Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with deep regret that I inform the Senate of the death, on 1 March 2025, of the Hon. Dr Rosemary Anne Crowley AO, a senator for the state of South Australia from 1983 to 2002. I call the Leader of the Government in the Senate.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the Senate records its sadness at the death, on 1 March 2025, of the Honourable Dr Rosemary Anne Crowley AO, former Minister for Family Services, former Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women, and former Senator for South Australia, places on record its gratitude for her service to the Parliament and the nation, and tenders its sympathy to her family in their bereavement.

I rise on behalf of the government to acknowledge the death of former senator and minister the Hon. Dr Rosemary Anne Crowley AO at the age of 86. At the outset of my remarks I convey the government's condolences formally to Dr Crowley's family and friends, particularly Stephen, Vincent and Diarmuid, Leo and Ella, Peter, Eileen and Gabrielle, and I welcome members of her family who have joined us in the Senate today and again extend my personal sympathies to them.

Nineteen years Rosemary Crowley served in this place—part of consequential reforms, part of a generation of gutsy Labor women who changed this country for the better. Rosemary Willis, later Crowley, was born in Melbourne in 1938. Her convent education was pivotal for the way in which it instilled in her a passion for social justice and community service. Coupled with this was the role of government support, with scholarships enabling her to complete secondary schooling, matriculation and then a medical degree at the University of Melbourne. Her marriage to James took her to Berkeley in California, a heady place to be in the 1960s, amidst the political activism of the civil rights movement and the anti-Vietnam war protests. She used this time to complement her qualifications in medicine, training as a children's and family counsellor, before settling in my hometown of Adelaide and beginning her medical practice. She found her calling in community health care.

Of course, we know that the winds of change were sweeping the campuses of California at that time, and they were well and truly blowing in Adelaide. Rosemary became politically active in the Dunston decade. Active in her local sub-branches in Adelaide's inner south, Rosemary made two—and I say, for the nation, thankfully—unsuccessful tilts for election to the South Australian parliament. At the 1983 simultaneous dissolution she became the last of the 10 senators elected from our state. In all, she would be elected four times to this place, an achievement that places Rosemary Crowley among the most consequential legislators ever to represent our state of South Australia.

Rosemary's political career and advocacy centred on health care, community services and the rights of women. She arrived at the right time to advance these issues and served alongside other intrepid Labor women senators of the era, like Susan Ryan, Pat Giles, Jean Hearn and Olive Zakharov. We on this side remember these women, not just because of what they did—and they did a lot—but also for the legacy they left, because we talk a lot about how Whitlam and Hawke and Keating modernised Australia, but we don't talk enough about the seismic change that is the legacy of these women.

Rosemary and her sisters made the change they recognised was long overdue in policy, in politics and in the culture. They ensured that issues important to women were placed on the political agenda and they also ensured that our party and our parliament now looks more like Australia. I stand here as leader in a government comprising a majority of women in a chamber comprising a majority of women, including my ministerial colleagues Senator Gallagher, Senator McCarthy and Senator McAllister. Now, some might take the progress achieved by these women lightly, but let's remember what it was like back then for them.

In her first speech, Rosemary noted she was one of just 13 women in the government, seven of whom were senators, equating to 12 per cent of the Labor caucus. Now, more than half of the Albanese government are women. That is an extraordinary achievement in itself and such a change from Rosemary's time and also a change from the start of my career. Rosemary Crowley was the first South Australian Labor woman to come to Canberra; I was the third.

Rosemary argued that:

…when women were given a voice: 'they opened huge possibilities for the whole of society. They dramatically extended the agenda, they broadened the topics for discussion …' and that '… it is striving for fair recognition of the variety of talents and contributions that women can make … it is a matter of justice, it is a matter of equity and it is also a matter of best practice'.

Rosemary Crowley was right. Part of the point of equal representation is to see interests represented more equally. We see that every day. We see it in outcomes that improve the lives and livelihoods of women and girls around Australia. We see it in how we are closing the gender pay gap and in higher salaries in feminised industries so women can be paid what they deserve. We see it in better health care for women, with more contraceptive options and menopause options on the PBS, new and bigger Medicare rebates for women's health and endometriosis clinics across the country. We see it in accessible child care.

