John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with deep regret that I inform the Senate of the death on 23 February 2013 of the Hon. Gloria Joan Liles Child, AO, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the Senate records its deep regret at the death, on 23 February 2013, of the Honorable Gloria Joan Liles Child, AO, former Speaker of the House of Representatives and member for Henty, and places on record its appreciation of her long and meritorious public service and tenders its profound sympathy to her family in their bereavement.

Joan Child was the first Labor woman to be elected to the House of Representatives in 1974. In a lifetime of achievements, she recorded another historic first when she was elected as the first female Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1986. Joan held this position for three-and-a-half years until she resigned in 1989 after a period of illness.

A significant change to the parliament during Joan's period as Speaker included the transition from the provisional Parliament House to the new Parliament House. The presiding officers had oversight of both the construction of the new building and the successful move into it. The logistics of this exercise were considerable. Parliament House is, after all, the size of a country town. Obviously, the key to this building is a symbolic and legislative role of the chambers, but this is underpinned by a huge range of infrastructure and services supporting the community's elected representatives, media and staff. Twenty-five years later, the occupants of this building are still benefiting from the care, thought and attention to detail of those who planned and delivered the facilities we now take for granted. Joan's role as Speaker was considerable in drawing together and managing the many levels this task involved.

Joan was tremendously proud of the new Parliament House and the collective achievement of all involved who delivered this building. She was also tremendously fond of the old building. One of her last acts as Speaker in the old House of Representatives chamber was leading members of that place as they sat in session for the last time and sang Auld Lang Syne.

Joan was born in Melbourne on 3 August 1921. Joan was widowed early in life. With a strong resolve and courage, she raised five boys on her own. She worked on a process line and as a cleaner to supplement the meagre widow's pension available in the 1960s. Joan's personal experiences informed her politics. She said politics was about people and that she wanted to help people. A supporter and member activist in the ALP for many years, Joan entered politics later in life. She was elected to the south-east Melbourne seat of Henty in 1974 but was defeated the following year. Re-elected in 1980, she successfully held Henty for the next three elections. Between the years 1984 and 1986, Joan became Chairman of Committees and Deputy Speaker. With the abolition of her seat prior to the 1990 election, Joan chose not to seek re-election in another seat.

Joan served on several parliamentary committees, particularly on those relating to the parliament, including the Joint Committee on the Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on the Parliamentary Library and the Joint Standing Committee on the New and Permanent Parliament House.

As Speaker, Joan spurned traditional robes. Always practical, she said that a wig would only flatten her hair. She also more than met the challenge of the robust debate that is characteristic of the other chamber. Thirty years later, recollections become coloured by nostalgia. At the time, however, it is always a different matter. This was a time when Paul Keating's incisive parliamentary contributions skewered the opposition, when Kim Beazley and Ian Sinclair were dogged combatants and when 'Iron Bar' Tuckey tested the boundaries of parliamentary procedure. Joan was a woman managing the chamber when the House and wider Australian society was not accustomed to seeing women controlling and directing institutions. She exercised her role as Speaker with the patience and directness that was also her approach to life.

Joan was a role model then and remains a role model now to many who knew her and worked with her. I am immensely proud to say that I also worked with Joan. Joan remained active in Labor Party affairs in her retirement. She was also a member of the Patrons Council of the Epilepsy Foundation of Victoria. Her hobbies included gardening, reading detective fiction and listening to Elvis Presley. Joan was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in June 1990.

Joan's influence on other ALP members was considerable. She was an energetic and positive woman of immense resilience, honesty and good humour. She was respected and well loved by those who knew her.

I have many fond memories of talking with Joan and admiring the electoral machine that was the electorate in which she lived. She had mastered the art of local campaigning. I have, to this day, never seen someone who could command such knowledge as she did of the electorate she lived in, the voters, the people that she worked closely with and the people that she fought on behalf of. She was an extraordinary politician. She was an extraordinarily fine woman. She was tough. I often remember having discussions with her about a variety of issues. She was tough, but the kindness and the gentleness always shone through that. Despite her groundbreaking achievements in the parliament, Joan remained involved with her community. She was well loved and will be missed. On behalf the government, I offer condolences to her family.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The coalition joins with the government in supporting this motion of condolence. Joan Child was a trailblazer in the Labor Party who never lost her humility. Joan Child was born in 1921, a date to which I will return. Her father was a postmaster of Beechworth. She later attended Camberwell Church of England Girls Grammar School.

