Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with deep regret that I inform the Senate of the death on 18 December 2020 of Major General the Hon. Philip Michael Jeffery AC, AO, CVO, MC, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia from 2003 to 2008.

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the Senate expresses its deep regret at the death, on 18 December 2020, of Major General the Honourable Phillip Michael Jeffery AC, AO, CVO, MC, former Governor-General of Australia and Governor of Western Australia, places on record its gratitude and appreciation of his long and distinguished public service, and tenders its profound sympathy to his family in their bereavement.

Major General the Hon. Michael Jeffery was a brave soldier, an intellect, a gentleman and, above all else, a great Australian who served his country with honour and distinction. He leaves behind an impressive legacy, a life of selfless service to our nation. Following a distinguished 38-year career in the Australian Defence Force, Major General Jeffery was appointed the 27th Governor of Western Australia. He then went on to become the 24th Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia.

Major General Jeffery—Philip Michael Jeffery—was born in Wiluna, Western Australia, in 1937 to Edna and Phil Jeffery, and was educated in Cannington and East Victoria Park state schools and Kent Street high school. At age 16 he left Perth to attend the Royal Military College at Duntroon. Serving the Australian Defence Force in many capacities, he rose to the rank of Major General, retiring in 1993. Throughout his long and distinguished military service, Major General Jeffery undertook operations in Malaya, Borneo, Vietnam and Papua New Guinea, the latter being a country he would continue to hold a special connection with throughout his life.

During a tour of Vietnam, as an infantry company commander with the 8th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, he was awarded the Military Cross for courageous action, and the South Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. In 1976 he assumed command of the SAS Regiment in Perth, and was subsequently promoted to colonel as the first director of the Army's Special Action Forces. From 1981 to 1983 Major General Jeffery headed Australia's national counterterrorist coordination authority.

After being selected to attend the Royal College of Defence Studies in London he was promoted to major general, progressing to command the Army's 1st Division and later serving as Deputy Chief of the General Staff, undertaking the responsibility for the day-to-day running of a 65,000-person Army.

Upon Major General Jeffery's retirement from the military he became the Governor of Western Australia in 1993, particularly lending his efforts to youth programs for which he would later be awarded a Companion of the Order of Australia for services to the Crown and to the community. Reflecting on his own time in the Army Cadets, Major General Jeffery was a strong believer in youth groups and making sure that young Australians had the best chance to succeed. With education driving his admiration for the teaching profession, he said:

What I have found universally is that it is the educational experience that most influences the quality of lives, offers choice, fosters independence, and promotes potential. Teachers share the privilege of being able to influence and to inspire. I want teaching to be seen and respected as the noble profession, and there are ways in which we all can work together to make that happen.

He committed himself, as Governor, to promoting those ideals.

Following his retirement as Governor of Western Australia in 2000, he established in Perth a not-for-profit research institute, Future Directions International, whose object is to conduct comprehensive research of important medium- to long-term issues facing Australia. It was an embodiment of his lifelong commitment to the betterment of our nation.

On 11 August 2003 Major General Jeffery was sworn in as the 24th Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia. In doing so, he became the first Australian-born Governor-General to have had a full-time military career. Known during his time as Governor of Western Australia to have visited even the tiniest of outback settlements, former Prime Minister John Howard said in the appointment of Major General Jeffery that he:

… will bring to the post not only a wealth of experience but also a great ease of manner in dealing with Australians from every part of the community.

Then opposition leader Simon Crean, on the appointment of Major General Jeffery, described him as:

… a man who has served his country in peace and war with distinction, and has been recognised with one of this country's highest decorations for bravery in battle.

Major General Jeffery saw his time as Governor-General as having three distinct functions—constitutional, ceremonial and community, each wielding importance—which he fulfilled with distinction. Rather than actively seeking the limelight during his time as our Governor-General, Major General Jeffery focused on communities and was true to his word upon his appointment:

… I want to give my total commitment to the Australian people that I will endeavour to be a Governor-General of the people and for the people …

As Governor-General, he gave an estimated 850 speeches, attended some 1,100 events throughout Australia, hosted over 750 official functions, was patron to around 180 not-for-profit organisations—often visiting them at least once a year—and held Christmas parties for nearly 4,000 special needs children and their carers.

