NDIS is a fundamentally Liberal insurance scheme. It is not a welfare scheme. It is designed to help provide Australians with the most serious and permanent disabilities the dignity and the ability to realise their own life choices and aspirations. But that is not the scheme it is today. My greatest regret, as the Minister for the NDIS, is that four years ago I was unable to convince Bill Shorten and Labor to work with me and the government to reform the serious structural problems that has made it unsustainable. There were no shortcuts then, and there are even fewer four years later. The fundamental problem is that, as an insurance scheme, the Commonwealth government is powerless to control either lever of the insurance scheme: the number of participants and the cost per participant. Until we can get control of that and the intergovernmental agreements are completely reformed, this scheme, unfortunately, is on a trajectory to failure, and that would probably be the biggest public policy failure of our generation. So, after the election, all parties need to find a way to come together to take the tough decisions to ensure that this scheme survives—but for those for whom it was designed.

One event I would like to share with everybody in the chamber is probably one of the most special and extraordinary events I have experienced. We all have these things that just delight, surprise and fill us with joy. In 2021, when the Taliban had returned to Kabul, Australia joined like-minded countries and formed a temporary evacuation air bridge out of the Hamid Karzai airport. I contacted my friend, a former Afghan politician, Shukria Barakzai, to see if she was okay and if she needed help in leaving. She told me that she was fine—but afterwards found out that she wasn't—but she wanted me to help a young journalist, Khalid Amiri, and his family, who were being hunted by the Taliban and who needed help to get out.

I made contact with Khalid on Twitter at the time, and the most extraordinary series of events followed over the next several days, including hundreds of WhatsApp messages between us, as he and his family were navigating the streets of Kabul in burqas to hide their identities. Thanks to Marise and her team, we got them visas. They managed to get to the sewers of Abbey Gate with thousands and thousands of other desperate Afghans, and then there was silence and silence. But then, wonderfully, in question time I received a message from Khalid. He sent me a photo right from the wall at Abbey Gate, and I could see the back of two marines sitting on the wall. I asked him to hand his phone to one of them to see whether the marine would talk to me and whether I could convince that marine that they were Australians, that they had visas and that we wanted them to come to Australia. Wonderfully, this marine, whose name I can't mention, but who has been thanked, came on the phone. He knew lots of Aussies from the marine corps, so he recognised the accent. He took Khalid over the wall with his family and dropped them off at the Australian collection point. The rest is now history. Khalid and his family, 16 in total, are now settled in Melbourne, and they are great Australians. They're studying. They're working. Their daughters go to school, have ambitions and have a life in front of them. Khalid has just finished his master's degree at Melbourne University and is now winning awards as a voice for his people, particularly young women.

This reminds me that in this place we can't save everybody, but we can save some, and I think that's why we do what we do in this place.

As I prepared this speech, I was thinking about who I had to thank—there are many!—and I realised that my overwhelming feeling was one of immense gratitude to so many people. Firstly, to the people of Western Australia who elected me to represent them, four times in fact: I hope I have done you proud. To the Liberal Party, my philosophical home for nearly 40 years: I've made so many friends over that time, and so many of them are here tonight. There are far too many of you to thank individually, but you know who you all are and what you mean to me. I also thank my Western Australian colleagues, many of whom are here tonight, and our leader. As Western Australians, we are one mighty team. We are united in our passion for and our commitment to Western Australia. We are so ably led by Michaelia Cash, who is such a wonderful Western Australian. She's a strong leader, and I thank you for your leadership of our team. We've still got a mighty job ahead of us now to win enough seats so that, Peter, you become Prime Minister, and we are in that a hundred per cent.

I'd also like to acknowledge Sir Lynton Crosby and Lady Crosby. Lynton gave me my first big job in the Liberal Party. Lynton saw something in me. He gave me so many opportunities and I received such wonderful mentorship over many years. It means a lot to me that you are both here tonight. Thank you for everything that you have done and for your friendship.

To my Army mates—who are many—here this evening, it is a very, very special bond we have, and it means a great deal to me that you are here tonight. I'm sure there will be a few wines to celebrate after this, but I am very grateful. Thank you.

To my very special friends Heather and Danielle, you couldn't be here tonight, but you have been wonderful, loyal friends and champions, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you do for so many women in the Liberal Party, including me. You are incredibly generous with your time and your money.

I'm truly blessed to have had so many amazing friends in and out of this place. Again, many of you are here, and I thank you for that. Unfortunately, Marise couldn't be here tonight, and I want to give a special thanks to Marise—and to Ann and Jane and many others in here. They say that sometimes this building is a very lonely place, and it can be desperately lonely, but when the chips are down and when you can't defend yourself or look after yourself, you have people here who drop everything. They rally around you, they lift you, they support you, and they make sure you're okay, and for that I cannot say thank you enough. You are the reason I am still standing here today.