I am obliged to point out that Mrs Child lived inLaunceston in Tasmania for some years. Her husband, who was a business manager there, regrettably died there in 1963, leaving Joan a widow with five sons between the ages of seven and 18 to support. She worked on an assembly line in a knitting factory, as a sales assistant, as a cork in a geriatric hospital and as a house cleaner to provide for her family. She then worked as an electorate officer and research officer for several Labor MPs, including—no descriptor necessary—Jim Cairns. How that worked, given her right-wing affiliation, I am not sure. But I am sure they somehow managed.

In 1974, Joan Child won the Victorian seat of Henty on her second attempt. In her early 50s, she became the Labor Party's first woman in the House of Representatives—71 years after women were first able to stand for election. She was the fourth woman so elected. Of course, this side of politics takes great pride in a fellow Tasmanian, Dame Enid Lyons, who won a seat in the House of Representatives in 1943, some 31 years earlier. Joan Child was defeated in the 1970 landslide but came back in 1980 having spent at least 10 hours a week doorknocking.

In February 1981, she asked Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser and Speaker Sir Billy Sneddon to cease referring to MPs as 'honourable gentlemen'. This was not because the gentlemen were not honourable but because she wanted them to refer to 'honourable members'. Sir Billy replied:

The point is well made. I apologise deeply and profusely.

But he slipped up again shortly afterwards. On the qualities needed to enter parliament, she said:

I think you need to be very decisive. You must have the ability to say, ‘The buck stops with me’. I am a pretty bossy woman.

Clearly, she had some authority because she was Deputy Chairman of Committees and Chairman of Committees. She was then Speaker of the House from 1986 to 1989. She was the first woman Speaker of the House of Representatives.

I noticed that various media reports state that Joan Child was 48 when she first won the seat of Henty. By my calculation, on the basis of being born in 1921, she must have actually been 53. In fact, I noticed similar anomalies in every report of her trailblazing career. But that is an aside; it does not take away from what was a fantastic career. She was able to hide that part of her life exceptionally well and undoubtedly that is what made her so well suited to the intricacies of Labor Party politics. In relation to her age, she said on becoming Speaker:

I don’t discuss it. If you want to discuss it I’m in my late fifties. I just will not be pinpointed on exactly how old I am.

By my calculation, her late-50s was actually 64 at the time. She seems to have got away with it her whole career and good on her. Clearly, being in her mid-60s only enhanced Joan Child's abilities and authority, given her life experience.

Although she found the position of Speaker to be an often lonely one, her decisiveness stood her in good stead. Her first review as Speaker said she came down so hard on everyone that they were reeling in shock. She was even compared to one of my heroes, Margaret Thatcher. The comment was that after her 'iron-fisted' performance members of both sides would have to restrain themselves to avoid a verbal lashing. Leaders were not immune either: Mr Peacock was ordered to stop talking out of turn and Mr Hawke was told, 'Okay, get going,' once she had obtained silence. Coalition members adapted well to calling the Speaker 'Madame Speaker', but Prime Minister Bob Hawke did on occasion stumble, addressing her as, 'Mr—er—Madame Speaker'. Joan Child eschewed the Speaker's ceremonial robes, saying:

… when I put my clothes on in the morning, I don't put on my dignity with them. I always have it with me.

And she did. Whilst I personally do not mind the robes and traditions, I will observe that in recent times we have seen that the more the robes and regalia the less the dignity.

I refer to a media report of March 1988, headed: 'MPs binge: Speaker offers to reimburse $1,000.' It is a story about the Speaker, Mrs Child, offering to:

… pay more than $1,000 of her own money to meet the expenses incurred last Thursday, when hundreds of people went on a binge through the bars and dining rooms of Parliament House and consumed $10,000 worth of free food and drink. Mrs Child said last night that the joint House department, which is in charge of parliament's catering service, would advise her of the final net loss and she would personally reimburse parliament for the outstanding amount.

Mrs Child said she accepted responsibility for the huge loss incurred because it was she who authorised the cafeteria and bars to remain open in spite of the work ban.