I spoke at Rosemary's memorial service of the continuing of these reforms today and of the groundbreaking reforms Rosemary was deeply involved in, like Medicare and the Sex Discrimination Act. Remember, until then it had been legal to discriminate on the basis of gender, on the basis of marital status and on the basis of pregnancy. Remember, women were locked out of education, jobs and opportunity, were refused access to home finance and faced the sack for being pregnant. In her work as a doctor and counsellor in the community, Rosemary Crowley had seen many challenges could not be solved at the individual level. Structural problems like health care, unemployment and lack of transport required political action to fix. But she won arguments for publicly funded, needs based child care, child support and enforcing child maintenance arrangements.

The pinnacle of Rosemary's career was her three years as Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women and as Minister for Family Services. She said she was interested in the advancement of opportunities for women—all women—in whatever choices they are making about their lives. She had the opportunity to address the United Nations General Assembly in 1995, as minister, and she oversaw this nation's contribution to the International Year of the Family in 1994. I had the honour at quite a young age of being appointed by Rosemary to the National Council for the International Year of the Family. She progressed and implemented reforms: enhancements to family payments, additional payments for low-income families, maternity allowances, disability support programs, carers pensions, student assistance and youth training allowances. She introduced legislation for cash rebates for the cost of child care for working families and home childcare allowances. I believe Rosemary would be so enormously proud of the reforms the Albanese government have made and how we are supporting cheaper child care, higher wages for early childhood educators, and the three-day guarantee.

When Labor went into opposition in 1996, Rosemary Crowley continued with no diminution in her drive, chairing many committee inquiries into education, employment, health and community affairs. On leaving this place, she spoke about her love of the great Australian Labor Party—in her words, 'warts and all'—and she remained a member the rest of her life, attending local sub-branch meetings where she could pass her wisdom, expertise and passion to new generations of members.

Rosemary Crowley was many things—the first South Australian Labor woman to be elected to the federal parliament, the first woman from South Australia to be a federal minister, and a doctor who prioritised medical care and counselling for women and families at a time when this was far from standard—but, most importantly to her, she was a mother to three beloved sons and a grandmother to two cherished grandchildren. In her first speech Rosemary spoke of what motherhood meant to her, but perhaps the most poignant acknowledgement came from her own children. In Vincent's eulogy he spoke so movingly of the lessons Rosemary had taught her sons—lessons in courage. He spoke of her many passions. Among those passions, he said: 'She loved people, not all people all of the time, but lots of people, lots of the time. Meeting people, talking to people, hearing their stories, telling her stories, arguing, analysing, conceptualising, counselling, celebrating. She loved her friends. She loved her family. She loved her grandkids, Ella and Leo, and I think she mostly loved being a mum too.'

To her family, she gave so much. To a nation, she gave so much and yet, still, she had more to give. She was a mentor to me and to many others. This came naturally to her, so too did her trademark wit. Nurturing and mentoring came naturally because, as Vincent so beautifully described, 'she cared deeply about people'. She saw the innate value in everyone. She believed in humanity and she believed in human potential.

At International Women's Day breakfasts, rather than clamouring over the assembled great and the good, she was often in the wings talking to the staff about their lives and struggles. At the university, where her prolific archives were being preserved, she would stop and chat with a student or an academic, asking what they were studying; how they were finding it; what they found difficult. And, invariably, she would buck them up. As I said at her state funeral on Saturday, her fortitude was osmotic. Certainly, that was my experience as she went out of her way to encourage me in my own political career.

In a business that can be transactional and performative, Rosemary was genuine and generous. She took me out to lunch and offered me her support when I was thinking about standing for preselection. It is hard to express how much that meant, to have the backing of a woman who I admired and looked up to. My Labor Party colleagues will also understand what it meant to have a woman not from my faction supporting me. But, most importantly, she was a woman central to the generation of women who transformed our party and our country. I've had the benefit of her support of me for my entire time in the Senate. And each year I'm proud to take forward her legacy as the custodian of the International Women's Day breakfast in Adelaide. More than 3,000 South Australian women assemble in a tradition that she began and led for 10 years and which she handed on to me.