Major General Jeffery believed in nurturing Australia's relationships, developing personal dialogues and friendships across the globe, from visiting King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia to hosting then US President George W Bush. In 2005, upon attending the 30th anniversary of Papua New Guinea's independence, he was awarded the honorary Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu for fostering close relations between Papua New Guinea and Australia. Thousands lined the streets of Wewak to greet Major General Jeffery where he had served as a battalion commander. He impressed locals by conversing in pidgin, and many of those old soldiers in PNG walked days from their villages to say hello again. In an apt end to Major General Jeffery's time as Governor-General, Papuan Sergeant Major Michael Pissa, who served under Major General Jeffery more than 40 years earlier, piped his farewell from office.

In retirement, Major General Jeffery was appointed the first national Advocate for Soil Health by the Gillard government in 2012. In this role he strove to provide leadership and national strategic direction to the good work being done by soil scientists and landscape managers across Australia. He worked tirelessly, from Parliament House to the paddocks of the outback, to raise public awareness of the critical role soil plays in underpinning sustainable productivity and helping to meet global challenges, including food, water security and climate change. Highly influential in the role, his impact brought change to attitudes regarding sustainable practices to improve soil health, with farmers more willing to talk about regenerative agriculture, and ministers more mindful of implementing policies that support healthy landscapes. I personally remember the thoughtful, considered and diligent way in which Major General Jeffery approached his role as national Advocate for Soil Health, including in one-on-one meetings with me and, no doubt, with many other members, senators and ministers. His work ethic was unwavering; indeed, Major General Jeffery remained in this role until shortly before his passing.

Throughout his extraordinary life, Major General Jeffery was supported by his wife of 35 years, Marlena. Extraordinary in her own right, Marlena was appointed as Dame of Grace in the Order of St John and awarded the accolade Citizen of Western Australia, for her work with so many charities. Admired for her compassion, Marlena was also patron to more than 50 charities during Major General Jeffery's time as Governor-General. Major General Jeffery often expressed his deep appreciation and affection for Marlena, declaring that he would never have been able to make the types of contributions he did without her support and contribution.

A great man with a distinguished career, he remained humble, stating during in his time as Governor-General:

… if people can look back at our term in office and say, 'The Jefferys did a good job', then that will be enough for me.

By every measure, Major General the Hon. Michael Jeffery was truly one of Australia's finest. To Major General Jeffery's wife, Marlena, their three sons, daughter and grandchildren, on behalf of the Australian government and the Australian Senate, I offer our sincerest condolences.

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

I rise on behalf of the opposition to express our condolences following the passing of former Governor-General Major General the Hon. Michael Jeffery AC, AO, CVO, MC at the age of 83 and I begin by conveying the Labor Party's sincere condolences to his wife, Marlena and to all of his family and his friends.

Michael Jeffery gave a lifetime of service to Australia. Beginning in the army as a teenager, he went on to serve amongst its highest ranks and became a celebrated and respected leader. The manner in which he carried out this service saw him retained for even higher office, first as the Governor of Western Australia and then, of course, as Governor-General of Australia. He would also use his profile to advance conservation and improve soil health later in life.

Michael Jeffery started life in December 1937 in Wiluna, a small town in the Mid West region of Western Australia. Situated in the middle of the state, it is on the edge of the Western Desert, at the gateway to the Canning Stock Route. From these beginnings—these very Australian beginnings—came one of the nation's most significant military leaders and public servants. After growing up in the suburbs of Perth during the period of his school education, he left school at the age of 16 to attend the Royal Military College, Duntroon.

He had an extensive military career from 1958 to 1993 and included in that many notable overseas service and command postings. These included serving operationally in the theatres in Malaya, Borneo, Papua New Guinea and Vietnam. His service in Vietnam earned him the Military Cross. In Papua New Guinea, as my colleague Senator Birmingham has indicated, Major General Jeffery commanded the 1st Battalion, the Pacific Island Regiment. In 2005, the 30th anniversary of independence, he was recognised with Papua New Guinea's highest honour, being made an inaugural recipient of the honour of Grand Companion of the Order of Logohu, into which he was invested in 2007. He was also pivotal in the sustainment of the Special Air Service Regiment.

Major General Jeffery received many honours. The first was in 1981, when he became a Member of the Order of Australia for service to the Army. In 1988 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1996 for services as governor and to the community. In 2000 he was appointed a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, which recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch.

Michael Jeffery's military career came to an end in 1993, and shortly thereafter he was appointed to the office of Governor of Western Australia. He saw as a central component of this role connecting with people across the state. As governor, with Mrs Jeffery, he was patron of 170 organisations, and they relished the opportunity to be engaged with the community through these roles. To the extent they reflected Michael Jeffery's own interests, many of them had an emphasis on developing youth. Major General Jeffery was grateful for the way in which this vice-regal role enabled him to travel around the state, observing what he called the 'totality of life', from sheep stations to mines, oil rigs, schools and remote Aboriginal communities.