So a bit of industrial disputation undoubtedly was in play at the time.

But her plea—

and this is the interesting part; it is a pity the gallery is so empty—

that everyone involved should pay back the money they owed has fallen on many deaf ears. MPs and senators have agreed to pay up. The press gallery, however, has laid low. "Sales from the non-members bar were significantly higher than a normal trading night," she said. This bar, which is frequented by journalists, suffered the biggest loss of all—$2,830, of which only $114 has been returned. Interestingly, Mrs Child sent a letter last night to the president of the press gallery—

guess who that was at the time: Paul Kelly—

asking him to urge his members to reimburse parliament and, of course, taxpayers.

I am just wondering if it is too late to have a Senate estimates committee and call Paul Kelly before it to inquire as to whether full payment was made!

During her time as Speaker, Joan Child had to deal with some particularly torrid exchanges. She had to face an opposition censure motion when the government stonewalled on questions and Treasurer Keating disagreed with Mrs Child and Mrs Child would not make the Treasurer withdraw a reflection against her. She certainly had dignity and grace. She made it a point not to criticise individuals within the parliament. After 3½ years in the speakership, she retired. The smile never left her face.

Amongst her outside interests, besides being an Elvis Presley devotee and an avid gardener, she was a Hawthorn supporter. She must have had some prescience about what agreements were going to be reached between the city she used to live in, namely Launceston, and the Hawthorn Football Club.

It was rumoured that she could become Australia's first female Governor-General, a job she later said she would not mind taking on. Regrettably, she never achieved that role. But deservedly, in 1990, she was awarded an AO in recognition of her service to the Australian parliament. The coalition salutes her service to our nation and extends condolences to her sons, Peter, Andrew, Geoffrey, Gary and Roger and the extended family.

Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to pay tribute to Joan Child and of course extend the condolences of the Greens to her family. I think it is worth reflecting on what a trailblazer she was for women in Australian politics. When Joan Child became Speaker of the House of Representatives in February 1986, there had never been a female Speaker, a female Governor-General, nor a woman as a Governor in any state. There had never been a woman to sit on the High Court bench, no woman as the leader of a state or territory government, no female leader of a political party and, naturally following from that, never a woman as Prime Minister of Australia.

The Senate today really can praise Joan Child because she did smash the glass ceiling in Australia's institutions of government. Other women quickly followed her through that gap, in state parliaments first, then in federal politics, past the debris and in through the gap she had broken. She really did lead the way for Australian women. Within the next five years, Justice Mary Gaudron was appointed to the High Court, Rosemary Follett had become the first leader of a government in the ACT, Dame Roma Mitchell was to be Governor of South Australia and Carmen Lawrence was to be Australia's first Premier. It was an important half-decade for women in public life and Joan Child was at the vanguard.

In other firsts, Joan Child was the first Speaker in this building, the first Speaker to receive flowers upon taking the chair and the first Speaker of Australia's parliament to introduce a bill, which has become a very important act, particularly for the Senate—the Parliamentary Privileges Act 1987. She was closely involved with the bill's formation, drawing in the views and opinions of all members of the House. As a result she helped to protect the witnesses and participants of our Senate committees to ensure their statements could not be used to establish a motive or intention for acts done outside parliament to be used in judicial proceedings. The Senate, as a house of inquiry, requires members and witnesses to know without doubt that they can speak their mind without fear of retribution. So we are grateful for Joan Child's contribution to their protection.

She also oversaw the creation of the Department of Parliamentary Services, again introducing the enabling legislation which saw the presiding officers take an administrative responsibility over the day-to-day functioning of the new parliament. The Library staff, gardeners, information technology, catering and the services of the clerks, Black Rod and Serjeant-at-Arms—all the wonderful services we enjoy—were brought together under her guidance and we thank her for her commitment to the effective and independent running of the parliament.

Joan Child knew that the importance of a Speaker lay in the position's duty to the parliament, not to her political party first—a truth that has sometimes been forgotten. However, the legacy she has left to both houses of the parliament and to her country will not be forgotten.