I'm blessed with the most amazing staff, both in my electorate at ministerial offices. I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to you all, one I know I will never be able to repay, but I hope in some way that you take great pride in the work that you have done and the experiences that you have gained. But I am sorry that, for a number of you, your choice of workplace—working for me—was not always a safe one. You, too, have been subject to behaviours that would be unacceptable in any other workplace: a tsunami of hatred directed at me by every possible communication medium. For that, I thank you. Again, there are no suitable words.

To Michelle Lewis, who has been my EA and office manager for what I'm sure she feels are 11 very long years. And it's wonderful to see James Smith, who organised my life as Minister for Defence so beautifully. I thank you for the care you took in ensuring that I was always where I needed to be and always perfectly turned out. Michelle, saying your job has not always been easy is an understatement. I'm more grateful than I can say for your leadership, your friendship and your carriage of our mighty team, and I'm sorry for the burdens that you've also had to carry.

To my current team—Ashley, Josh, Kyle, Charles and Matt—thank you for the amazing contributions you continue to make. They are incredibly valued, and you are all highly respected for your professionalism, just as are a number of former staff here who have gone on to much bigger and better things in many different careers. So to all my ministerial staff, I say thank you.

My extraordinarily talented and committed ministerial teams were so ably led by Fiona Brown, Scott Dewar, Alex Kelton and Darren Disney—and, of course, Dean Carlton, Alex's mighty deputy. Leading ministerial offices is never easy, particularly in cabinet portfolios, where you have ministers with big portfolio ambitions. I'm grateful for all your hard work, and I hope, as I said, you're all rightly proud of your contributions.

We don't often, in this place, thank enough the thousands of staff that keep our building, the engine room of democracy, going. There are thousands of staff who keep this place operating, from the wonderful attendants in this chamber to the Black Rod, the Clerk, the cleaners, the gardeners, the drivers, the printers, the caterers, the researchers, the guides and so many more. We don't say it often enough, but thank you.

I may also be the first senator ever to thank their lawyers and their doctors. This might be a first! Firstly, to Ashley Tsacalos and his team at Clayton Utz, over the past four years, you have supported me through a defamation case, a criminal trial, a judicial inquiry into the criminal trial, a civil workplace claim, multiple defamation claims and two NACC referrals. Your compassion, your professionalism and your sheer endurance have kept me going through these never-ending proceedings, so thank you. Inadequate as it is, again, thank you.

To Martin Bennett and his amazing team—Rachel, Taleesha, Andrew and Cindy—you have supported me now through several separate defamation actions, including the defamation case we are awaiting the verdict for. I'm so grateful that they have been so thorough in piecing together the detail of the plan. There are thousands and thousands of documents now that demonstrate exactly how this plan was developed and executed, and I'm very grateful that you have brought to light the truth, which has given me great peace—and, I know, many others in terms of finally having their voices heard. Having you in my corner has been life-changing in so many ways.

Now, to my doctors. To both Dr Antonio Di Dio and my cardiologist, Professor Abhayaratna—I'm sorry; I always mispronounce it—this patient thanks you for your medical care and the patience you have shown me along this medical journey, often with it playing out in the national media and in the courts. I thank you.

As I said at the very beginning, my family means everything to me, in ways that words cannot capture. But I know you know how much I love you and how much I care for you all. I'm also incredibly grateful for the hundreds, if not thousands, of random acts of kindness that my team and I have received from total strangers who send these most wonderful messages. It has made all of the difference, and it reminds us that there is great good out there and that there are good people in the community.

My final and most heartfelt thanks go to Robert. I'm so very grateful for the love and unconditional support, particularly over the past four years. It has been unimaginably tough for you. You have had to fight your own battles as well as mine, but you have never taken a step away from my side. For that, I love and thank you.

We all leave this place with unfinished business. I certainly do. My colleagues will not be surprised to learn that I have already written to various ministers, shadow ministers and colleagues with some detailed briefing notes on the reforms that are still to be delivered. Rest assured, I will be following you up on orphanage trafficking, antislavery, intercountry adoptions, defence spending, AUKUS implementation and Liberal Party gender reform. I am more determined than ever to finally realise genuine gender reform in the Liberal Party. It is absolutely, well and truly beyond time, but I will have more to say about that.

In conclusion, I leave this place with great sadness but also with immense gratitude and great pride. Sorry! I know who I am, and I remain true to my values. I know who I am as a woman and as leader, and I have confidence in my abilities. I'm a much better and wiser person for the sum of my experiences in this place, and I thank the people of Western Australia and the Liberal Party of Western Australia for the greatest honour of my life. I look forward—I really do, despite the tears—to the next chapter of my service, wherever that will take me. Thank you.