Valedictory Speech

There can be few greater privileges for an Australian than to serve in the Commonwealth Parliament. To have represented the people of Menzies for the past three decades is an enormous honour, and I thank each and every one of them for that privilege.

I have only been able to serve the Australian people because of the loyalty, support and commitment of my wife, Margie, and our children, Emily, James, Stuart, Catherine, and Benjamin. My service has only been possible because of their sacrifices, particularly Margie giving up her career.

I cannot name all the people who have supported me over the past 30 years, but I will briefly mention a few:

First, my Liberal Party members, especially my loyal and dedicated Electorate chairs including Neil Guppy, Tom Sweeney, Hal Grix, Michael Gartland, Philip Radcliff, Andrew Asten and the indomitable Sandra Mercer Moore who represented the very best of the values I have sought to uphold; and members of the Menzies 200 Club, chaired most recently by Bernie Capicchiano and Anthony Fernandes, without whom I would not have had the resources to support my campaigns.

Secondly, my electorate staff, of which there have been too many to name, although I will mention two long serving members, Jackie Toop and Rebecca Poole, and my current and recent staff, Cristy Elliott, Sarah Moate, Russell Hannan, Ahmed Hrustic and Nathan Porter; and my many ministerial staff particularly my Chiefs of Staff, Robert Reid, Felicity Dargan, Andrew Blyth, Michael Toby, Brendan Darcy, Kevin Donnelly, Nick Demiris and Matthew Fox.

Thirdly, the many public servants with whom I worked, particularly Departmental Secretaries Jane Halton, Peter Boxall, Andrew Metcalfe, Finn Pratt and Denis Richardson, and the Chief of the Defence Force Mark Binskin

Fourthly, my colleagues of three decades, including my Victorian Liberal colleagues, particularly Prime Minister’s Howard and Abbott in whose cabinets I had the privilege to serve. In this context, I wish the Prime Minister and my Liberal and National Party colleagues every success in the forthcoming election.

I also thank our numerous friends for their ongoing support, particularly those with whom we were involved in marriage education; and our cycling companions, especially Bill Scott in Melbourne and Stephen Hodge here in Canberra.

I express my gratitude to the members of this Parliament with whom I have worked, including on significant issues in the past two Parliamentary terms such as Magnitsky legislation in the Foreign Affairs Human Rights committee which I acknowledge the commitment of Senator Kimberly Kitching and my good friend and colleague here, Chris Hayes; as well as members of the other two  committees I chaired seeking to improve the operation of the  NDIS; and to streamline and reduce costs and delays in the Family Law System.

Mr Speaker: My parents weren’t wealthy. They worked hard all their lives. When my father died, my then 50-year-old mother took over the family trucking business, rising at 3 and 4 am to transport stock to market until she was in her mid-60s. My parents gave my brothers and me two things more important than material possessions: a good education and the encouragement to achieve our goals.

This is the great Australian dream - to hand onto the next generation an even better nation than the one we inherited. I have always believed that a successful society is a compact across generations. We prosper because of the wise choices, sacrifices and hard work of previous generations. In turn, our duty is to use our industry and judgement to ensure the best for future generations.

Three decades ago, I gave up a career in the law to pursue a vocation. A career is about the individual; a vocation is about a cause. My cause has been the peace, the welfare, and the happiness of the people of Australia. As I said when I first spoke in this place over 30 years ago: ‘Internally, my theme is justice. I declare my political creed here and now. It is that the essential end of government is not power or glory, but the good life for ordinary men and women. The ordinary man, as I know him, asks for a happy life, not a complaining one; for a full life, not an idle one.’

Mr Speaker: I came here three decades ago to make a difference. It was a concern that government was not acknowledging and responding adequately to the needs of families, particularly with children, that motivated me to stand for election; and it is what drove my policy interests for my first decade. The work that I and others did, especially through the Lyons Forum, culminated in the Howard government’s National Families Strategy including the raising of tax-free thresholds for families with children and the subsequent introduction of family tax credits. 

I also somewhat unexpectedly found myself introducing a bill to overturn the Northern Territory Euthanasia laws which were implacably opposed by the indigenous community and many others. I am proud that it is referred to as the Andrews bill, but it’s success as only the 14th private member’s bill to pass the Parliament was the product of many contributions, including a then yet to be elected member of this place, Tony Burke. I should note that when I expressed doubts about proposing the bill in a telephone call to Margie, she responded that ‘if I didn’t do that, I might as well come home and be a decent husband and father!’

When John Howard appointed me as Minister for Ageing in 2001, aged care was in the media for all the wrong reasons, including allegations of residents being given kerosene baths. The Prime Minister’s wishes were clear: take aged care out of the media! I recently found my instructions to the Department which included getting more allocated beds operational, easing the burden of documentation on nursing staff, implementing a pricing review and expanding community care. I also established a National Advisory Council on Ageing, chaired by my former mentor, Sir James Gobbo, to help address the challenges of an ageing population, including the retention of older people in the workforce. That challenge is ongoing.

