Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to place on record my personal and the government's thanks and congratulations to Senator Payne for her contribution since she first entered this place in 1997! Senator Wong would have liked to have been giving this address this afternoon, but duty has called her away. But she was able to put on record her compliments for your terrific contribution to the Senate.

All of us in this place know the sacrifice senators make to contribute their vision of a better future for Australia, but very few senators make that sacrifice for 26 years, and, with 26 years of service, Senator Payne is the longest-serving current senator. Throughout her parliamentary career, I know that Senator Payne has sought to be a leader for women and girls and to encourage women to get involved in politics. She's been a role model for many as the longest-serving female senator in Australian history, and I know the inspiration it must have provided to many across Australia to see such a talented senator being sworn in as Australia's first female defence minister. Defence, of course, wasn't the only portfolio where Marise was a role model, and other ministerial responsibilities have included the important portfolios of human services, women and foreign affairs—and I will come back to foreign affairs in a moment.

As a representative of the state of New South Wales, Senator Payne fought tirelessly for the people of New South Wales and in particular those in Western Sydney. I'd like to take a moment to reflect on some of my personal memories of Senator Payne. I first got to know Senator Payne and her partner, Stuart, when he was running for the seat of Penrith in New South Wales in 2010. I was handing out how-to-vote cards at the Glenbrook booth with the late Senator Steve Hutchins and my good friend Senator Mark Bishop—and, of course, it was the first time I got to meet my namesake, soon-to-be Premier Barry O'Farrell, and we got the chance to chat while we were handing out how-to-vote cards for many, many hours.

However, my abiding memory of Senator Payne will be the assistance that she personally gave to an Afghan family during the fall of Kabul. She made reference to this in her own speech. I was contacted by the brother-in-law of former Crows coach Graham Cornes about a man who had worked for the Australian embassy in Kabul. The Taliban at the time was going from door to door to find him and, of course, arrest him and, in all probability, kill him. I contacted Senator Payne very late at night, and within 24 hours this man had his papers to leave Afghanistan and an airline ticket to Australia. He brought with him his wife and his three children, including a daughter. You can imagine what life she would have had ahead of her under Taliban rule. Senator Payne, she will forever remember what you did for her on that night.

I was sitting with Senator Payne last week. She made no mention of the fact that she was about to leave, but I do feel as if I may have contributed to the move because I pointed out that, thanks to the scheduling of this place, we're actually sitting on Melbourne Cup Day. Now, Melbourne Cup Day is an event I often see Senator Payne and Stuart at. I'm just wondering now, looking back at that conversation, when she realised that she wasn't going to be able to leave the Senate on that occasion to go down—I don't know whether she's got any horses running on the day; she very well could—whether it provoked this sudden resignation. But, on behalf of the government, I congratulate Senator Payne on her 26 years of dedicated service to the people of New South Wales and this Senate. On behalf the government, I wish you all the best for a life beyond the Senate.

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

There are very few people, particularly very few senators, who I could compare with or draw an analogy to involving a horse and not land myself in trouble, but I suspect that my dear friend Marise—or, at least, I hope—as a great lover of thoroughbreds and the sport of kings, may enjoy a little of the analogy to come.

The Italian trainer Federico Tesio said that a horse gallops with his lungs, perseveres with his heart and wins with his character. Marise Payne has given her all to public service, to parliamentary service and to service in the pursuit of her liberal beliefs and in the interests of the Liberal Party, but, most of all, to service for the benefit of her community and of our great nation. In parliamentary terms, Marise has galloped the long race and persevered through the barbs, setbacks and tribulations of politics, and she ultimately stands tall today, admired both here in the Senate and far afield around the world, thanks overwhelmingly to the strength of her character.

I note that a unique factor of equestrian sport, whether at an Olympic level or horse racing, is that it has no regard for gender. Men and women compete equally, exactly as Marise has done in her career. Marise will depart the Senate having created history and having made a powerful contribution to Australia. She has been a Liberal senator for New South Wales since 9 April 1997. Senator Farrell has noted that Marise will depart as the longest-serving woman in the history of the Senate and the 21st longest-serving senator in Australian history.

While these records of long service may one day be broken, it will forever stand in the history books that in September of 2015 Marise became the first woman to be appointed as Australia's Minister for Defence, breaking through a glass barrier in a very male dominated domain and setting an example for women and girls across our nation—not just in politics and public life, but especially across and within our defence forces. In August 2018, Marise also became the second woman to serve as Minister for Foreign Affairs, while equally holding ministerial office over nearly a decade as Minister for Women and Minister for Human Services.

But the contributions Marise has made stretch far beyond the significant offices she has held. Through tumultuous times, Marise led Australia's international engagement, including the regional support necessitated by COVID-19, the coordinated international response in the earliest of days to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and, as we have heard from Marise, the repatriation of thousands from Afghanistan. It matters to hear just how much that mattered to Marise. That is what people should bring to this place—that it cares and that it matters to them. There's Marise's reference to the Australian women's cricket team and Don's reference to the personal engagement he had, and there are hundreds, if not thousands, of other such examples of those who reached out directly to Marise in relation to that instance but also to so many others.

At different times during Marise's tenure as Minister for Defence and Minister for Foreign Affairs, she oversaw Australia making the largest non-NATO contribution towards peace and in defence of international rules and norms in Iraq, in Afghanistan and in Ukraine. It's a reminder of just some of the scale of what we saw. Marise equally oversaw responses in Australia's role in responding to Daesh during that group's cruel and ruthless occupation of around a third of Iraq and Syria, a highly successful, multinational campaign that destroyed the territorial caliphate claimed by Daesh and a reminder, as she put it, of just how important it is for us to suppress those who would promote terrorism in any and all instances. Indeed, even closer to home, there's the little-known, little-recorded support for the Philippines in its retaking of the city of Marawi, after the Daesh-aligned terrorist group occupied that city. It was an act well-recalled and well-acknowledged by the Philippines at that time.

As foreign minister, Marise led reform through this parliament in Australia's interest, overseeing reform of our international sanctions regime by the adoption of Magnitsky-style sanctions and becoming the first minister to apply them through the introduction of new legislative regimes to protect Australia from foreign interference, to ensure that our foreign relations are in our national interest at all times and to ensure that our policies and legislative settings protect our sovereignty, our democracy and our systems, just as we seek them do so around the world.

That Marise's tenure coincided with a significant change in the outward posture by the largest nation in our region is a fact. Strategic competition has changed the game and, as is increasingly evident under a new government, it isn't always easy and will not be straightforward to counter those who play by different rules to Australia. Nonetheless, the opening up of six new Australian missions was just one part of the Pacific Step-up that Marise led, with other components, including establishing big new financing streams such as the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific, direct financing support and climate financing support for Pacific Island nations, provided directly to help with their adaptation and response.

The strengthening of our national security through the elevation of the Quad, through the different stages of its elevation, towards ministerial dialogue and ultimately leader-level dialogue, is a big accomplishment of Marise Payne, along with the establishment of AUKUS. Marise equally successfully leveraged Australia's international standing to further increase our global influence by running successful campaigns for Australian candidates for a number of key international positions, with the OECD, the Committee on the Elimination of Discriminatory against Women and in the leadership of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization.

A large but often less spoken of aspect of the work of a foreign minister is the consular support. We heard a little of that in terms of the Afghan repatriation, but there are countless such examples. Marise took those to heart, as we have seen here, but always delivered with a calm head her negotiations, efforts and strategies to seek to free, in particular, arbitrarily detained Australians and dual citizens, showing personal care and engagement for them and with their families, securing support from third or fourth party nations, quietly enlisting and deploying special envoys all seeking to make a difference to save the lives of others.

While Minister for Defence, Marise oversaw the finalisation of the 2016 Defence white paper, elevation of the defence budget to two per cent GDP, vast new investment in defence capability and the development of stronger counterterrorism responsiveness across the ADF. A striking feature of Marise's long connection to our Defence Force, both as minister and also through her many years in Senate committee service, was the extraordinarily high regard that Marise is held in by service personnel across Australia. Just as she respected their service, they too respect her willingness to listen, care and engage with them.

It has been pointed out to me that there are two framed memorials that hang in pride of place in Marise's office, memorials that I would have walked past and observed many times, but the symbolism of them matters most when we are seeking to understand somebody in a contribution to their service such as Marise's. The first is a collection of portraits of every ADF member killed in Afghanistan. The second is the sonar scan of the hull of Australia's first submarine loss, HMAS AE1. The former of these, of those who served in Afghanistan, its symbolism and significance are evident to all of us. But many will not have reflected upon HMAS AE1. It was a submarine lost with all hands on a combat patrol against German forces off the coast of what we know as Papua New Guinea in September 1914. Thirteen searches over 104 years were unsuccessful in finding it. But in 2017, Marise Payne authorised and approved funding for the 14th search and it was successfully found, the final resting place of the 35 officers and sailors. Lest any of us forget all who have served, because Marise certainly never has and never will.

