Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you very much for your assistance, Acting Deputy President Fierravanti-Wells, in organising the timing of this evening. I have some very special people in the gallery this evening.

Australia is a huge country but a small place. All of us in this place know that two degrees of separation is all too common an occurrence. It would surprise none of my new colleagues to know that, when I started travelling to Canberra on behalf of the Pastoralists and Graziers Association of Western Australia in 2005, I was coming to a city that was home to two aunts, an uncle and a number of cousins. My aunts Ann and Julia and uncle David all made the long journey from Pemberton in the deep south-west of Western Australia to our nation's bush capital. I made that journey much later, but it meant that my time in Canberra, from my first visit here, has been touched by family, all linked back to our family farm on the banks of the Warren River.

My aunt Ann passed away a few weeks ago, and tonight I rise to pay tribute to her not just as a much-loved mother and grandmother, though she certainly was, and as a much-loved sister or aunt, though again she certainly was. Ann's family and friends have celebrated her life, her sharp humour and her ready smile and laugh. Tonight I rise to speak about part of Ann Millar's professional life. Again, through the strange twists of fate and circumstance, my aunt Ann Millar, hailing from the Warren, came to work in this building for a significant part of her working life.

Ann joined the Department of the Senate as a special projects officer at the Procedure Office on 1 June 1987, having previously had a period with the Parliamentary Library. In September 1987, Ann was appointed research officer in the Procedure Office of the Senate. In February 1989, she was promoted to senior research officer and in 1991 to principal research officer. In December 1993, Ann became director of the research section. During her time in the Procedure Office, Ann Millar established the Senate's exhibition program, which included exhibitions on the revolution of 1688-89 and the Bill of Rights, and that exhibition took place in 1988-89; an exhibition on Senate committees in 1990; an exhibition on women in parliament from 1992 to 1994; and Federation and the writing of the Australian Constitution, which took place from 1994 to 2001.

During this time, Ann managed the Trust the Women exhibition which was on display in Parliament House from 1992 to 1994, some 50 years after the election of Dorothy Tangney and Enid Lyons to this place. Ann published a book, Trust the Women, in 1994, which further detailed the history of women's struggle to gain parliamentary representation and influence the course of legislation. The exhibition later toured several capital cities. In 1994, Ann Millar was the inaugural recipient of the department's Meritorious Service Medallion, awarded to recognise exceptional outstanding performance by officers, for her work on Trust the Women.

In January 1990, Ann visited the United States Congress, where she met Senate historian Richard A Baker and saw the work of the Senate Historical Office on the Biographical Dictionary of the United States Congress. As Director of Research, she established the Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate, a reference work which lives on, and is on the careers and lives of Australian senators. This was a Centenary of Federation project. From 1997 until her retirement in 2008, she served as the director of the Biographical Dictionary Unit and editor of the first three volumes, covering the years 1901 to 1983. Ann Millar retired on 1 February 2008.

I know we are not supposed to use props in this place, but I have here just the first volume of the biographical dictionary. It now extends to four significant volumes. Without doubt, the Biographical Dictionary of the Senate was Ann's crowning achievement. Under the aegis of the Clerk of this place, Harry Evans, Ann undertook this immense project in scholarship that now extends, as I said, to four volumes. Ann always spoke glowingly of Harry Evans and the opportunities he afforded her in the task of developing and taking through three volumes of the biographical dictionary. Her co-editor of the third edition, Geoffrey Brown, wrote:

Ann Millar, originator of the concept of the dictionary, editor of the first two volumes and co-editor of this volume, retired in 2008. Her absolute commitment to the dictionary, along with her exacting standards of scholarship, have ensured the success of the project over the last sixteen years.

Harry Evans's successor as Clerk, Rosemary Laing, wrote to Ann's children with these words:

She established a permanent place for exhibitions on the Senate side of Parliament House … which were highly influential in bringing attention to our Constitution and its history.

The high-quality design and the importance of telling an authentic story contributed to the growing reputation of the Senate Department under Harry Evans, whom Ann thought the world of.

Exhibitions were only one strand of Ann's work.

She was also working on a revision of the short film, The People of Parliament.

And then there were the conferences and lectures—

also known as POP, Papers on Parliament—

not to mention the public service seminars!

She sought out speakers who would have something useful and often entertaining to say about our system of government. … She didn't hesitate to seek out the best, whether she ran into them at the Red Hill shops or by approaching the highest offices in the land!

But of course, the big project was the four-volume Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate, which was a formidable undertaking. With a small team of dedicated staff, and lots of outposted authors, Ann steered it to publication.

Ann brought such flair and dedication to producing each volume, and each is a lasting monument to her scholarly reputation.

Ann Millar was a loyal servant of this place for over 20 years. She was a scholar of the history of the Senate and of Australian democracy. I thank all those who work here who have remembered Ann to me. In particular, I thank Paula Waring for compiling the biographical details of Ann's service, Cheryl Hardiman and Lea Boyle. Whilst to her family she is a much-loved mother, sister and aunt, tonight I remember her and thank her for her service to this parliament and its scholarship.