Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is also with deep regret that I inform the Senate of the death on 9 May this year of the Hon. Michael John Randal MacKellar, AM, a former minister and member of the House of Representatives for the division of Warringah, New South Wales, from 1969 until 1994.

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

by leave—I move:

That the Senate records its deep regret at the death, on 9 May 2015, of the Honourable Michael John Randal MacKellar, AM, former minister and Member for Warringah, places on record its appreciation of his long and highly distinguished service to the nation and tenders its profound sympathy to his family in their bereavement.

Michael John Randal MacKellar was born on 27 October 1938 in Sydney. He grew up on a small grazing property near Narrabri and attended Sydney Church of England Grammar School and Sydney University, where he graduated as a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture—a rarity in the parliament. He then went to Oxford and graduated as a Master of Arts. He joined the New South Wales Department of Agriculture in 1961 and worked as an agricultural extension officer and part-time lecturer in agricultural extension at Sydney and NSW universities until entering parliament.

He won preselection for the seat of Warringah against the sitting MP, Edward St John, who had fallen foul of the Liberal Party with his outspokenness against the then prime minister. Mr MacKellar was elected, at the 1969 election, to the House of Representatives. He quickly showed his capacity, being appointed to represent the House on the council of the ANU, becoming Deputy Chairman of Committees in 1974 and joining the shadow ministry that same year. After the 1975 election, he was appointed Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs. He held this portfolio until 1979, when he was appointed Minister for Health. He also held portfolios as Minister for Home Affairs and Environment, and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister.

It was as immigration minister that Michael MacKellar's contribution to our nation is most remembered. As his successor in the seat of Warringah—our current Prime Minister, the Hon. Tony Abbott MP—said on the weekend, Mr MacKellar oversaw the placement of tens of thousands of Vietnamese who were fleeing communism. The wonderful contribution that many Vietnamese Australians have made to our country over the last 40 years can be traced to the positive decisions made by Mr MacKellar as minister at that critical time. It is worthy to reflect that at that time there was not unanimity about this approach. Indeed, the then Labor leader disparagingly referred to the Vietnamese refugees as 'Viet Balts'—a reference to another population, from the Baltic states, also fleeing the horrors and oppression of communism. Mr MacKellar argued for the positive influence of immigration. Indeed, in 1979 he argued that immigration was important given the ageing of the Australian population, making the prediction then that by 2011 the average age of an Australian would be 35. I checked this morning with the library and he was nearly right: in 2011 the average age of an Australian was 37.

Mr MacKellar was also, with the then communications minister, the Hon. Tony Staley, the instigator of the ethnic television services of the Special Broadcasting Service, SBS, in 1978. He held the seat of Warringah for 25 years, being elected on 11 successive occasions. Apart from serving as a minister, Michael MacKellar served as Opposition Whip, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business and on a range of committees. He was a parliamentarian in the true sense.

In early 1994, he retired from the House to enter the private sector. At that time, the Prime Minister, Mr Keating, noted that they were the last two of the 1969 intake, and he paid warm tribute to Michael MacKellar's contribution to the parliament and to his character.

Mr MacKellar was chief executive officer of the Plastics and Chemicals Institute of Australia until 1997, when he became chief operating officer of the Baker Medical Research Institute. He was also active on the board of the Sydney 2000 Paralympics Games, having a strong personal interest in sport for those with disabilities. In 1998 he was appointed chairman of the Australia New Zealand Food Authority.

He had a compelling commitment to aged care from his work in the health portfolio and served as a director of the Ageing Research Institute and the Centre for Eye Research Australia and as a council member for the Royal Blind Society. He was also chairman of Vasey RSL Care in Melbourne. Michael McKellar's contributions to the parliament and the community were recognised by his being awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001 and then being appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2011.

To his children, Cameron, Duncan and Maggie, and his grandchildren, and to his partner, Pam, and her family, on behalf of the government I offer my sincere sympathies. His was a major contribution to our nation, and we salute his service.

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to express condolence on behalf of the opposition following the passing of Michael MacKellar. The Honourable Michael John MacKellar AM served the Australian parliament as a member of the House of Representatives for nearly 25 years. He also served as a minister in the Fraser government.