As the minister for Women, Marise worked to deliver new initiatives to counter family and domestic violence, address critical areas of women's health and advance the leadership role of women in Australia, doing so with her colleagues and counterparts, always seeking that influence.

Marise has, right from the days of being the first of a woman to be elected as federal president of the Young Liberal movement in 1989, shown a great determination to push through barriers while applying a sharp intellect but never losing the caring and considering instinct for all around her. She has sought to mentor and inspire, to encourage new generations, especially of young Liberals. I certainly still vividly remember 16½ years ago, walking through those doors for the first time as a senator, former Senator Fifield to one side of me and Marise on the other side, each having in different ways helped and contributed to the journey to be here.

I would never at that time have imagined that we would go on to share a department—Marise as Minister for Foreign Affairs, me as minister for trade. Sharing a department as ministers can sometimes break friendships, it is safe to say. Ours was an unusual arrangement for the department too. The foreign minister—I'm sorry to say, Don—is usually treated as the senior minister by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In the ministerial pecking order, I was the senior minister, but none of that ever mattered because our relationship was such that we were able always to work through each and every one of the challenges before us and we proved to the department how effectively a team could get things done. Personally, I could not have asked for a better friend or more trustworthy confidante throughout my own Senate career and I am grateful for every minute of that to date. The old Truman quote, 'if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog' does not hold true for me. Marise Payne is the living truth and evidence for me that you can have friends in politics.

Again and again, Marise has shown her respect for the institution of the Senate, the primacy of the parliament and the unique role of the parliamentarian. That has been demonstrated whether it is in service on privileges committees or by being entrusted with difficult work, even in this parliament in recent times, around development of codes of conduct and the challenges to modernise some of those issues within parliament. It is also evident in the fact that Marise also does everything properly. There have been changes to language and slippage over the years. While questions nowadays often say 'My question is to the minister. Will you…' If you give that to Marise on a question, I will always hear the words 'Will the minister confirm …' Never will she put a foot wrong in that regard!

That doesn't mean that Marise has always done everything by the book in the chamber. One of my most favoured memories of the last time we had to endure sitting on this side of the chamber was coming down for frontbench duty. I must have been a very new and young frontbencher at that time. Marise was sitting there, where Senator Ruston is right now, with her laptop open in front of her. As I plonked myself down next to her I asked, 'What are you looking at?' It was her horse, racing. I forget precisely where it was racing—maybe the country races at—

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

Randwick! Goodness! Hello—I take it back, I withdraw: it was Randwick. It was a very serious race, so little wonder that Marise, being diligent enough not to have swapped her frontbench duty, wasn't going to miss watching the race at Randwick. So we sat there together in the seats where Senator Cash and Senator Ruston are sitting now and we watched him come home for the win. I think the clerks at the table were completely befuddled as to what on earth was happening in the seats next to them as we saw Marise's horse win.

Marise was a challenge, I'm sure, for Penny to follow in the foreign ministry in a range of ways, but was so equally for me in international engagement—and, no doubt, for Don. It's because her precise pronunciation and elocution in everything is something none of the rest of us can live up to. Former senator Fifield used to love to play a particular game with Marise, back in the days when you could find a karaoke bar in Canberra and it was acceptable to go there at night. Outside the karaoke, Mitch would pose questions to Marise about when something or other would happen, desperately hoping that the answer would mean her saying 'Wednes-day'. I'm still not doing it justice—Wed-nes-day! Indeed, every syllable was precisely pronounced. But that certainly served well in international engagement.

President, against the realpolitik we all work within, Marise has held true to her values and beliefs, and fought tirelessly for the people of New South Wales, in particular in Western Sydney and particularly alongside Stuart. She has been a passionate liberal, both philosophically and politically. The high regard Marise enjoys internationally is exemplified in her recent nomination by the United States, as she started her remarks with, to act as the ship's sponsor for the USS Canberra, the first US Navy ship to ever be commissioned outside the US. She already serves on the board of the Observer Research Foundation America, and I have no doubt there will be many more such contributions to come. It's impossible for me to meet with foreign ministers, or former foreign ministers, around the world in my current role and not have them speak highly of Marise or extending their best wishes to Marise. I know that so many of them continue to engage with her.

What she demonstrated today was a reminder to all of us that being here matters, that it always matters and always deserves our respect and gratitude for the opportunity to be here. So we farewell Marise from this Australian Senate, but I know that the work she does in the future will always matter; that she will continue to work for Australia and for global peace and prosperity, and that I will leave here with a very dear lifelong friend.

Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Firstly, I would like to associate myself and my colleagues with the comments already made by Senator Farrell and Senator Birmingham. Marise, what an incredible contribution you have made to this place, to this country and, frankly, to the globe.

When I first came into the parliament as a young woman in this place—not so young anymore!—I was told right up front that there was one woman who I needed to make friends with, one person who knew how to work across the chamber. As a crossbencher, and a woman, that was the person I needed to get to know. That came from all sides of politics, the very strong advice to get to know Marise and understand how she worked.

Right from the beginning, it was clear to me that Senator Payne was able to work across party lines. We've seen over and over again—and it's funny how, at these moments, when we think about when the parliament is at its best, it's always when people are working across party lines, when we get out of the trenches. We might not always all be working in the same way, by the way, but it is that cross-party support on an issue that you're passionate about, that you know is fundamentally right, that view you want to be able to ensure is heard. Of course, for Marise women's equality has been front and centre, and I really thank you for that. Your leadership in this place and in this building and the country has been phenomenal, and don't ever forget that. And we hear now today, in your valedictory speech, you end your career with the very same passion and value for looking after women wherever they are, whether they are young women in Australia wanting an ability to control our bodies how we like or women in Afghanistan who are facing the most treacherous, horrific, inhumane torture that you've described.

I remember working across party lines on marriage equality with Marise Payne. I think I put up nine private members' bills for marriage equality before it all happened, and, each time, Marise would give me a smile. In those last few, of course, we saw the numbers really start to change. You were on the right side of history then, and I think that will forever be an important moment. Change doesn't happen overnight, and it certainly doesn't happen overnight in this place, but honesty and collaboration is what drives real change. It doesn't matter what side of politics you're on; we can't achieve anything—any of us—on our own, or our parties cannot achieve anything on their own. It's this place and collaboration that makes the real difference.

Senator Payne has been a trailblazer: the longest serving woman in the Senate—a pretty incredible effort. I did say to Marise earlier this week, after hearing her announcement of retirement, that she's seen some stuff! It wasn't quite the word I used, but in her time she's certainly seen some stuff. I would like to think that, over that time, particularly for women in this building, things have gotten better. I think we talk about this issue in a way that we never would have before. It doesn't matter what side of politics you're on; as women we're empowered more than ever by each other to speak up and call out bad behaviour, to call each other up, to hold each other to account. Because of that, this place is getting better. Marise was there for me when I had to call out bad behaviour, particularly of the former senator David Leyonhjelm. Thank you, Marise. I remember those moments.

And, of course, one of the things that I've always appreciated is that, when you have the late-night debates and the issues are sometimes very dry or sometimes very passionate, Marise always has this way—it doesn't matter how late it is at night in the debates—to deliver her humour in such a dry, witty way. We will miss that, particularly in the late-night sessions.

But it's not just dry wit that Senator Payne has. You have a very incredible—through you, Mr Deputy President. I'm just correcting myself! Senator Payne has an ability to be very direct in her communication as well, and that serves us all well because we can only get things done when you actually are able to trust what the person opposite you is saying. So much of the way we operate in this chamber is knowing where you stand, and you always know where you stand with Senator Payne. You know when she's not happy with you and you know when she thinks you're doing alright. So, that direct communication is something I have always valued from you, Marise.

The third ingredient to the longstanding, incredible contribution Marise Payne has given in this chamber to her country is—beyond the dry wit, beyond the direct communication—the ability for empathy. And your empathy still shines through, and we saw that again this afternoon: your ability to have an understanding for somebody else's perspective and to listen and to feel what they feel. We could all learn a bit more about that.

Thank you so much for your contribution, for your amazing trailblazing in this place, for the leadership, particularly from one female senator to another. Good luck. Enjoy the next adventure. And we hope you don't keep hearing those phantom bells ringing! Thank you.

Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It gives me great pleasure—a moment to dry my eyes!—to rise not as Leader of the Nationals but as a female leader in this place who has served in cabinet with the fabulous senator for New South Wales Marise Payne. We sat in leadership meetings—a great privilege—where you have to decide and discuss incredibly serious and important matters for our nation. Marise, I had all these notes. I was going to go through so many firsts. Among those of us who have had the great privilege as well as the weight of being firsts, you have just rocked it, and you rocked it for me the first day I met you, when there weren't as many women in this place as there are now, when there was only one woman in our cabinet. The difference you have made by pursuing, in a very determined, single-minded way—which only a redhead can do, I can say as the mother of a redhead!—a force of nature. You stand up and say: 'No, this shall not pass. You shall not pass. You are not going to do this.' And from your forceful strength of character, in so many small conversations and big conversations, change has happened—big change has happened—that is going to impact this place right now and impact those of us who've had the great honour of serving you and watching you and being led by you as well as the generations of now-young women and unborn women who are going to serve their nation in the decades to come, just as you have.