After retiring as governor in 2000, Michael Jeffery returned to make his home in Canberra, making the trip from the west to the east coast on the Indian Pacific. Not too long after this, he found himself moving to another and more significant address in the national capital. In August 2003 he was sworn in as the 24th Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia. He took office at a time where the then Howard government—and in fact the nation—needed the role to be filled by someone who would restore its integrity. It was a challenging time to take on the vice-regal position. He acknowledged this, stating that amidst the difficult circumstances in which the appointment took place he would give his total commitment to the Australian people that he would seek to carry out the role with dignity and dedication, and he did so. Certainly he came to the office with a sound reputation for ethical conduct—a reputation which continued undiminished.

In office Michael Jeffery sought to engage directly with Australians, with those undertaking worthwhile activities in their communities, continuing very much in the manner with which he had approached his role in Western Australia. As Senator Birmingham said, he was of the people and for the people. He once said:

The big thing you can do—and there's not enough of it—is looking people in the eye and saying thanks for making a contribution through being a Meals on Wheels person or a volunteer ambulance driver or a violinist in a youth orchestra, or whatever.

Mindful that it would not be appropriate to stray too closely to policy matters that were more appropriately the domain of the government of the day, he nonetheless sought to use some of his many speeches a year to lend profile to important national and community issues. These ranged from mental health, the environment, volunteering and the importance of mentoring, to urban planning, local sport and community involvement.

This accompanied his acquittal of more formal constitutional duties and responsibilities, such as presiding over meetings of the Federal Executive Council. He had a reputation for interrogating the business thoroughly. By the end of 2007, the Federal Executive Council had considered some 2,540 agenda items on his watch. With Mrs Jeffery, he also represented Australia overseas on multiple occasions.

My first personal interaction with Michael Jeffery came on 3 December 2007, which is a day I shall never forget, because that was the day on which the Governor-General of Australia swore in the first Rudd Labor government ministry and I became the Minister for Climate Change and Water. The signed certificate hangs in my office in Adelaide and a signed bookplate is in the Bible I keep in my office here in Parliament House. In an interview on his retirement, Michael Jeffery told a story about that day, when the swearing in of the ministry coincided with a tour of the grounds of Government House by a large group of schoolchildren. He recalled that, whilst he was inside discussing major issues of state or certainly engaging in major issues of state, the kids were all waving from outside. So, naturally, led by the new Prime Minister and the Governor-General, we all got up and waved back. He thought of this as being a profoundly Australian thing to do. Originally expected to serve three to four years, Michael Jeffery completed his term after a two-year extension in August 2008.

After leaving vice-regal office, Michael Jeffery continued in the role to which he was originally appointed by the Gillard government in 2012 as Australia's first national advocate for soil health. This was a natural for the boy who grew up in the red earth of the outback. He consulted in that role with thousands of farmers, Indigenous land managers, policy makers, students and interest groups across Australia to bring together the Restore the soil: prosper the nation report in 2018. He advocated for our soil, water and vegetation to be declared strategic national assets and he saw that improving soil health had the potential to have a significant positive impact on our carbon emissions. His passion for restoring Australia's soil for regenerative farming and exporting Australian knowledge about managing soils in difficult climates lasted until his final months when he relinquished the role. The legacy of his work remains.

Retirement from high public office also gave Michael Jeffery the opportunity to share more time with his children and grandchildren and engage in his hobbies and recreational pursuits, including golf. Michael Jeffery passed away in December 2020. The first full-time career Australian soldier appointed to the office of Governor-General, he set a standard for diligence and integrity by which those who follow are measured. He was, of course, succeeded in office first by Quentin Bryce, then by Peter Cosgrove and David Hurley. Reflecting on his predecessor, General Hurley said:

As a nation, we give thanks for Michael's extraordinary lifetime of service.

He was, by every measure, a great Australian.

So, too, do we in in the Senate today pay tribute to and give thanks for Michael Jeffery's service to Australia, to his nation. We express our condolences following his passing, and the opposition again express our sympathy to his family and friends.

Larissa Waters (Queensland, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Australian Greens, I offer my condolences to the family and friends of Major General Michael Jeffery. As others have noted, Major General Jeffery had a distinguished career in defence, before serving as Governor of Western Australia and then Governor-General of Australia. These are important roles and we thank him for the care and the dignity that he brought to them.

