George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—Mr Andrew Meares, who's taking photographs of us as we speak, is retiring this year after 27 years as a press photographer with The Sydney Morning Herald. Those 27 years have included two stints as a member of the parliamentary press gallery, over a period of 12 years. There we are, Mr Meares: get out that other camera; that's good! Mr Meares is a very, very popular and well-liked figure around this building. He has the distinction of having been awarded the Walkley award in 2010—I wasn't responsible for that one, unlike David Speers's one! He also had the rare distinction of being the very first photographer to have been elected the president of the parliamentary press gallery, a position from which he retired only a short while ago.

Of course, we in the Senate are particularly conscious of Mr Meares, because he was the prime mover, with the collaboration of Senator Derryn Hinch and with the support of myself, other government senators and other senators in the chamber, for the relaxation of the rules concerning photography in the Senate. All of a sudden, a wonderful new world opened up to the parliamentary press gallery. After all of those years of taking photographs of those dreary and unattractive people in the House of Representatives, all of a sudden you had a whole new universe of much more attractive people to photograph, here in the Senate! Mr Andrew Meares—or Mearesy, as everyone knows you—we thank you for your service to Australian democracy, because, may I say, the photographers sometimes capture the moment in a way the journalists never can. We thank you for being such a friendly spirit around this building, and we wish you well into the future.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I also want to acknowledge Mearesy, after in excess of 20 years with Fairfax and a very long time in various stints in the press gallery. You're much more than a mere snapper. You're one of the finest news photographers around, with an ability to find that moment that sums up the drama, the humour and the mood of what's happening in this place. Your photos are sometimes uplifting, sometimes brutal and sometimes funny, but probably never unfair. If anybody hasn't yet done so, I'd urge you to look at Mearesy's Twitter account today. He describes it as 27 frames for 27 years. They are an extraordinary array of photos, from the hostages fleeing the Lindt Cafe, the Cronulla riots, lots of politicians, including the extraordinary shot of George Christensen with the tattoo and the whip—that was a very disturbing photo, I've got to say!—

A government senator: We all think that!

See? They think that, too—to the scenes of joy here on the floor yesterday in the wake of the overwhelming yes vote for marriage equality. As the Leader of the Government in the Senate has said, the only reason those photos exist is your relentless campaigning to overturn the restrictive rules that governed what photographers were able to do. As someone who was on the receiving end of that lobbying, I just ended up giving up. I said: 'Okay, Mearesy, we'll do it. We'll do it.' But it has meant that the record of this chamber of the nation's parliament has changed forever. It has changed how history is recorded for this chamber, and that is an enormous contribution. Your talents have been wide ranging—both local disasters and big international stories.

I understand you're giving up for the best of reasons: a long holiday and more time with family. It can't be easy being a great news photographer living on a farm outside Canberra, an hour away, although it gave you great access to lots of photos of the bush and horses and the like. You're giving us up—how could you do that?—for more time on the farm with your children and your wife. Their gain is our loss, but of course we don't begrudge you a moment of it. When we're next sitting here for an all-night sitting, with tempers fraying, and we nervously glance up at the gallery to see if Mearesy's got a shot, we might all be a little bit grateful for but perhaps also a little bit envious of the more relaxed life you now lead. You go with our best wishes.