I want to say thank you for the laughs. I want to say thank you for the tears and the honesty and the integrity that you have brought to this place, to your role, to every forum I have sat on and been a decision-maker with you. I do love that you are a mad cat, as my eldest is. I love that I can always find you and usually Stuart, but not always—hopefully more now than previously—together at my fabulous Spring Racing Carnival in Melbourne, at your favourite spot, looking over the straight. I wish you all the best with your foals and your ponies—not so much with the cats; I'm not a cat person, but I do understand that there are others in the chamber who will mention the cats.

I want to thank you for being a powerful advocate, for being brave and courageous when it wasn't cool or easy. It wasn't easy. Because of your leadership, it's easier for me and it will be easier again for the next generation. Go well, and don't be a stranger.

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Whilst, yes, it is an absolute privilege to be able to stand here tonight to celebrate the illustrious career of our dear friend and colleague Marise Payne, I have to say right from the start that for me it is tinged with sadness. When you come to this place as a new senator it's interesting because you think that you'll make certain friends and they'll be your friends right throughout your career—and you certainly do that—but you also forge lifelong friendships with people that perhaps you never thought you would. I think certainly for Marise and me that has been the case.

Like Sarah Hanson-Young, I was warned about Marise before I came here. All I can say is that I was just bloody scared—'God Almighty, help me. It's Marise Payne. Oh my gosh.' I soon learnt very quickly that Marise is an incredibly deep person and an incredibly private person. I think that sometimes over the years did upset members of the press gallery. I hope many of them have actually listened to in particular Marise's valedictory tonight but also the contribution made by our leader, Senator Birmingham, because through those contributions I think Australians have learnt that little bit more about the exact value of the 26 years that Marise Payne has spent in this place.

Marise, so while, yes, we started out as colleagues, I have to say—and not a lot of people know this—that, like Bridget and you, we have become incredibly good friends. There is no doubt—and again I listened to both you and Simon tonight—that you have been a truly exceptional servant of the Australian people. Your unwavering commitment to Australia has left an indelible mark on our nation. I have to say that 26 years in any political life—in fact, 20 years in political life—is astounding. Most people celebrate 10 years in political life, but you've spent 26 years in the Australian Senate.

I was thinking of words that would define those 26 years as that comes to a close. Those words have been reflected in the contributions that we have heard tonight: dedication—and I'll have a little bit more to say about that when I address your time as our foreign minister—leadership, and there are no two ways about that; and significant contributions to both domestic and international affairs. You have maintained without a doubt a steadfast dedication to our nation and, as I said, you have—and sometimes it takes a little bit of time for people to understand this, and it often happens when you actually end your time in politics—had a profound impact on our political landscape.

Serving as a senator for New South Wales since 1997—how proud that you are now the longest-serving woman in the Senate in Australia's history. That is absolutely incredible. At any one time there are only 76 of us, who, as you said, have the privilege to walk into this place and are allowed to walk onto the floor of this chamber as senators. And you are the longest-serving female senator. That is, quite frankly, truly remarkable. I know Senator Birmingham has said that it may well one day be surpassed, but I have to say that with 26 years it is honestly going to take some time.

You have always demonstrated—and certainly I saw it when you were supporting Stuart, particularly when he was the member for Penrith—a deep-seated commitment to the people you represent. I think one of the most outstanding aspects of your career has been the impressive portfolio list. It did not matter what portfolio you were holding, you always displayed outstanding leadership—and I had the privilege of sitting round the cabinet table and on the national security committee of cabinet with you—and unwavering dedication.

You were the Minister for Human Services and the Minister for Defence. I have to say, colleagues, that when Marise was the Minister for Defence, she had to be not in two places at one time but in two countries at one time! That often can cause a few issues, but she came to me and said, 'Michaelia, would you do me the privilege of representing me at a number of high-level defence meetings in Washington?' I said that it would be a privilege and an honour, and indeed it was. When I arrived in Washington and commenced a number of meetings on your behalf, Marise, with the administration and with members of the defense force, what struck me was that they went out of their way to tell me just how much they respected you. They told me how much they appreciated the way in which you worked with them and also your commitment to the relationship between the United States of America and Australia. They didn't have to say that to me, but they went out of their way to do so.

You were the Minister for Foreign Affairs. One thing most Australians will never know about the Minister for Foreign Affairs is that you never ask them, 'Did you get any sleep last night?' You certainly don't say to them, at 11 pm or midnight, when you're exiting this building, 'I hope you're going home to get some sleep.' That's because, without a doubt, the answer from Marise, when I would leave at some very strange hours, as so many cabinet ministers do, would be, 'I've got a 2 am phone call with the president'—or the minister, of whatever. People often just don't know what a minister does, in particular the Minister for Foreign Affairs. I have to say, perhaps one of my proudest moments in this place working with you—and you will remember this—was when we stood together as the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Attorney-General of this country on 14 March 2022. We made the announcement, after collaborating, that Australia, in conjunction with our counterparts in the Netherlands, had initiated legal proceedings against the Russian Federation in the International Civil Aviation Organisation for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in 2014. I will never forget the work that you did behind the scenes to ensure that we were in a position where, as a country joining with the Netherlands, we were able to make that announcement, take that step and ultimately hold the Russian Federation to account.

Your role in establishing the historic AUKUS partnership—and I'm sure Senator Reynolds will speak more about that—was again so much. In fact, 99 per cent of that had to be done behind the scenes, for very obvious reasons. People don't know exactly what happened, but you were certainly there. On Afghanistan, I also want to make some comments here to build on what Senator Birmingham and Senator McKenzie said. Sitting around the National Security Committee of cabinet at that time, when as a country we were evacuating Afghanistan, was probably one of the most humbling moments of my life. Most Australians will never understand the decisions that we had to make. They will never understand the speed at which those decisions had to be made. If the meeting was called at five in the morning, we were at that meeting. We were at that meeting, though, to be briefed by Marise Payne, who had been up all night working with like-minded countries and our defence force here on how we were getting a plane in. We had to get in at a particular time and in a particular landing slot. Everything had to be in order. It had to be, quite literally, a military-like operation to ensure that we were able as a country to do what we ultimately did. As you said, that was to provide so many with a place that they could call home.

In terms of being the Minister for Women, most people know your public record, but what most people will never know is what you did behind closed doors. They won't know how you constantly kept holding our cabinet, in particular, to account. I don't think there was a cabinet meeting that I attended from 2015 to 2022 where Marise did not raise the fact that we needed to do more to (a) diversify our parliament, and (b) ensure that there would be more women—it didn't matter what the role was. Marise would always hold us to account.

In Marise's statement, she said 'We come from opposite sides of the country and furthest ends of the Liberal Party, but yes, we have always been there for each other when needed.' I really do thank you for that public acknowledgement of friendship, because in this place most people will never see what goes on behind doors. Sometimes, particularly given the roles that a number of us have had in this place when in government, you actually just need to sit down and be able to talk to someone, and Marise was always there for any one of us who needed a chat.

I will conclude my comments, because others want to speak, but the one thing that will bind Stuart, Marise and I forever—too bad, so sad, Bridget McKenzie—is the fact that there are very few people in life you can actually send crazy cat emojis or pictures to and not have them think you are a crazy cat lady, because they know in their own hearts they've already crossed that bridge a long time ago. I still expect to get pictures of Frankie and Ella. I still want regular updates about your children, because that is obviously a bond that we share. Despite everything else, you can always have a laugh. Marise, I look forward to joining you one day and becoming a crazy cat lady—if I am not already one.

In closing, as we reflect on your remarkable 26-year career, I acknowledge the dedication, the hard work and the principled leadership that you have consistently demonstrated. Your legacy, as has been said, is one of service, integrity and unwavering commitment to the betterment of our nation. Your successful tenure in the Australian Senate, culminating in your outstanding service as the Minister for Foreign Affairs, is a testament to your enduring commitment to Australia and its people. We will all miss you in this place. You've been my seat buddy for a very long time, but I really do wish both you and Stuart the very best for the future.

Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too rise today deeply saddened at the loss of my bench buddy. I cried today in your speech. I have cried in this chamber only a couple of times, and Marise has been with me for all of them. Once, it was crying with laughter, and the reason was that Marise, sitting in front of Johnno and I, who were sitting behind, had given an impassioned speech about Islamic terrorism, but instead of referring to the Scott Ryan as Mr President, referred to him as Mr Terrorist. Johnno and I lost it, behind her, and the tears of laughter came.