I regard one of the characteristics of leadership in women in public life that they not only be role models for other women but that they make changes to enable and empower the women who come after them to do more and go further than they had been able to themselves. I regard Joan Child not only as one of those women who was a role model for girls and women around the country in what could be achieved in political life; she did make institutional changes that made the parliament a better institution and that empowered other women to take on roles that they may previously have thought were out of their reach or domain. I pay tribute to her as a leading Australian woman and as a trailblazer.

Jacinta Collins (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for School Education and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Joan Child truly was a fabulous, dignified lady from an era, Senator Abetz, when one did not discuss a lady's age. She, like many of us today, obviously felt a greater weight of public scrutiny than many of her peers would have at that time. Joan Child provided great inspiration for women in the Labor Party, and she was known for her strong commitment to social justice. As Senator Conroy pointed out, she had a strong belief in helping people and working with people.

I would like to concentrate on how Joan never lost her interest in Labor politics. Joan was one of those people who felt that you should always do those things you might ask others to do. She was active and involved in all levels of the Labor Party. During this debate we have focused on Joan's period as Speaker and some of the other work she did in the parliament, but I would like to look at the time and the contribution that Joan made since leaving this parliament.

I first met Joan in the 1990 election when I was a member of her local Labor Party branch. This was shortly after she finished her period as the member for Henty in 1989. Joan was still there with her sleeves rolled up, active and involved with every ounce of her commitment and energy in that election campaign and that never changed. I moved on from that particular branch of the Labor Party, but my sister is currently a member and would still see Joan participating at the age of 91.

Eighteen months ago we celebrated 25 years since Joan Child became the first female Speaker. We had a morning tea with Harry Jenkins as Speaker, and it truly was a great experience to see Joan return to this parliament so many years after her period as Speaker and to have her reflect on the changes she saw as having transpired. When I first met Joan in 1990 I would not have imagined that I would be in this place, let alone talk to her 18 months ago about how she saw it. It was truly enlightening. Joan would have received great pleasure to see Anna Burke as another female Speaker of the parliament.

I must conclude my brief remarks by saying that she is one of those people who truly deserves the state funeral that will occur at Monash Religious Centre on Tuesday. I unfortunately will be in Darwin, far away from home, but I would like to give my condolences to her family and her many friends in the Victorian Labor Party.

Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to add my condolences on the passing of the Hon. Joan Child AO. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to meet Joan Child, albeit very briefly, in the late 1980s. Joan was the first female ALP member of the House of Representatives. Reflecting on this in her first speech, Joan said that she felt 'deeply honoured at being the first woman elected to this House as an endorsed Labor Party candidate'. Joan's election, unfortunately, did come some 30 years after Senator Dorothy Tangney was elected to the Senate in 1943. Joan won the seat of Henty in 1974, being defeated in 1975, before serving as a member from 1980 until she retired from federal politics in 1990. Joan was appointed Australia's first female Speaker in February 1986, holding the position until 1989—a groundbreaking achievement. Joan could only be described as an ALP true believer. We have heard here today about Joan's commitment to the party prior to standing for the Labor Party, and continuing her commitment and passion for the party, as well as the work and the policies that the Labor Party believes in, long, long after she left federal politics.

Joan was strongly committed to those in our community who were less fortunate. In particular I note from her first speech her commitment to and argument for appropriate support for people living with a disability and her hope that any legislation concerning people with a disability should pass easily, with compassion and understanding; that it would be accepted by states and would not be faced with a states-rights wrangle. I think she would certainly be very proud of the current Labor government's commitment to the NDIS and, indeed, the cross-party support for the NDIS.

Joan came from a true working-class background, having worked at a number of jobs including as a sales assistant, a cook, a cleaner and on an assembly line before entering politics. Joan will be fondly remembered as a passionate advocate for women's rights and for those in our community who are doing it tough. Joan believed that as a rich nation our wealth cannot be measured in building roads, airports and swimming pools. A nation's wealth is measured by the care and compassion it is prepared to extend to the old and lonely, the dependent, the disabled and the young who are at school. She also had a strong commitment to improving the lives of women, and this was evident right from the moment she was elected to parliament. On her election she refused to be photographed in her house as a housewife, saying: 'I am not standing as a housewife. I am a member of the ALP. As for the housework at home, my boys and I do it between us.'