True to how she valued inclusion, Rosemary always asked how we could keep the cost of attending the breakfast as low as possible. Whenever the menu was discussed, she suggested a cup of tea and a piece of toast. She believed women attended to hear a great speaker and to be in a room with other feminists—not to have a hot, cooked breakfast. Rosemary founded the biggest women's day event in Australia. That tells you she knew what she was talking about. She knew what this meant to all of us. Each year, I am moved by the power of that breakfast, by the chance for women to learn from each other, what it says about feminist solidarity and what it says about how we inherit progress and how we take it forward for our daughters. This year, I had the sad duty to inform the gathering that Rosemary had passed the week before.

In 2015, Rosemary Crowley was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia. She was one of a great generation of women who forged the way with all the boldness and courage that's demanded to beat down doors and the humility, humour and perseverance that's demanded when doors sometimes slam in your face. She never let up in the pursuit of a more equitable and just society. She never lost her sense of humour or her sense of fun, whether laughing at herself or tempering the egos of others with her famous sharp wit. In his eulogy, Vincent recalled: 'She loved humour, the bawdier the better. When I was a kid, I remember the moment I realised with surprise that not all mums told dirty jokes.'

I know how much her family grieve her. We all grieve Rosemary Crowley and we will all miss her. But, as I have said, I have no doubt she would rather that we channelled our grief into resolve: resolve to continue the work she and her sister started, to make this—and to keep making this—a more equal country, a more just country, where all and each of us is nurtured and valued as we should be. That is how we can show our gratitude and that is the respect she has earned.

Drawing inspiration from the struggles of those who have gone before to strengthen our resolve today is something we, in the Labor Party, well understand. Dr Crowley did this herself in her first speech when she quoted from 'Bread and Roses'. It is a song associated with the struggle of working women—working women protesting sweatshop conditions and child labour and demanding women's suffrage in 1908. I wish I could sing, because it is much better sung, but I will read this part of the lyrics:

As we go marching, marching in the beauty of the day,

A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill-lofts gray

Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,

For the people hear us singing, 'Bread and Roses, Bread and Roses.'

I express again, on behalf of all of us, our condolences to her friends and family.

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

I rise, on behalf of the opposition, to pay tribute to Dr Rosemary Crowley AO. Rosemary, without a doubt, created some history in this place, being only the fourth woman elected to the federal parliament from South Australia and the first from the Australian Labor Party. She was the only female ALP senator from South Australia throughout her 19-year term and the first female minister from South Australia.

Rosemary was frequently invited to speak on issues of women and parliament. She argued for initiatives to return more women to parliament, believing that when women were given a voice:

… they opened huge possibilities for the whole of society. They dramatically extended the agenda, they broadened the topics for discussion—

and that—

it is striving for fair recognition of the variety of talents and contributions that women can make … it is a matter of justice, it is a matter of equity and it is also a matter of best practice.

She was an ardent advocate of having 50 per cent representation of women in the parliament.

Rosemary Anne Willis was born in Melbourne on 30 July 1938, the second of six children of Monica Mary Willis and Everard Joseph Willis, an accountant. She was raised as a Catholic, and her primary and secondary education at Kilmaire Brigidine Convent in Hawthorn was between 1943 and 1955. Rosemary's Catholic education, combined with her family upbringing, instilled in her a passion for social justice and community service. She won a junior government scholarship in grade 8, which then enabled her to stay another four years at school. After school, Rosemary was accepted into the University of Melbourne on yet another scholarship, a Commonwealth scholarship. It was there that she completed a medical degree, from 1956 to 1961. After university, Rosemary became a junior resident medical officer, then a senior RMO at St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne, in 1962 and 1963.

In 1964 Rosemary married James Crowley, and they moved to Berkeley, California, where James was studying for a PhD, from 1965 to 1969. Berkeley was at that time seething with political activism such as civil rights, the anti-Vietnam-War movement and draft resistance, and the beginnings of a women's movement. In Berkeley, Rosemary trained as a children's and family counsellor. The Crowleys returned in 1969 to Adelaide, and Rosemary continued working in the medical profession in a variety of roles.