Another time was pretty early on in my time here, when we passed same-sex marriage. I was a rookie senator at that stage, and I made some decisions that I knew would have potential consequences for the longevity of my own career here by doing that. I was pretty nervous about some of those decisions, and at the end of it, when that legislation passed, you grabbed me by the shoulders and said, 'You are brave.' It was so meaningful, because my hero had just told me I was brave. Of course, now I am blubbing again.

Isn't it extraordinary that this is the only senator in this place that was here during the last referendum! It's such a long career. She is the only senator who can say she served in this chamber through every term of government since the first term of the Howard government. She has been here for the debates that have defined our time, and the time before that, and the time before that. She has seen the passage of the GST, the creation of the NDIS, the National Redress Scheme, the Future Fund, same-sex marriage, WorkChoices, Fair Work, the millennium, 9/11, Afghanistan, Iraq, Bali, COVID, AUKUS, Ukraine. You've seen how this place has responded to droughts, to floods, to fires and to pandemics, how we've dealt with tragedies, how we've dealt with terrorism and how we've dealt with trauma. You've been here through all of that. You've seen how this chamber has coped with the rise of Twitter and, hopefully, the demise of Twitter too. You have even outlasted the Queen, although perhaps not quite as you might have hoped when you were here during that last referendum. You were our first female defence minister and our Minister for Foreign Affairs. You confronted a challenging geostrategic environment more complicated than our nation has seen since the last world war. When you leave us, you will take from all of us our respect, our admiration and our friendship, and, hopefully, you will leave us with an enormous legacy too: your judgement, your wisdom, your service and, yes, your bravery too.

You have changed lives here in ways that you probably will never know. Let me just give you the smallest of examples. I know other people want to speak, so I will be quick. In my first week in this place, when I walked into that very strange, rather spartan office for the first time, there was a bunch of flowers waiting for me with a card, wishing me luck for my maiden speech. And, sure enough, however many years later it is, last week, when our new senator, Senator Kovacic, did her maiden speech, I made sure that I sent flowers and a card, because I knew how much it meant to me when Marise did that for me.

Sarah Hanson-Young—Senator Hanson-Young, I should say—called you a trailblazer, and that you absolutely are. I wonder whether we are ever really ready for those women that blaze the trail, that widen the path behind them for the women who will come after. It is a very special skill, and it is an extraordinary honour to be one of those women behind you. I do know that future women and future Liberals will not understand the loss that they have been dealt by your retirement today. But I also know that, for those of us who have been the beneficiaries, I expect that we will always feel the loss that you leave with us here.

Senator Payne, thank you so much for your service to your country; to your state, New South Wales, to the Liberal Party; to its values and to its future and particularly for your service to us, your colleagues, who could never be grateful enough. They say you should never meet your heroes. Well, I am so glad that I met mine. Can I just say: allow me to misappropriate the words that you used on the launch of the USS Canberra. Thank you very much, Senator Marise Payne, for manning our ship and bringing her to life.

Louise Pratt (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm going to move to my actual seat so I can see you, Senator Payne—through you, Madam Acting Deputy President. I know something of what you feel, having stood here in 2014 on my own valedictory speech. But I dare say you won't be fighting to come back. I came back in 2016 as a result of Malcolm Turnbull's double dissolution. I don't know if you had any role in advising him to go to that, but I would be grateful. Well I'm grateful for many reasons. But I do know something of that internal contest within our own parties about the issues that we bring to this place—issues such as reproductive rights, gender and sexuality, and other things. So I guess, even though we don't know each other at all well and have never actually worked together, that dialogue in this place that connects various movements is really important.

I was reflecting on remarks that you made in talking about your time with the AIDS Council of New South Wales. It was a time, back in the nineties, when I was an activist in Western Australia on many of the same issues. One of the articles I read said, perhaps quoting you or using your words:

To Marise Payne, liberalism is "the freedom of the individual to live their lives as they see fit whilst respecting in every case the rights of others; developing their own individual potential to the fullest; enjoying the right to be judged on their own individual merit; and, importantly, being respected as an individual."

We have a connection in movements across the chamber. There are bits of the left and bits of the right in which we have significant common ground, and I really want to pay tribute to the role you've played in standing up for these values during your career. For example, I was really proud, as an Australian, of how you represented us in your remarks to the UN Human Rights Council back in 2019. I don't think it's a speech that Kevin Rudd could have given. You spoke of the abolition of the death penalty, ending discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, the protection of LGBTI people, freedom of religion, advancing Indigenous people's rights globally, championing the rights of people with disabilities, promoting gender equality and supporting the role of civil society. You also spoke of how national human rights institutions will continue to be priorities for us for the remainder of our term and beyond.

I do want to speak of the beyond, because you actually have played a key role in establishing those principles for Australia, and I can see the legacy of that going right back to the 1990s. We've seen that play out in really robust debates about reproductive rights, and in the different votes on sexuality and gender in this place. We've both had our internal dialogue and debates within our own parties about that. You and I have both been very disciplined members of our own teams and have always sought to take our respective parties on that journey with that dialogue. I just want to say thank you. Our movements are all the better for your contribution. Thank you, Senator Payne.

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

When working out how I could possibly summarise Marise Payne in just a few simple minutes, I thought I'd throw away my script and just speak from my heart.

I've known Marise now for 33 years. I did count, I'm sorry Marise, and I can't say we were 10 years old either at the time. I first met Marise as a Young Liberal. The Western Australian delegates had hired a HiAce, and we'd driven across the Nullarbor. We arrived in South Australia, and I first met this amazing woman. I'd been in the Army reserves for a few years already, but I'd never quite met a young woman—she was a year older than me—like Marise. Marise won't remember this, but I will never forget. For me, as a young conservative Liberal—conservative, as in broad church—just seeing this woman who was leading the Young Liberals gave me my first example of what leadership could look like as a Liberal woman. In the military, I didn't have women at that time who I could look up to, because they just simply weren't there. So I was greatly inspired by Marise.

Through the years our paths continued to cross. When I was chief of staff to Chris Ellison, the Minister for Justice and Customs, Marise was making her way, in her own inevitable way, still demonstrating all of those qualities that have been so eloquently mentioned here today. Again, as chief of staff, seeing Marise's passion for service men and women and, in our portfolio, for the men and women in blue—how she stood up in committees and in parliament, particularly during September 11, the Bali bombings and everything else that we had to deal with—my admiration for her only grew.

But it's only in later years, serving with Marise in the Senate as a colleague and also as a friend, that I've truly come to appreciate the legacy that she leaves this place and that I know she will take to wherever she goes next, and that is showing Liberal women that you can support other women, that it is okay to be a conservative woman and that we can lead as women. As people have said here, every day you had that compassion and the commitment—not having to be obsessed over by the press gallery, and sometimes copping criticism for that, but that's okay because you were doing your job, and you were doing it bloody well.

I learned a great deal from you, becoming a minister and then becoming a cabinet minister. At that time, whether we were on one of the many bilaterals and multilaterals we did as foreign minister and defence minister, I learned such a great deal from you—the way that you engaged with your counterparts and your unfailing politeness to officials. As you can see in the acknowledgements here today, you always did your homework. When you speak, everybody stops to listen. I was very fortunate. I was the second behind you in being a female defence minister.

I also want to acknowledge the incredible work that you did first as defence minister and then as foreign minister—the white paper, getting the funding and restoring the confidence of our men and women in uniform in this place and in the executive government, in particular. I came in behind, and I inherited the great work that you did. I was able to implement the Defence Strategic Update and the associated budgets and documents that went with that. But for two years it fell to you and me to travel the world and speak up for Australia's sovereignty and for our regional neighbours who didn't and weren't able to speak up on their own at the time.

I also learned a great deal from you about strength, courage and commitment in all of that, in policy development, on the big things and on the small things. A number of people have acknowledged the work and the passion that you have for Afghanistan and their women. I saw that firsthand. I saw that in your leadership during the evacuation of 4,000 Afghans. I'm glad Senator Farrell acknowledged that, because you and your office—and I know some are here today—did an extraordinary thing. You were basically running the operation out of your office 24/7 and taking calls from all of us, including me. We had people we were desperate to get evacuated, and you had time for each and every one of us. We had 16 members of one family came out here as a result of that who are fine Australians—Khalid Amiri and his family. That story is probably replicated by most of us here in this chamber. So not only did you have the passion, commitment and values for the big things that have changed our nation for the better, but you also never ever forgot each and every person.

In conclusion, there's a lot more I could say, but I think a lot of it has been said. You have changed the course not only for women in the Liberal Party but also for women in Australia, as Michaelia, I think, so wonderfully said. I will never forget that at every cabinet meeting, the Commonwealth boards gender balance—everybody would look to Marise: 'Marise! We're closer to fifty-fifty!' And I'm sure it was one of Marise's proudest moments when we left government that she got, and we got through her, over 50 per cent women on Commonwealth government boards. That was your dogged determination for years—and your ability to scare the bejeebers out of so many of our cabinet colleagues!