As the first female Speaker things were very different for Joan. Reflecting on her time as Speaker, the current Speaker Anna Burke said when Joan was first elected Speaker, no-one knew what to call her. 'It started off as Mrs Speaker, but when it was later changed to Madam Speaker, Joan wryly observed she was not in charge of a brothel.' It is anecdotes such as these that highlight Joan's good sense of humour. She was blessed with humility and never forgot who put her into politics or why. For women in the ALP, Joan's election was a milestone, an indication that the battles waged to have women's voices heard in parliament had worked. Women were inspired and encouraged to face the challenges to continue our campaign for equal representation with determination. Joan's commitment to remembering where she came from also shone through in her first speech and it is an important message for all of us to remember. She said:

The basis of election to a seat in Parliament is service to people. We are really public servants. The people made our election possible. They made it possible for us to take our seats in this House. That should be remembered, but it is all too often forgotten.

Joan will indeed be missed by her Labor family. I extend my sympathies to Joan's children and their families.

John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I join with colleagues in supporting this motion of condolence on the death of Joan Child. When I became a senator, Joan's time in caucus was drawing to a close. She, of course, was Speaker of the House of Representatives. I was the most junior member of the federal parliamentary Labor Party. Nevertheless, I remember how welcoming she was. Joan Child had an impressive record of achievement, both in the Labor Party and in the parliament. When I arrived in Canberra, no-one doubted that Joan Child was a formidable politician.

Joan Child joined the Australian Labor Party in 1968. By the time of the 1969 federal election, Joan's campaign expertise was very well recognised. She was campaign director in two federal seats, Lalor and Higgins. Albeit unusual, it was an early recognition of her capacity. Joan was Labor's candidate for Henty in the 1972 federal election. She ran a tremendous grassroots campaign, achieving a 9.1 per cent swing—although a 9.2 per cent swing was required. She lost by just 308 votes. By 1974, her hard work had paid off. Joan Child, as we have heard, was elected as the first Labor woman to the House of Representatives. Her term was to be all too brief, as she was swept away in the landslide of 1975. But Joan had built a great campaign team in Henty in the seventies, which was very widely recognised in the Labor Party as the best in the business. But in the 1977 federal election it was to be to no avail. Joan was defeated again.

After the disappointments of 1975 and 1977, Joan made the tough decision to run again in 1980. It paid off. She won, and in the following decade her very strong grassroots campaigning, the wide respect she had in the community and her understanding and empathy for the concerns of her constituents turned the seat of Henty into a Labor stronghold. I think that those years out of parliament after Joan's defeat in 1975 meant pursuing ministerial office would be difficult. I am sure she recognised that. But not all the options were to be closed off. In 1984, she became Chairman of Committees, or Deputy Speaker, after a tight caucus ballot which she won 50 votes to 49 votes, with two deliberate informals. Following the retirement of Dr Harry Jenkins Sr, in 1986, she became Speaker, as we have heard, this time unopposed in the caucus.

Upon taking the chair in the House, the new Speaker said that she expected to be less formal than her predecessor. She also made the point that she did not support the old Westminster tradition of speakers resigning from political parties. She said:

Just because I'm Speaker doesn't mean I'm not a member of the party or interested in its policies. I don't see any conflict of interest.

It was under her stewardship that the role of television in the parliament was greatly expanded. Joan Child was a strong advocate for bringing the parliament into the living rooms of Australia. She told the Age:

Who knows, it might make us all spruce ourselves up a bit, behave better. You never know what might happen—cameras have a remarkable effect on politicians.

Joan Child acquitted herself very well as Speaker, but she never lost her common touch. Many here in Parliament House benefited from her wise counsel and personal support at tough times.

Joan retired in the 1990 federal election a highly respected parliamentarian, many would say a trailblazer. After her retirement, she remained active in the party but, as we have heard, had more time for gardening, always a passion, and to dip into yet another crime novel from her extensive library and, no doubt, to look after the cats—she was a cat lover as well. But she was also a sports lover—test cricket, tennis, the Hawthorn Football Club, not to mention her love of the punt. Robert Ray, himself a veteran of that Henty Labor machine, told me yesterday that Joan still had an active TAB account at 91 years of age. She loved the track.

Labor has lost one of its best, and my sincere sympathy also goes to Joan's family and friends.

Question agreed to, honourable senators standing in their places.