I want to speak very briefly of his longstanding passion for environmental stewardship. He was a committed advocate for land care, for regenerative agriculture and for sustainable vegetation management. He spoke about the value of soil carbon long before it became a government buzzword. He had long discussed the need for agricultural practices to build resilience and adapt to a changing climate. I acknowledge his tenacity and the work that he did as National Soils Advocate to secure the national soils strategy. I hope that the government will respect his legacy.

Major General Jeffery was also someone who understood the importance of time with family in nature and away from the cut and thrust of political life. I was pleased to discover that, when asked about his favourite holiday destination, he nominated Stradbroke Island, or Minjerribah. That is something that we shared. He said of the time spent with his wife and children on Straddie, escaping the sometimes punishing schedule of events at Government House: 'Just the sight of the white sand and the sparkling blue water lifts the spirits. It is nice, therefore, to have some time to ourselves, and that is one of the major attractions to holidaying at Stradbroke. Days just meander by and we feel part of the local community. We might end the day watching a beautiful sunset, followed by a game of Scrabble. For us that is bliss and we've kept coming back over many years.' I would encourage as many people as can to also come to enjoy Minjerribah, or Stradbroke Island, in my home state of Queensland.

I'm sure that the memories of those times together are a comfort to Major General Jeffery's family. Our thanks go to Major General Jeffery for his years of dedication to governance, environmental protection and sustaining the planet for future generations.

Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As a senator for Western Australia, and also as Minister for Defence, I rise today to pay tribute to the life of an extraordinary Australian and extraordinary Western Australian, who served our nation with such great distinction and honour in all aspects of his life: former Governor-General, Major General the Hon. Michael Jeffery, AO, AC, CVO, MC.

General Jeffery was born in humble beginnings in the small outback town of Wiluna in my home state of Western Australia. He described his upbringing as never luxurious but happy. Later, he would go on to say that the earliest years are the most important in framing a person's life. This is no truer than of Michael Jeffery himself. His mother, Edna, was a nurse and his father, Phil, was a stockman and a miner who served during World War II. Their shared commitment to their family, their community and their nation shaped everything young Michael would go on to do in his lifetime.

At 16 he entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon, marking the start of a long and very distinguished career of military and civilian service. Early on, General Jeffery served in a number of units, including in the Special Air Services Regiment. In 1962 he posted to Malaya, serving with the 2nd and 3rd battalions of the Royal Australian Regiment, followed by a secondment in Borneo with the British SAS. From 1966 to 1969 General Jeffery served in Papua New Guinea with 1st Battalion of the Pacific Islands Regiment. While there, he married his wife, Marlena, whom he often, and very fondly, referred to as his 'teammate'.

After PNG, General Jeffery deployed to Vietnam with the 8th Battalion. During this tour he was awarded the Military Cross and the South Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. In 1976 he returned home to Perth to assume command of the SASR. He was then promoted to colonel and became the first Director of Army's Special Action Forces. For his service in this role he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia. He also headed Australia's national counterterrorism coordination authority, after which he commanded the 1st Mechanised and Airborne Brigade in Holsworthy in Sydney.

In 1986 he was promoted to Major General and commanded the 1st Division. On having a look at his service record, I'm sure, back then, that if we'd had a core or Army group he would certainly have gone on to command those too. In 1988 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for his services to the Army, and in 1989 he served as the Assistant Chief of the General Staff—Logistics. As a logistician myself, I know that all wise Army commanders understand the importance of logistics!

In January 1990 General Jeffery became Deputy Chief of the General Staff, and only a year later he was appointed Assistant Chief of the General Staff for Materiel. He was responsible for managing 600 Army acquisition and construction projects, then worth over $3 billion. It was not long after this final Army appointment that Major General Michael Jeffery retired from full-time service and commenced the next chapter of his life of leadership and service to our nation.

In 1993 he became the 28th Governor of Western Australia. In his seven years in the role his humility, his energy, his passion for causes and his dedication to his home state shone through. So it was no surprise when in 2003 Prime Minister John Howard asked him to serve his nation yet again, this time as Australia's 24th Governor-General. During his governor-generalship, Michael Jeffery continued with his own stamp of leadership. He did that with integrity, discipline, compassion and strength of character to his core.

General Jeffery was a devoted father, husband and grandfather, and he cherished the support of his family throughout his life of service. I extend my deepest sympathies to Marlena and his family for their great loss to our nation. Their loss is certainly all of our loss.

Question agreed to, honourable senators standing in their places.