On a personal note, Marise, thank you for your friendship and for the unknowing leadership, guidance and support you've given so many. I'm just one of so many. I know that so many women will walk in your shoes. Most of us probably won't be able to fill them; nonetheless, you've trailblazed for us all. On another personal note, thank you for your support of me when I couldn't speak for myself. I'm here because of that, and I'll always be grateful. Godspeed to whatever is next. I know it's going to be even bigger and better. We will miss you.

Ross Cadell (NSW, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am relatively unable to speak of the fabulous achievements of Senator Payne down here, because, until I was joined by Senator Kovacic, I was the new kid on the block. But, unfortunately for Marise, I can talk about our time in the Young Liberal Movement in New South Wales! I was a little conservative country boy—a Hunter boy, let's say—in the Young Liberal Movement, and I came down to Sydney and was instantly intimidated by this very liberal, strong-willed lady who'd come through MLC, Methodist Ladies College, in southern Sydney but, much to my astonishment, could speak fluent bogan with me! She understood too many things for my comfort, and I found a wing for myself. I found a caring arm—I wouldn't say it was loving, but it was certainly a caring arm. I'm starting to feel, People of Australia, that I've cost you the chance of this woman staying on and looking out for you and fighting for you, because every time I go somewhere she leaves! Marise, I remember coming to the central council of the Young Libs in 1993, only for you to leave in 1994. I joined here in 2022, only for you to leave in 2023.

There's always been that heart, but something that's coming through today—and the word hasn't been there—is the authenticity. Many people talk about 'wearing your heart on your sleeve'. I know that figuratively you're wearing hearts everywhere at the moment. It has always been refreshing to see someone that I knew and grew up with. I saw your empathy even with that fashion faux pas when Stuart and all of us went to a Sydney Kings game and I wore the entire Charlotte Hornets outfit, purple from top to bottom. You had the ability to say, 'Potentially, don't wear that again.'

It's always those words. They're very proper, distinct words but there's an anvil behind them. You never offend anyone, but we can hear your strength all of the time. It's a strength that I think has been reflected throughout the world and the region, where some of our relationships may have been a little bit strained because people knew they couldn't push you around. Strength respects strength, and they saw it in you. Australia has been well represented, because to have that strength with a good, loving and caring heart is rare.

I go back to those days with Don and Tony Chappel and Ben and all those guys in the Young Liberal Movement. I go back to meeting in the president of the upper house's room for white-smoke meetings about who would be the next Young Liberal president. There were always the quiet words. You speak very rarely but you speak well. I thank you for the role you've had in making me a better person. I thank you for the role you've had in the Young Libs.

I moved to the Cessnock electorate, and then, just like everything happens, the Liberals stopped contesting Cessnock and left me a year after I did that, so it became a National Party seat. Even the other day I was checking my punting record on my TAB app to make sure the punters of Australia had someone who would represent them in this place, and I think I met the standard for turnover for your thing. On a very selfish note, I can no longer rely on the senator for my excuse to Open Politics for why I accept tickets to Everest and Melbourne Cup festivals: 'because Senator Payne did'. I'll be on my Pat Malone now on that one, but I'll still go, and I'll hold my head up high. I do note the number of horseraces where you've had tips and haven't let me know which one was going to win. I will hold that against you for some time.

The Hunter is not a place that suffers fools and disingenuous people. You have never been that. Western Sydney, Parramatta and Penrith are very much the same. There's that authenticity with the people who've worked with you there. The things you have achieved don't get done by someone who's not real. You have always been real. You have always been honest. You have always been a person I could look up to. I will never be as good as you, but I might be able to steal one little asset or something like that and try to be a better person here for the people of Australia because of the lessons you have taught me. Thank you very much.

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

I too rise to speak to Senator Payne's valedictory. I know the date on which I met Marise. I can give you an exact date—I can actually give you an exact hour. It was on 20 October 2008. It was Senate estimates of that year. I had just started working for Mathias Cormann and I went along to the 8 am pre-estimates brief for the coalition senators and staff. It was my first estimates brief. I didn't really know what to expect. There was a young woman in the room, and I walked up to her and said: 'I'm Slade Brockman. I work for Mathias Cormann. Who do you work for?' And the answer I got—and I cannot do it justice—was 'Marise Payne—Senator'. Not only can I not do the voice; I cannot add the steel that was in the voice or the steel that was in the eye. But every single one of those opposite and all my colleagues know what I'm talking about.

The thing I want to reflect on briefly relates to my time as President of the Senate. Question time is obviously the time when the President is under a bit of pressure, has a few nerves, has to pay close attention to what's going on. As President, one thing that became clear to me very quickly was that Marise Payne, as a minister, gave a question the answer it deserved. If it was a genuine question, you got a genuine answer. If it was a political question or a trivial question, well, then you were lambasted very clearly, very quickly and very effectively by Senator Payne. If Senator Payne was answering a question—because of the way she answered questions—I knew that for at least a minute or two I could relax a little.

Senator Payne, you will be absolutely missed, and I wish you all the best for whatever the future holds.

Maria Kovacic (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to join other senators in making some brief remarks about Senator Payne. I've come to know Senator Marise Payne as a leading woman in the New South Wales Liberal Party. However, as a new senator, most of my interaction with her has been outside of this place, mostly in a place we share a love for, Western Sydney, and in another place that we maybe love a little less, the New South Wales state executive.

Western Sydney is a place that Senator Payne has long been an advocate for. In 2015, when I co-founded Western Sydney Women and we thought about who our inaugural ambassador should be, who could best demonstrate our values and what we wanted to achieve—empowering women across Western Sydney—there was no doubt that that person should be Senator Payne. Senator, I'm very grateful for your support of Western Sydney Women and, later, Western Sydney Executive Women. Your commitment and support made such a significant difference in the work that we did, as it did more broadly throughout the Western Sydney community, New South Wales and our country.

I thank you for your service and contribution in this place and for what we all know will be your ongoing contribution outside of it. Thank you.

Sarah Henderson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to pay tribute to the remarkable Senator the Hon. Marise Payne. I'm sad. Go Cats! I have to say that, in your magnificent valedictory speech, the Cats did not get a mention, so I'm going to make up for that. We have a shared love of the Cats—the Geelong Cats, that is—and I know that that shared love will continue.

Losing Marise means there will be a gaping hole in the Senate. We are not just losing the wisdom, the experience and the fortitude of the longest-serving woman in the history of the Senate; we are also—I don't know why I'm so emotional, but I am. We are losing someone of enormous bravery, and we saw that in spades when she was the Minister for Defence and the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Unless you've walked in those shoes, I don't think Australians understand the level of bravery involved in doing those jobs. You were also brave, Marise, as someone who stood up for Liberal values, often against the tide.

But I say it's very hard to put into words, in the few minutes I have, your legacy, from the very early days as the first woman to be elected as the federal president of the Young Liberal Movement, in 1989, to your incredible ministerial roles: minister for human services, women, foreign affairs and defence. Your bravery was in full flight during some of the most difficult times for our nation, times of considerable international turmoil: the COVID-19 pandemic—who could imagine what it would have been like to be in your shoes, to lead Australia's response through that incredibly difficult time?—the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the settlement of 4,000 Afghans. Just to see the joy of so many Afghans who have been settled here in Australia is quite incredible. In your work reforming Australia's international sanctions regime via the adoption of Magnitsky style sanctions, the quiet, determined, resilient bravery in doing that work cannot be overestimated, nor can the bravery in taking on the Belt and Road agreements, the agreement entered into between the Victorian government and the Chinese Communist Party. The way that you went about introducing the foreign relations scheme, again, was dignified, determined and underpinned by an enormous bravery.

I am so proud of the work of our government, when you were Minister for Women, in delivering in the most incredible amount of investment to stand up for women and children, primarily, impacted by domestic violence. You led the way in your actions, not only in standing up for all Australian women but in everything that you did to inspire women on our side of politics with the belief that anyone who aspires to do so can stand in your shoes and become a member of parliament—that any woman can reach for the stars. I think one of the things that you've done so incredibly well for younger Liberal women is inspire them to say, 'Yes, you can do it.'

The one thing that you did so well in Western Sydney and around the country was to be a dogged campaigner, winning the hearts and minds of communities in Western Sydney and in so many other marginal electorates, including Corangamite. My favourite photo—I was just having a look at it, and I'll post it very shortly—is the photograph of you and me on the formal opening of the Avalon Airport international terminal on 2 December 2018, which was the culmination of a wonderful commitment that we provided to Avalon Airport to build an international terminal. I thank you so much for your support for that wonderful commitment and for everything else that you did for me when I was in Corangamite and for all other members fighting to win hearts and minds around the country.

