Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Murray Darling Basin) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too rise to share some thoughts of Gary Humphries and Barnaby Joyce, who are two wonderful and greatly valued colleagues. In my six years here we have farewelled quite a number of people and many special people in that time. What I have discovered, particularly in the last few days as we approach the departure of some more valued colleagues, is that the longer you are here the harder it gets to farewell some of them from this place, because you have come to appreciate all that they contribute and to value the unique contribution they make.

I want to quickly touch, firstly, on Gary who is a wonderful Liberal colleague, and I want to touch on some of the attributes that he brought to this place in a very special way. Firstly, there is his humility. He is a modest and humble man, indeed, who demonstrated that trait this evening in his contribution with his admission of a sense of bewilderment when he first entered this place, with his self-deprecating humour and with the fact that he never sought to grandstand or stand over anyone on any issue. He is a man of pride, however, not pride of his own achievements, but pride of his community. He is a proud man in championing his community at every opportunity be it in this place or in the Liberal and coalition party rooms, where he would always stand up for Canberra and for the Public Service. He would always make sure that, for those of us who may from time to time be tempted to use the word 'Canberra' as a catchall for some type of derision of what may happen in this building, he made us understand that there was a far more vibrant society beyond it.

He is a respectful man encapsulated, again, by that sense of pride in his community and especially by the way he referenced the Australian Public Service tonight. He has a very proud record of achievement, not that he would ever boast of it. Tonight, in many ways, he talked down his achievement as Chief Minister of the ACT, as a long-serving minister in the ACT and as a long-serving senator in this place. He should be very proud of all that he did in all of those different roles. He should, as he rightly highlighted tonight, be especially proud of the role he played in the committee process, especially in relation to recognising children who found themselves in institutionalised care and in the most unfortunate of circumstances.

He is a principled man. I think each Liberal comes to this place and defines their Liberal values in their own way. In each of us there will be a sense of liberalism, a sense of conservatism, and each will come up with his own blend. Gary certainly did that, did it in spades, and was I think a true Liberal champion in doing so. He is a man who leaves a proud legacy. It is a legacy not just of the work that he has done across two parliaments but also of having engaged so many others, including so many young people, in politics. As he reflected tonight, he has three former staff members in different parliaments, one of whom I am pleased to count as a very close friend, Stephen Wade, who is a Member of the Legislative Council in South Australia and who travelled here tonight to hear Gary's valedictory. Indeed, Stephen is the shadow Attorney-General in South Australia and, I hope, will continue to provide that link to Gary's wonderful work in the legal sphere by being the next Attorney-General in my home state. I know that he continues to value Gary's counsel greatly.

To my friend Barnaby Joyce—Barnaby and I were the yin and the yang of the coalition on the Murray-Darling and, hopefully, will continue to be so after the election, albeit with Barnaby in the other place. In our roles in the water and the Murray-Darling portfolios we got thrown together by coincidence at a number of events, and we have travelled hundreds of kilometres together. I have learnt that Barnaby is not just a man in the public sphere with a magical turn of phrase, but is also a great storyteller. He is a man of great compassion and humility, as well, when travelling and dealing with people from all walks of life. He, as many others have said tonight, has made an indelible impression on this place, and I am sure he will on the other place. There is only one word that you can say about Barnaby's decision to move to the other place and that is 'gutsy'. It is well and truly gutsy, and good on him for doing so, and I am delighted that it now looks like it will pay dividends.

I wish both colleagues well in what I am sure will continue to be public service in different ways for Gary and Barnaby. We will miss them both, and I will particularly miss Gary's good heart and deep sense of conscience that he brought to this place, and I look forward to still enjoying the benefit of Barnaby albeit from just across the corridor.

Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Northern and Remote Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to associate myself with the words of my colleagues, who have spoken at some length and much more eloquently than I can, on the retirement from the Senate of two of my colleagues, Senator Joyce and Senator Humphries.

In what has been a very momentous day, we heard in this chamber two exceptionally fine speeches—not speeches that are great for the fineness of the words, but fine because they encapsulate the character and being of the two person who uttered those words. Gary's speech demonstrated everything we all love and respect about Gary. He is a real statesman. It was a speech full of generosity and humour, and one can easily see why Gary has played such a big part in the governance of the Australian Capital Territory over many years.

I first came into contact with Gary at the time when I was territories minister. I had more to do with his predecessor, Kate Carnell, but I had a lot to do with Gary at the time. His love of and passion for Canberra, and his commitment and passion for anything he has become involved in has clearly shown through. We both had small roles in the defence portfolio in opposition, and he brought the same commitment and dedication to that role as he brought to his role in the ACT Assembly and to his time in this chamber as a senator for the Australian Capital Territory.

I wish Gary and his wife all the very best. As I said to his wife earlier, I suspect we will see a lot more of Gary. It would not surprise me were he to pop up again in public life, but I am sure he will be around for a long time into the future.

Barnaby has been an exceptional Queenslander. Although not originally a Queenslander, he certainly adopted the state and the state adopted him. Others have spoken at length about Barnaby's introduct­ion. I do not think Barnaby has spoken to me since I pointed out that he was not the most western senator in Queensland—that I was, because of the way the Queensland coast is shaped. I only joke in saying that!

Barnaby has been a character—a character to the benefit of Queensland and certainly to the benefit of the National Party. Since the amalgamation of the parties in Queensland he has been a leading force in the LNP in Queensland. I never thought I would be in a position to say that Barnaby and I—and indeed Bozzie, sitting here as well—would be in the same party in Queensland. I know Bozzie often denies it, but the fact of the matter is that we are in the same party, and I am proud to say that I was a member of the same party that Barnaby was in.

Barnaby has made a significant contribution in this place. There is no denying that. He is a bloke that always speaks his mind, and will continue to do so. I know that we will see a lot more of Barnaby in the years ahead. My best wishes go with him and his wife as they move into this new challenge in their lives. Like others, I thought Barnaby was crazy courageous in his decision to take on the seat of New England. There is no doubt that it was exceptionally courageous. It was done in the best interests of Australia, I think, and in the best interests of those on our side of politics.

I am delighted to see, Barnaby, that it has worked out to be perhaps a little easier than we all thought—certainly a lot easier than you thought it would be. I am not surmising on anything, of course; you still have an election to go through, but I am delighted it has turned out that way for you. All the very best in your future in the lower house.