But Rosemary's experiences in the US had whet her political appetite, and she became active in the Australian Labor Party. The dismissal of the Whitlam government, which she described as an injustice, helped to fuel Rosemary's political ambitions. She served as a junior vice-president and president of the ALP's Mitcham branch before securing a South Australian Senate spot in the double dissolution election of 1983. In that year she was fifth on the ALP ticket, but she would be elevated to pole position in the subsequent four elections she contested.

Rosemary was an enthusiastic and energetic member of the new Hawke government, contributing to Labor's 'towards equality' women's policy statement. As a backbencher and committee member, she campaigned with gusto on the issues dearest to her heart: welfare reform; needs based child care; community health; disability and aged care; occupational health and safety, especially for union workforces; and arms reduction—even joining a protest group of women at Pine Gap. When Bob Hawke proposed a Medicare co-payment, Rosemary opposed her own party's policy. She subsequently threw her support behind Paul Keating when he challenged Hawke for the leadership.

After the 1993 election, Rosemary was appointed Minister for Family Services and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women. As minister, she initiated a program of financial assistance and support for low-income families, disabled Australians, carers and students. Child care was one of her key areas of focus and passions. In 1996, after Labor lost the election, Rosemary returned to the Senate committee work that she had always loved. She headed an inquiry that led to recommendations to improve the participation of women in sport and associated media coverage.

Rosemary, without a doubt, inspired and mentored many women, especially in the Labor ranks. She was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for her parliamentary service and for promoting the status of women. On behalf of the coalition, I offer my deepest condolences to all who loved Rosemary: her family, especially her sons Stephen, Vincent and Diarmuid; her friends; her Labor Party colleagues. May she rest in peace.

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

I rise today on behalf of the Nationals to acknowledge the life and passing of the Hon. Dr Rosemary Anne Crowley, former senator for South Australia, medical practitioner and minister. I'm reflecting on Senator Wong's and Senator Cash's contributions and reflecting on former senator Crowley's contribution. We now have in the Senate a female leader of the National Party, a female leader of the opposition and a female leader of the government as the parties of government, something that I'm sure former senator Crowley would have really appreciated, given her longstanding service towards promoting women not only into parliament but into leadership.

Dr Crowley served in this chamber from 1983 until her retirement in 2002, representing the Australian Labor Party and the people of South Australia with commitment and sincerity, and we rise today to acknowledge her contributions to Australian public life and in tribute to a life lived in service. I also want to acknowledge Senator Wong, who knew Rosemary for many years and had a deep personal friendship.

Rosemary Crowley nee Willis was born in Melbourne in 1938, part of a generation that came of age in a rapidly changing postwar Australia. She attended Kilmaire College in Hawthorn, where she was a recipient of a Junior Government Scholarship, enabling her to continue through to secondary college, and was one of just five girls to graduate in 1955.

After graduating, she pursued medicine at the University of Melbourne—no small undertaking for a woman in that era—and she graduated as a doctor. After doing her residency at St Vincent's Hospital, she would go onto specialise in paediatrics at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital, undertaking work that placed her in close contact with young families and children, particularly those doing it tough. Her experience as a doctor, particularly with children, gave her a strong foundation in practical care and advocacy, and helped shape a sense of empathy that she carried with her for her entire political career. Her later roles, in Adelaide Children's Hospital and as a parent education counsellor at the Clovelly Park Community Health Centre, reinforced her longstanding commitment to community wellbeing and family support.

It was during this time in Adelaide that Dr Crowley became actively involved in her local Labor branch. Her growing involvement saw her become president of the ALP's Mitcham branch, and, in 1982, she ran unsuccessfully for preselection in the Unley seat in the parliament of South Australia. However, in 1983, she was successful in being preselected fifth in the double dissolution Senate ticket and was elected to the Australian Senate, becoming the first female Labor senator from South Australia. She would serve the Senate for just under two decades, an impressive tenure by any standard, and was present during the Hawke, Keating and Howard years. Her time in this place coincided with major debates in social policy, health care and gender equality, and she was known within her own party as a consistent voice on issues related to family services, health education and the status of women.