Marise, you've been an amazing inspiration. You are gong to be very sadly missed. I also want to say you and Stuart are a great team. You're an inspiration to many of us who don't do relationships so well! You are an incredible partnership. To you and Stuart: you will both be dearly missed in the work that you've done as elected representatives in Western Sydney. There will be a gaping hole in Western Sydney as well, but I do know that together you will go on to achieve and do other amazing things, and I have no doubt that you will make the same contribution in the ways that you see fit as you have to the Liberal Party, to the people of New South Wales and to our nation.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything that you've done for me, everything that you've done in this place, everything you've done for Liberal women and everything that you've done for our nation.

Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Marise, it has been an extreme honour to have spent 11 of your 26 years here with you. It has not been an ordinary 26 years; I think it has certainly been punctuated very regularly with amazing achievements, and many of our colleagues across the chamber have spoken of the amazing achievements in your portfolio areas and in this place.

I wanted to quickly make a couple of reflections on my personal experience in working with you. I had the amazing honour to be your assistant minister for nine months in 2018-2019, when you were the Minister for Foreign Affairs and I was the Assistant Minister for International Development and the Pacific. It gave me an extraordinary appreciation and love for the Pacific, but it also gave me a taste of what travel looks like for the foreign minister. I cannot imagine what you must have been like at the end of being the foreign minister. You must have gone to sleep for at least a month! Not only do you have to do your day job here in Australia; then you have to spend the rest of the night up talking to the rest of the world, or you're on a plane somewhere.

I suppose the way I would describe my interaction with you is that you're a conviction politician. There was nothing convenient about Marise's views on things. She was entirely consistent. I remember one of your New South Wales colleagues, who will remain nameless, saying to me once: 'If you really are a true politician and a true political believer, you will be consistent in your positions on things. You won't be convenient and jump from here to there because it suits your political purposes; you will hold our values true and you will always be absolutely consistent.' The one thing Marise could never be accused of is being convenient. She's probably got the scars to prove the fact that she often was not convenient but was very consistent.

She is also somebody who will clearly be remembered in this place as truly taking her role as being the supporter and advocate for other women very seriously. There are many that I think perhaps say that they are supporters of women, but Marise genuinely was a supporter of women, and I'm sure she will continue to be a great supporter of Liberal women to make sure that we have a pathway for great women to come into this place. I can assure you that increasing the number of fantastic women that sit in this place is definitely, for my mind, providing a better parliament.

I always accuse my mother of being the keeper of what is now the King's English, but clearly Marise is in contention for that! The one thing that I will always remember about Marise is that she has a very unique way of saying the word 'hilarious'. It's not 'hilarious', it's 'hiLARious'. Now I find myself, every time I say the word 'hilarious', saying 'hiLARious'!

In 26 years you've never lost your humility. This place is pretty combative. This place can be adversarial. Marise has never played the player; she's always played the ball. I think that's why you will leave this place with the absolute respect, admiration and regard of just about every single person in this chamber, no matter where they sit in this place, and I'm sure the same can be said for the other place. To Stuart, Ella and Frankie—if anybody is listening 'up there' and if there is such a thing as reincarnation, I want to come back as Marise's cat—to you both and your two beautiful fur babies, go well in whatever the future holds for you.

Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on Senator Marise Payne's valedictory. Like Senator Brockman, I can remember when I first met Marise. I don't expect her to remember this, but I was here for an event before I was in parliament, and it was for the launch of a blueprint for Indigenous employment that I had developed with Generation One. You were the shadow minister for Indigenous employment and development—I think that was it at the time—and I had the great pleasure of being seated next to you on a table at a breakfast up in the Mural Hall. I'm not going to make any partisan political statement here tonight, but there was a certain minister who gave a speech—the Labor government was then in charge—and their response to this blueprint that we had delivered, which was to provide economic empowerment for Indigenous people, was met with typical responses that weren't embracing of this program and the idea that we would create employment opportunities for Aboriginal people across the country. I was seated next to you, and we had a little chat, and I was deeply inspired by your encouragement to run with this program that we were wanting to see established across the country. At the time, we were working with Tony Abbott as the opposition leader to get a commitment, and you provided significant encouragement to me to persist with it. At that stage, I had not really considered a career in politics. While I was very interested, having engaged with this place through the work I was doing, I hadn't really considered a career in politics. I had helped out with the Liberal Party at various elections but I wasn't even a member at that stage. I had helped Ken Wyatt hand out how-to-vote cards at numerous elections, but I hadn't considered it. Your encouragement of me to persist with it, and the engagement that I had, actually had a role to play in me making the decision that I was going to come here. I was inspired by you and others I was engaged with at the time that you really can make a difference through good policy, and that if you can enact that then you can really make a difference. The difference that I saw and heard through that brief, 10-minute conversation that we had meant I got to see the difference between the other side and this side in terms of that economic empowerment and how that is really going to make a difference.

Many years later, I find myself here in the Senate. While we haven't had an enormous amount of intersection in relation to policy in my time here, and the committees I have worked on haven't involved you either as a minister or in opposition, one of the things I have always admired about you is your absolute determination and the way that you can pursue the things that you are passionate about in a very graceful way, in a way that is not condescending. There are times when we may have been on opposite sides of the chamber for various conscience votes or other things, but I've never felt judgement. I've never felt any sense from you that you were looking down your nose. At times I feel like a rookie in this place compared to you, but I have always felt so empowered and encouraged by you, Marise.

I want to take the opportunity tonight to say: thank you very much indeed.. You are someone that I greatly admire and someone that I look up to. I very much appreciate you and I wish you and Stuart the absolute very best for your future and whatever it might hold. I thank you not only for myself but also for the contribution you have made to this parliament and, indeed, the nation.

Claire Chandler (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Like my colleagues Senator Brockman and Senator O'Sullivan, I can also remember the first time I met Marise Payne. It was during the 2019 election. We were knocking on doors and doing a few business visits in the little town of Deloraine in Tasmania. I think it's fair to say that the people of Deloraine were quite shocked as to why the Minister for Foreign Affairs was taking a stroll down their street and knocking on business's doors.

A lot has been said about Marise tonight, and I'm sure I wouldn't be surprising colleagues in saying that she's always very well briefed for whatever meeting she might be or whatever candidate she might come across. I, as a little, potential new senator on the Senate ticket in 2019, said to Marise: 'It's such a pleasure to meet you, Senator Payne. Apart from the fact that we're both Liberals and, hopefully, one day we'll be colleagues, we have something in common.' Marise said: 'Yes. We're both former federal Young Liberal presidents.' I said, 'Yes, well, you were the first person to hold that position.' At that point, in 2019, I was the last. It was some years between Marise being a federal Young Liberal president as a woman and myself finding myself in that role. There was only one other woman who had been federal YL president between us. I can remember going to Young Liberal conferences back in the day, and I think it's fair to say that even when I first started out it was still quite male dominated, and you'd come away from each federal conference thinking, 'Gosh, I wonder if we will ever have another woman in charge, given Marise Payne was the last one.' It was a great honour of mine to find myself in that position at some point later on, as well.

I think it shows the change that happens within our political party, but I'm also very cognisant of the change that has happened in the place. Being a member of the class of 2019, I think it's easy for many of the women in this chamber now to take for granted, having been elected at a time when the Senate finally reached fifty-fifty gender representation, there was a point in time when that was not the case. Certainly, when Marise first came to this place it would not have been anywhere near the case. The change in culture and the change in the way we operate within this parliament and within the Liberal Party changes for the better when we get more women involved. That is something Marise and I have always agreed on. I'm very grateful to you, Marise, for the trail you have blazed both within the Liberal Party and within this chamber.

Just quickly, it was such a pleasure to work with you on the committee in this parliament that sought to establish codes of conduct that will govern the way that we all act in this building—not just us parliamentarians but staff and members of the public as well. That was a tough piece of work and an important piece of work, and it was really inspirational to work alongside you on that committee to achieve that outcome.

In the remaining time that I am standing here this evening, I did want to touch on some of the substantial contributions that Marise made during her tenure as Minister for Foreign Affairs. It was during Marise's term, as has been referenced previously, that the Australian parliament passed legislation to enable the establishment of a Magnitsky style sanctions regime. There is no doubt these reforms have provided a greater range of options to sanction individuals and entities responsible for crimes including serious human rights abuses and corruption and malicious cyberactivity both in this parliament and in the last one. That plays a really important role in enabling us to act alongside our security partners and allies to sanction those who are undermining global world order. I really thank Marise for the role that she played in guiding those laws through this place, because if it weren't for those laws, we wouldn't have been able to sanction individuals linked to the Russian regime following the invasion of Ukraine and we wouldn't have been able to sanction individuals within the Iranian regime.

Marise, you were also absolutely resolute in the face of some very aggressive posturing from the Chinese government, especially in the term of the last parliament following the Morrison government's call at the time for an inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus. I know that was an incredibly brave thing for you to do and for us as a government to do. I'm very glad we did that. It was absolutely the right thing to do. All of the work that you put into ensuring we had a strong position on that, has continued to be leveraged by us on the side and across the parliament and the country. Thank you so much for your leadership on that front.