Born in 1938 in Sydney, MacKellar came from a farming background and was an agricultural scientist before his election to parliament. He worked in the New South Wales Department of Agriculture and was also a lecturer in this field at the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales. He drew on this experience when he made his first speech in a contribution on the Wheat Industry Stabilisation Bill. This was not appreciated by his coalition colleagues in the Country Party, who believed they had a monopoly on rural policy and rural debate. Mr MacKellar entered the parliament as the member for Warringah on Sydney's North Shore in 1969, two days before his 31st birthday. He continued to hold this seat until his resignation in 1994, being elected 11 times in total. The ensuing by-election resulted in the election of the now Prime Minister.

The highlight of Mr MacKellar's parliamentary career was undoubtedly the time he spent in the ministry from 1975 to 1982, in particular as Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs from 1975 to 1979 and as Minister for Health from 1979 to 1982. He also spent a short period of time in other portfolios, including assisting the Prime Minister, assisting the Treasurer, home affairs and the environment. In his valedictory speech Mr MacKellar agreed with another departing member, Labor's Dr Neal Blewett, that a parliamentary career is capped if you are privileged enough to become a minister. He said:

Becoming a minister gives you the opportunity, as no other position does, to put into practice some of the things that you would like to see done. I remember my ministerial role in a couple of ministries with very great affection because it gave me the opportunity of proving not only that I could work long hours and hard but also that we as a government could do many things for people which otherwise they would not be able to hope for.

For Mr MacKellar, being a minister was about achievement. As Minister for Immigration, he oversaw the resettlement of thousands of Vietnamese migrants. He reflected on a time when:

… Australia faced a challenge which it had never faced before—the potential arrival of hundreds of thousands of distressed refugees from Indo-China in small boats. We as a government and I as the minister helped to deal with that situation in a way which, I believe, did Australia a great credit.

The Fraser government is rightly acknowledged for its sensitive leadership in this area. Handled in another way, this issue could have been a political and social disaster given the pressures that existed at the time, but this was thankfully not the case.

Mr MacKellar was involved in the organisation of two United Nations conferences on refugees, demonstrating the importance of multilateral cooperation in this area and in initiatives to truly recognise Australia's multicultural community. Policies he implemented or set in train include the establishment of the Special Broadcasting Service, SBS; support for new arrivals; creation of the Migrant Resource Centre; and what became the Office of Multicultural Affairs. Mr MacKellar later reflected:

We led the world in many areas and proved to be a model for other countries.

However, he also stated that Australia is not part of Asia and should 'pay more attention to migration from traditional sources' to 'maintain balance in the face of regional pressures'. These statements reflected the policy challenges he was grappling with at the time—the policy challenges of the time. Later, in 1988, he was one of six Liberals who challenged the hardline immigration policy of opposition leader John Howard.

As health minister, Mr MacKellar inherited a policy that was 'one of the biggest political hot potatoes of 1980' as the Fraser government attempted to wind back the Whitlam government's Medibank. He saw his role as ensuring that there was a discernible connection between expenditure and health standards, that all Australians had proper access to high-quality health care at a cost that the individual and the community could afford. Prior to his ministerial service, Mr MacKellar also served as the Commonwealth parliamentary representative on the Council of the ANU from 1970 to 1976.

As his parliamentary career came towards its conclusion, he made clear his view that the Liberal Party should not concentrate on the rights of some with little regard for society overall. He stated:

It is not good enough to concentrate solely on the rights and benefits of individuals, important as that is. An equal role for government is to protect the public good and enhance the national interest.

When he made his valedictory speech in the House of Representatives in February 1994, Mr MacKellar made a concerted effort to set out what he saw as some of the challenges of the future for those he was leaving behind. He identified the necessity of engaging with young people, developing policies that foster 'a sense of personal worth, a feeling that how they live their lives and the contribution their lives can make to the greater good really matters'. He also spoke of the importance of looking after Australia's fragile environment, of understanding it and adapting policies to take this into account, or else risk losing it for future generations. He identified the role of population policy and good urban and regional planning in this area. Of course, as Minister for Immigration, he had to see different sides of this debate and the role that migration choices played in population policy.