In 1993, she was appointed Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women under Paul Keating, and by December 1993, she was appointed as Minister for Family Services. I'm reliably informed that she took her ministerial responsibility seriously and was respected by her colleagues for her thorough approach and considered contributions. During her time as Minister for Family Services, Dr Crowley was instrumental in delivering a range of social policy initiatives including the Childcare Rebate Act 1993, and her work focused on strengthening the support for families through expanded maternity allowances, increased financial assistance, enhanced disability services and the introduction of carers' pensions and youth training programs.

Following her departure from federal politics, she continued her involvement in public life by remaining engaged in issues related to education, community service and health, and she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2015. This national honour reflects a lifetime of dedication to public service across multiple domains, both within and outside of politics. Her background as a doctor gave her a grounding in practical, real-world challenges, and she used that experience to guide her in her parliamentary career. In reflecting on her life, I'm reminded that, while we may come to this chamber with different political beliefs, we're all driven when we are at our best by a shared commitment to serve the Australian people. Dr Crowley exemplified that ethos through her work as a doctor, a senator and a minister, and, on behalf of the National Party, I extend sincere condolences to her family, former colleagues, friends and all who mourn her loss. We honour her service to this nation and to this parliament, where she served for nearly two decades. May she rest in peace.

Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Emergency Management) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Unlike Senator Wong, I did not know Dr Crowley personally, but her contribution and the contribution of her peers at that time in this parliament deeply shaped my own thinking about Labor, its purpose and the role of women in the Australian Labor Party. I think that is true for many of the women of my generation. Rosemary had a life of firsts. She was a foundation member of the South Australian Mental Health Review Tribunal, the first South Australian woman to be elected to parliament, the first and only female ALP senator from South Australia throughout her 19-year term and the first female minister from South Australia. Like so many of our party's trailblazers, she lived her values with courage and with wit, and you really do need both of those things if you are going to attempt to push through doors that have been barred by others. Rosemary spent her career in this place and afterwards unpicking the ingrained political, social, medical and economical constraints and restraints on women. She wanted to create spaces for women where they could thrive as equals, whether that be in politics or on the netball court. Her campaign slogan, as Senator Wong alluded to in her contribution, was Bread and Roses, and she talked about that in her first speech. She said:

These words capture exactly what I want to offer as my contribution to politics. This is because the bread and roses must go together, not bread first and roses later … A person may have adequate food, clothing, shelter, a bed to sleep in and even books and paper, but the loss of freedom means a starving heart.

And Rosemary's work did help ensure bread and roses for a whole generation of women. In 1995, Prime Minister Keating circulated a document entitled Agenda for Families, and it showcased Minister Crowley's achievements. The introduction of a six-week maternity payment, increased family payments, cash rebates for child care for working families, and childcare centre accreditation—these were all key reforms that began to break down the economic shackles that have constrained too many women. Many of her fights were not as public. There were internal battles in this place and elsewhere to make sure that women were in the room where the decisions were made or even on the record, like ensuring that a childcare centre was included in the planning of this building or that our words were recorded as they were spoken, changing Hansard's practice and arguing that they should cease the practice of converting pronouns in speeches into the masculine gender.

No achievement is realised in isolation, and we all inherit progress. That is true of the work that the Albanese government has done this term, whether it's our work on women's safety, sharing and valuing care, economic equality, women's health and women's leadership and representation. All of this was built on the work of Rosemary Crowley and her generation of colleagues. There would be no universal child care without her ministerial work and no paid parental leave as it exists today without the maternity payment. I know many people here in this place were mentees and close friends of Rosemary, including Senator Wong, who took over her Senate spot when she retired. To them and to her family I offer my heartfelt condolences. On behalf of women in our party and this side of the chamber, I thank her family for sharing her with us. Her legacy impacts those who never met her, but many have opportunity and a seat at the table because of her lifetime of work.