Finally, I hope you and Stuart get to enjoy some well-deserved time together, which I know would have been particularly hard in past years, given the role that you were in and the role that Stuart was in. Please know that, as the curtain closes on your time in this place, you have absolutely made a difference.

Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A lot of people have commented on all Marise's firsts, and there are lots of them; her achievements are many—many firsts, many achievements. But she is the last person in this chamber to serve across two centuries. And I did meet her in the last century, so, while we're playing that game: I think it was at Federal Council in 1994, when the contest was between Malcolm Fraser and Tony Staley, that I first met Marise. So, we got back a way in the organisation. The point there is that Marise is truly someone of the Liberal Party. I looked at her first speech, and she quoted Menzies, as so many of us do—about the broad church, and what the Liberal Party is all about. And she's lived that for her entire time.

But something else that I also really liked from her first speech was her quote from Senator Annabelle Rankin, about 'lifting your eyes above the mist'. That's something you have to do in this job. Marise obviously had a very strong local focus with Western Sydney, but sometimes she had to lift her eyes to New South Wales and sometime she had to lift her eyes nationally, and then she had to lift her eyes globally. And she did that with such great aplomb.

I have to say, I was so delighted when Marise achieved the appointment as first defence minister. It really did please me to see that occur. I remember sending her a text when she stood in front of that green wall at the UN, and I was so proud to see Marise there in that place, representing our country. It's just one of those moments. You see so many people making a presentation in front of that green wall. Not many of us get the chance to do it. But I was very proud to see Marise do that.

Senator Farrell talked about the work Marise did in assisting people, and she herself talked about the number of people we got out of Afghanistan—a whole range of different people who needed to be moved. I still have on my phone the photographs of two disabled athletes that I sent to Marise one Saturday night while I was at dinner. A few hours later I sent the photograph of those same two disabled athletes on the aircraft flying out of Afghanistan. They were outside the gates when I sent the first photograph; they were inside the plane, leaving, in the second photograph. And they made it to the Paralympics. There were so many people you've helped—it's quite extraordinary.

Also, doing the hard stuff in the hard times: we talked about that time of moving people out of Afghanistan. It was in the middle of a bloody pandemic. I too remember the work that went on during that time, and Marise and the detail in her briefings about who needed what vaccines in what country, and where we should send them and how we should send them, and making sure they got there so we could help our neighbours in the region to also get through the pandemic. It was the toughest time for so many of us, but Marise was there dealing with all of that and making sure we were doing our bit in the region, which is what we promised to do. And through Marise's efforts—and the efforts of her team, I have to say—we made sure it was done. I had a few late-night meetings myself in one of my portfolios, as a member of the WADA board. One thing you would notice as you left the ministerial wing late at night was the doors that were open and the doors that were closed, and Marise's door was nearly always open—and not just open because there was someone there; they were open for business. A couple have already commented on that, but that's the work and the job. I have to say that the fact that, because Marise didn't play the game that some in the gallery wanted, she was treated so shamefully is a disgrace. Others might have tempered their language, but I'm not going to. I don't think it was fair. We all know, because we were there and saw what was happening, and it's just not right that, just because you don't play the game the way some want to play it, they'll turn on you. It shouldn't occur. So, Stuart, enjoy your time at the races. I'm sure you will.

I had the pleasure of working with Stuart as sports minister. The first thing Marise said to me at Government House after the 2019 election was: 'Guess what we get to do together? Sports diplomacy!' We did that during a pandemic, in the Pacific. But it was a lot of fun and, as so many have said, we made a difference. You gave so much, and I'm sure you'll keep on giving and that there are things to do, but we really do appreciate it. It's sad to see you go, but we wish you all the very best.

I have a message from someone from your Young Liberal career. They're a colleague from Tassie. 'If there was ever a person who could reflect on a political career with great pride, it would be Marise Payne. I well remember first meeting Marise in the very early 1990s in Young Liberal circles, when I recall being immensely impressed by her articulate, driven and compassionate nature as I witnessed her often vigorous and passionate participation in policy debates. Marise and I share similar values that reinforced to me her dedication and advocacy for the philosophical values that truly reflect the Liberal Party. More than 30 years later, I'm delighted to still call Marise a good friend and to acknowledge her service representing the people of New South Wales as a senator and as a minister in Liberal governments across the last decade—a distinguished career of achievement to be celebrated and thankful for. My very best wishes to Marise in her future endeavours.' That's from Jeremy Rockliff, the Premier of Tasmania.

Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I first met Marise, similarly to Jeremy, in 1990 in Brisbane at a Young Liberal national convention. As with everyone who met Marise at that stage, I was immediately impressed with Marise's intelligence, empathy, gravitas and basic humanity. I can remember saying a few things at that convention which were perhaps out of keeping with what was in federal Liberal Party policy at the time, which generated some interest amongst journalists. Marise handled it beautifully, stood behind the movement and stood behind us as Young Liberals. The point I want to make in that regard was that Marise was a leader and such a great example to so many of us before she even came to this place.

There are three reflections, Marise, on your service in this place. The first is this: I can remember, as a backbencher sitting on the Finance and Public Administration Committee, when you would turn up at estimates in your capacity as Minister for Women, and you were absolutely formidable. I could see that the members of the department who would sit by your side were proud to be sitting at the table with you as their minister. As a backbencher, I was so proud to have you as a cabinet minister.

On Pacific women, as someone who has lived and worked in Papua New Guinea and cares deeply about the Pacific, I know that you gave your heart and soul to the cause of women and girls across our Pacific region in terms of their security, safety, education and future ability to take positions of leadership across the Pacific, and I acknowledge that deeply.

The last reflection has brought back many, many memories of Afghanistan. As someone who worked very closely with your office—in particular, with the incredible Chris McNicoll—over many weeks, this was just outstanding. There is a place in Afghanistan that I had never heard of, but which I will never forget. It's called the Torkham border. After the airlift had ceased and we were so desperate to keep getting people out of Afghanistan, with assistance out of your office, with Chris' amazing assistance, we saved so many people across that border. One person who we saved was baby Solomon. In one of the families which got across the border, baby Solomon's mother gave birth to baby Solomon in Pakistan just a few days after they crossed the border. Baby Solomon is now safe and growing up in Queensland. Baby Solomon and his family, and so many people, should be so thankful, Marise, for the tremendous service you have given to this country, to its people and to people across our whole region. Thank you.

Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Environment, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I don't recall when I first met Marise Payne, but I do know one thing: it wasn't in the 1990s, because I was in high school at the time. But enough on that!

People like this don't come along very often, and it has been an absolute privilege and honour to serve with Marise in this place. Aside from the obvious and objective metrics of success that hang around Marise—one is seniority through the ministerial and leadership roles she has had in this place, but there's also her longevity—there are other characteristics that are less tangible. Some have been mentioned, like the achievements of your time as a minister.

God knows that there are some people that come into this place, sit here for a long time and look back and wonder what they've actually done. You aren't one of those—absolutely not! We've heard a number of contributions today that pointed out a number of those. But the respect with which you are regarded, the way people work with you and the deference which is shown to you when people are dealing with you, are things that you have earned, not just by being here a long time but because of who you are and what you've done. And that respect is not just across this chamber and this parliament—and over successive parliaments—but globally too. The leader mentioned before the international leaders who have expressed their good wishes upon your retirement from this place.

Also, most importantly in terms of respect, there are a couple of Albanian expats who certainly learned to respect you after they put you through your paces at a Queensland fundraiser. The fact that they respected you meant I certainly had to respect you. For those who are wondering, I'm talking about my in-laws—and anyone who knows them knows that they mean business! It's very easy to see why people do respect Marise Payne for what she has done. When you see her at work, up close and personal—whether it's her commitment to justice for women, which we have heard burns bright in her still, or her passion for the community of Western Sydney—everything mattered. Everything she did and said mattered. For me, as someone who has only been here for six or so years now, that's one thing that stood out. People who serve for an extended period of time can be forgiven for losing the fire in the belly—the passion for what it was they came here to do. But 26 years on, that flame burns bright; the seriousness and the commitment you've had remains there.

It was clear to see: the passion, not just for Western Sydney or New South Wales but for Australia and its place on the world stage. That was so critically important, and you discharged your duties there so wonderfully. It certainly gives me something to look up to and to be inspired by. I don't know how long I will be here for; I doubt it will be for 26 years. I suspect the preselectors of Tasmania will be very sick of me by then! While there has probably not been a conscience vote in this Senate where you and I sat on the same side of the chamber, I do count you as a dear friend, someone who I trust and whose judgement I respect. I look forward to working with you after you leave this place.

I will quote from a Labor woman, as a matter of fact, in reflecting on my views about Marise Payne. That Labor woman is my grandmother, who was a Labor candidate for the upper house in the seat of West Devon in the 1970s in Tasmania.