He recognised the significance of parliament as an institution that must be guarded by those who are privileged enough to serve in it. He saw that when the public standing of parliament diminishes, the future of democracy in our country is weakened. Members of parliament needed to be active and engaged if the institution was to be strong.

In his post-parliamentary career, Mr MacKellar served with a wide variety of organisations including on the Board of Vasey RSL Care; the Plastics, Chemicals and Allied Industries Association; the Australian Institute of International Affairs; the Australia New Zealand Food Authority; and the Sydney Paralympic Games Organising Committee.

In expressing the condolences of the opposition following the death of Michael MacKellar, may I particularly extend our sympathies to his family and friends, and to our Liberal Party colleagues.

Nigel Scullion (NT, Country Liberal Party, Minister for Indigenous Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to associate the Nationals with this condolence motion for the Hon Michael MacKellar AM. Born in Sydney in 1938, MacKellar was an agricultural scientist specialising in agricultural extension before election to parliament. He was the Member for Warringah for a record 25 years before the current member, Mr Tony Abbott, became the local member in a by-election.

The Hon Michael MacKellar was Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs between 1975 and 1979 and Minister for Health from 1979 to 1982, in the Fraser Government. He also held the positions of Minister Assisting the Prime Minister from 1979 to 1980 and Minister for Home Affairs and the Environment in 1981. It is clear from these appointments that Michael MacKellar was highly regarded and an important member of the Fraser government.

As Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, he oversaw the placement of tens of thousands of Vietnamese who were fleeing communism. This has been a lasting legacy such that we now have a thriving and industrious Australian Vietnamese community.

In many ways it was a shame that MacKellar had to resign over unpaid duty on a television. His contribution had been core to the government. But MacKellar refused to be stopped from making a further contribution. The after-politics section of this contribution is testament to his continuing commitment to important issues of the day. Maintaining his sense of public service, after leaving politics MacKellar became the Chairman of the Australia New Zealand Food Authority, in 1998. He also acted as Chief Operations Officer of the Baker Medical Research Institute and Chief Executive Officer of the Plastics and Chemicals Industries Association. MacKellar also served as the president of the Melbourne-based National Ageing Research Institute.

In his last speech in Parliament, Mackellar spoke of the privilege of not just being a member but a minister, because you can make real change happen. He said:

I think particularly of the difficulties in the immigration and ethnic affairs area when Australia faced a challenge which it had never faced before—the potential arrival of hundreds of thousands of distressed refugees from Indo-China in small boats. We as a government and I as the Minister helped to deal with that situation in a way which, I believe, did Australia great credit.

That is quite true. Dr John Hewson explained in his valedictory speech for MacKellar that, along with Malcolm Fraser, Michael was instrumental in organising two United Nations conferences on refugees:

He really did internationalise an understanding of the problem of refugees. I think that will long be remembered as a very significant contribution.

Michael also, in conjunction with Malcolm Fraser, commissioned the Galbally report on migrant services and subsequently implemented most of its recommendations. I think that this represented the first substantive commitment by any Australian government to a multicultural society.

Out of this, we saw the establishment of the SBS, comprehensive support for new arrivals, the Migrant Resource Centre and the Australian Institute of Multicultural studies.

Mackellar also had a broader vision of Australia that made him understand what the future would bring. He said in his last speech, in 1994, that the Prime Ministership of Malcolm Fraser has been denigrated far too much—not so much by his political opponents, but by those who should be his political supporters. He added that in the sweep of history great achievements were made by the Fraser ministries. It is only now that Malcolm Fraser has passed on that true recognition for him and his government achievements is happening.

On the lighter side, Dr John Hewson described Michael MacKellar as an absolute burglar on the golf course. He was renowned for his sporting ability and his avid readership. He was also well-known for founding the coalition's wine appreciation society—the source, I understand, of many a good night. All this from a boy who was born and grew up in Baan Baa in the former electorate of Gwydir No wonder his first speech was on the wheat industry.

It is a sad time for his family and close friends. I extend condolences to them on behalf of all National senators.

Question agreed to, honourable senators standing in their places.