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

I too rise to speak on the condolence motion for the Hon. Dr Rosemary Anne Crowley AO, and I associate myself with the remarks of my colleagues. Dr Crowley was a passionate former minister, but, most importantly to me, she was a senator for my home state of South Australia. She was massively respected in her own community and was a very respected member of the medical community, having made very significant contributions to health and family services during her time both as a medical specialist and in this place. They are contributions which no doubt have made a lasting impact on the lives of many South Australians and Australians alike. Dr Crowley's unwavering commitment to bettering the lives of South Australians is something that should be not just acknowledged but greatly admired.

This commitment certainly extended beyond her important work as a medical practitioner and as an educator. She was an inspiring woman in her own right. She was a great advocate for social justice. She was committed to the principles of fairness, equality and opportunity. Her leadership as the first female Labor senator from South Australia helped pave the way for women in politics and in the Public Service. It's a legacy that transcends the political divide.

Notably, Dr Crowley founded the now quite famous Adelaide International Women's Day Breakfast. This year, it was quite inspiring to be at that event—sadly, without Rosemary being there, as she has been every other year that I've been able to attend. But I think she would have been incredibly proud to see how many people now attend that event every year. Over 3,000 women came out on International Women's Day. An event that started off as just a small thought in Rosemary's mind and grew has now grown into one of the most important events in the South Australian calendar. It continues to inspire and empower women across the state every single year. I'm sure that's what she intended. As I said, it was a privilege to attend the breakfast because it gave everyone in that room the ability to acknowledge the extraordinary work of this extraordinary woman and this extraordinary South Australian.

I send my heartfelt sympathies to Dr Crowley's friends and family and acknowledge her family that are here today. I know her passing is a great loss to Australia and to South Australia but it is the greatest loss to you. There is no doubt that her contributions will endure. They will endure across the whole of Australia. Today we pay our respects. Vale the Hon. Dr Rosemary Anne Crowley.

Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to give a short contribution in the debate that we're having today. I do so acknowledging that I didn't have the privilege of meeting Dr Rosemary Crowley, but I also would like to associate my remarks with Senator Catryna Bilyk, who did have that opportunity of meeting Rosemary, in her role as Minister for Family Services, when Catryna was an ASU delegate and organiser coming up here and talking about child care. I rise because I think it's important to acknowledge the contribution of women that go before us in the Senate, who pave the way, making it easier for other women to follow, and who break the glass ceiling. That's what Rosemary did.

Rosemary's reputation went before her. She was someone that was deeply admired within the Labor Party. She was a trailblazer in Australian politics and health care. A medical doctor who turned senator, Rosemary dedicated her life to public service, fighting for the rights of women, children and the broader Australian community. Her career spanned nearly two decades in the Senate, where she played key roles in shaping policies on health care, family services and gender equality. As has been stated, in 1983 she made history as the first woman for the ALP in South Australia to be elected to the Senate. I have to say, when I look from the Tasmanian branch view, there weren't too many women that came from Tasmania to the Senate either. Rosemary's efforts changed it for all of us, I believe.

During her time in parliament, Rosemary was a strong advocate for universal health care, contributing to Medicare reforms and championing policies that supported family, women and children. Being Minister for Family Services saw her push for improvements in child care, parental leave and protections against sexual discrimination. She also served as Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Status of Women, working to elevate the role of women in Australian society.

Rosemary Crowley retired from politics in 2002 but remained active, as we've heard in the contributions here today, in community life. In her valedictory speech to the Senate, Rosemary reflected on her career with humour and warmth. She spoke of her passion for Medicare, child care and gender equality, emphasising the importance of women in politics. She acknowledged the barriers women faced in parliament but remained steadfast in her belief that progress was being made. In 2015, Rosemary was appointed an officer of the Order of Australia in recognition of her long, distinguished service to the parliament and her dedication to promoting the status of women.

Rosemary Crowley's impact on Australia's Australian politics and society is undeniable. As a doctor, senator and advocate, she dedicated her life to improving the lives of Australians, particularly women and children. Her leadership in the Senate helped shaped policies that continue to benefit Australian society. She will be remembered by her Labor family as a fierce advocate for justice, a pioneer for women in politics and a compassionate leader who fought for a fairer and more equitable society.

Question agreed to, honourable senators joining in a moment of silence.