Hon. Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Environment, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Not everyone's perfect—I take that interjection! But things are forgiven over generations. Her comments were, 'Deeds, not words.' And I say to Marise Payne: her deeds are something she will be judged very well for: for the legacy she leaves, for the changes she's made for women, for our international placing as a country, for her community of Western Sydney—the list goes on, but you, being judged on your deeds, will be respected and regarded so well into the future not just by Liberals but by Australians more broadly.

And, while you are a serious contributor and not to be fooled with or mistaken for a staffer—woe betide the individual that does that!—you weren't allergic to a laugh, that's for sure. The one thing you can be guaranteed, Marise, is that those jokes remain in the chamber of secrets here! And, while you might be on a bus out of town, you will remain a very close friend for me and someone I will go to for advice in the future. I wish you all the best and look forward to seeing what comes next.

Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I just wanted to take the opportunity as a Senator from New South Wales to acknowledge the contribution that you've made, Senator Payne, to the civic life of this nation. As two Westies, sometimes we do not quite sound like we come from the west—perhaps the benefits of an education and the wonderful opportunities that life in politics has provided for us to meet with amazing people who have continued the education that's part of the job that we do.

My husband only knew a couple of politicians before he ended up finding me on that path. He sold a raffle ticket to Gough Whitlam. That was a very big interaction for him. But his family knew your family at St Johns Park at the bowling club. He sent me off to the Senate and he said, 'Make sure you say hello to Marise Payne; we used to know each other when we were kids.' These are the interesting things about the lives of politicians: the connections that we have that people have no idea about. But I do know what it means to be somebody who grew up in Sydney in the west at the time that you did, and what a long journey it is from where you commenced to where you have found yourself today, clearly with great regard from your colleagues. Sorry I wasn't here for much of the valedictory and I didn't get to hear all the contributions, but I will commit to reading them because it's important that we never lose sight of the people who are behind the jobs that we do here.

I looked at your first speech. 'A child from a non-political background' you described yourself, 'my aberrant and obsessional political behaviour often bemused my parents and sibling.' You spoke about your mother and brother being present and you spoke about your father, a World War II veteran, and his advice to you. I don't mean to belittle your father, but he said it's often remarked that it's difficult to make true friends and politics, but I would say from the valedictories this evening that you might have actually, over time, proven him wrong in that regard. Clearly he made you a strong woman, along with the guidance you got from your mother and from the relationships you formed, and you bought some incredible integrity to the role that you have fulfilled here in the parliament.

I want to give you my word about a task that you set yourself in the first speech and put on the record. You said:

It is also my fervent hope that the view to the future includes an Australian head of state. The debate on constitutional change should proceed in a constructive and enlightened manner, with young Australians as very active participants in that process.

I give you my word that I will pick up the baton of that battle and continue that for you in good faith for our nation.

I also had a bit of a look at your parliamentary service. While much is made of the incredible responsibilities that you undertook for our nation with integrity, intelligence and a genuine sense of work, bringing your full self to the task, I really want to congratulate you on your committee work. It is so far down in the scheme of things applauded here in this place, but it is so fundamentally vital to the good work that can be done in this place. It's a long list. You will remember the many meetings, the many readings and the many contests and battles of ideas. Really, that is where we find the recipe for the democracy that we get to serve here. I think it's in the committee work. So I want to congratulate you on your success in high office but particularly to acknowledge your committee work, because I'm sure that was remarkable.

There are two more things I want to say. One is that there's so much that you do in the work that you do, and we get to know one another. As they say, familiarity breeds contempt, and we start to call each other by first names, and the monumental impact of the tasks that we undertake is not always present with us. I just think of one very important interaction I had with you, which was about the replenishment for the Global Partnership for Education, with the support of many of the colleagues in this place. I'm going to get you to tell me after this, but it was my sense that our collective efforts inspired you to make that commitment on behalf of the Australian people. That replenishment that you offered in 2022 is continuing to have incredible impact, post your career, in transforming the lives of others in the way that the education opportunities that you and I had transformed our lives and the lives of many of the people we grew up with in the western suburbs.

In closing, I congratulate you on your excellent choice of a final quote for your speech, from the great Australian writer Patrick White, who captures the colour, language and spirit of this nation like no other Australian novelist. You quoted his poem 'Nine Thoughts from Sydney', in which he poses a question:

Where is the politician who will flower like the leptospermum citrata,

Who will sound like the surf out of the Antarctic,

Who has in his hands the knots of coolabah,

And in his soul the tears of migrants landing from Piraeus?

I think you've captured lots of tears not just tonight but in the journey of the heart that has been part of the work that you do. I just want to congratulate you and acknowledge you and all of those of you who similarly chose the Liberal Party. I can't help you with that, but nonetheless I want to say thank you for the support you've offered to Marise, and thank you for the forgiveness that you've given on the many occasions when I'm sure you weren't there for things that people wanted to have you at. Thank you for your service to the nation, and thank you for your service to New South Wales.

James Paterson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Cyber Security) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The evening is getting on. I fear the drinks are getting warm and the food is getting cold, and I don't want to detain people any further from that. But I did just want to make a short contribution in recognition of our friend and colleague Senator Payne for her outstanding service to the parliament, to our country and to our party. You are a legend of the Liberal Party, you are a legend of the Senate, and you will leave a legacy of which you and your family can be very proud.

I know you won't be offended by me repeating something I've said once before about us, which is that, if you lined up the Liberal party room from left to right, you would be pretty close to the left end of the spectrum and I'd be pretty close to the right end of the spectrum, but you will not find someone who is a bigger fan of your performance, particularly as foreign minister, than me. It was simply outstanding, and all Australians should be proud of that. It's not often that foreign ministers introduce legislation into this place, yet you did on a number of occasions. They are things which foreign ministers in the future will rely on to safeguard our national interest, our sovereignty and our values.

The Magnitsky legislation was a really significant achievement that I think we will all be proud of and that continues to be used time and time again. Yes, it was a great bipartisan achievement, but that doesn't mean it was easy and that doesn't mean there wasn't any resistance, which Marise knows better than anyone else. If it were easy, someone else would have done it a lot earlier, but you were the one that did that, and it is now being used consistently with our values. So too was the case with the foreign arrangements scheme. The most common feedback I heard from our constituents about that was that they thought that was the case already—shouldn't the federal government be in charge of our foreign policy? Yet it was you as foreign minister who ensured that the federal government had the legal power to ensure that our foreign policy was always consistent between the states and territories. That is something that foreign ministers will rely on in the future to safeguard our country.

It was you who cancelled our extradition treaty with Hong Kong, which didn't take much prompting or much pressure, unlike previous battles over extradition treaties—with which you're very familiar—and that was a very great decision in the national interest and for our values. On a personal level I'm very grateful for the personal support you gave me and Andrew Hastie when we found ourselves being banned from visiting our friends in the People's Republic of China. It was from that moment onward that we very much bonded on those issues. When it comes to national security, foreign policy or defence, I can't think of a single issue on which you and I have disagreed, and I'm very proud of all that you did for our nation in that role. Thank you, Marise.

Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'll be very brief, given the time, but I want to associate myself with the worthy remarks being echoed tonight. I want to recognise your courage, Marise. As you mentioned in your non-eulogy before, as the proudest member of the small-l Liberal Party, you found yourself on the opposite side of the chamber to the majority of the rest of us sometimes. That takes a lot of courage, and I greatly respect that. It's also an example I've used a few times since I saw you do that, so people can blame you.

I thank you for the courage you showed as foreign minister, as Senator Paterson has just said. It should be recognised that you, of probably all the foreign ministers over the past decade, were the first to take very substantial—and costly, in a way—actions against the bullying of the Chinese Communist Party. That took a lot of courage. You were doing this long before the coronavirus pandemic, but I think you showed great wisdom and foresight in calling out the need for an independent inquiry into the coronavirus pandemic. Your views were criticised at time, but time has proven that you were absolutely right to do so.

Finally, I want to remark on your efforts for suburban Australia. While I'm a member of the National Party and I proudly live in regional and country Australia, I grew up in the suburbs, and sometimes I think they are missed out a bit, almost as much as the regions. They don't necessarily have the same services and same attention. They get looked down on a bit too. As someone who proudly came from Logan, I feel that. Thank you for all the efforts you made for Western Sydney. May many more senators base themselves in our suburban regions and fight for them as hard as we at the National party do for the regions. All the best for your future. Congratulations on a fantastic career. It has been an honour to serve with you here in the Senate.

David Fawcett (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Payne, it has all been said. It's late, so I shan't repeat it, except to say I had the honour over a number of years, particularly in the foreign affairs and defence space, to work with you and experience much of what has been said. As a colleague, a serviceman and an Australian, I thank you and your staff. God bless.

Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That concludes the contributions for Senator Payne's valedictory. Thank you to all the senators who made contributions. More importantly, thank you to you, Senator Payne, for your service.