When I was appointed to Cabinet in 2003 as Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, the Howard government was struggling to get its legislation through the Senate. The outcome of the 2004 election enabled us to pursue a more ambitious agenda, including the establishment of the Building and Construction Commission to deal with rogue elements in the industry; the passage of legislation to recognise independent contractors; the simplification of awards; and the passage of ‘Workchoices’. It included one of the most significant developments in Australian workplace law, namely the establishment of a single, unified National workplace relations system. That reform alone resulted in very significant productivity gains and economic benefits for the nation. Following the 2004 election, John Howard tasked me to tackle welfare reform also, a subject I returned to a decade later.

As Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, I took the tough decision to reduce the intake of entrants from some places until those already here could be assisted to settle and integrate better. During that year, I also introduced the Citizenship Test and strengthened the character provisions.

Mindful of Sir Robert Menzies observation that ‘Opposition must be regarded as a great constructive period in the life of a party, not a period in the wilderness, but a preparation for the high responsibilities in which you hope will come,’ my efforts were devoted to the Policy Development Committee after the 2007 election loss, serving on and subsequently chairing that body.

The leadership events of 2009, albeit traumatic, were necessary for the Coalition to return to government - although when I told my wife Margie that I was offering myself as Leader of the Opposition, this time she told me that if I succeeded, ‘not to bother coming home!’

Tony Abbott appointed me as Shadow Minister for Family and Community Services, working on welfare and related policies, which I built on as Minister for Social Services in his Government. The measures we introduced were significant, building on the report I commissioned Patrick McClure to undertake, which provided the foundation for the consolidation of the many welfare payments, and the establishment of an actuarial basis for further reform; and measures that resulted in a very significant number of people moving from the Disability Support Pension into employment.

My final portfolio, Defence, was as unexpected as it was satisfying. In a relatively short period of time, we implemented the First Principles Review to finally establish a single Defence Force structure in Australia, drafted the Defence White Paper, authorised the replacement of the entire Australian naval fleet, negotiated increased rotations of US marines and Singaporean Defence Force personnel in northern Australia, and held discussions with India, Japan and the US which have led to the revitalisation of the Quad, among a long list of initiatives.

There are other matters I could mention, but as the philosopher wrote, ‘the moving finger writes, and having writ, moves on.’ Instead, let me make a few final observations about the challenges our nation faces.

Mr Speaker, there are two significant challenges, one domestic and one geopolitical. This Parliament has a critical role in addressing these issues.

First, the Covid pandemic has exposed many weaknesses in our system of government and highlighted fault lines that we have long ignored. Regardless of our views on the various responses to the pandemic, I suspect we can agree that the Federation has faced stresses that have revealed weaknesses in its structure. 

It was Henry Parkes great rallying call that we are ‘one people with one destiny’. That notion has seemed lost on many occasions over the past two years, yet it remains foundational to our nation. I cannot imagine that the founders of the Commonwealth ever thought that their work was complete, or that the only changes to occur would be by judicial fiat or fiscal stealth. Yet that largely has been the history of the past century. 

‘A nation without the means of some change,’ observed Edmund Burke, ‘is without the means of its own conservation.’ I encourage all who sit here in the next Parliament to begin the long conversation about the constitutional and other arrangements that will best ensure we remain ‘one people with one destiny.’ It should commence with a thorough transparent review of our response to the pandemic to ensure we are prepared for the next such event.

There is a related question about our population, including immigration, about which we need a rational informed debate, not one dominated by cliches. Numerous industries need workers to survive and thrive, but critical infrastructure must also continue to be provided if we are to maintain our economic growth and standards of living. I commend to the next government the establishment of a National Commission on Population to provide ongoing advice to both the people and the Parliament on the challenges we face and the options for their resolution.

Secondly, there is a great geopolitical challenge that will shape our way of life, our peace and security for decades, if not centuries, into the future. That challenge is the totalitarian Chinese Communist regime. The primary responsibility of a national government is the security of the nation. The security of our region is in greater peril today than it has been for generations. Not since World War II – some 80 years ago - have we had to contemplate defending Australia, but we do. That makes our response urgent. 

We must stand, economically, strategically, and militarily with those nations and states, however imperfect, that seek to uphold the dignity and freedom of the individual, and against totalitarian regimes that believe the individual should serve the state and is expendable. Just as Australia has stepped-up its engagement in the South Pacific, it must continue to engage in South-East Asia, including greater Parliamentary engagement. 

Mr Speaker: I have had the good fortune to have served much of my term during one of the great reforming eras of Australian politics. History will judge favourably the Hawke and Howard eras. As John Howard observed: ’Politics is not a public relations exercise. It is fundamentally a contest of ideas about what best serves the national interest. It is an ability to evaluate competing visions of the common good that marks a truly great people.’

That must always be the aspiration of those of us fortunate to engage in the formation of public policy. The greatest force in political life, perhaps life itself, is inertia. There is always a reason to do nothing, but that is a betrayal of why we are elected. It is better, I believe, to have tried and failed than never to have tried at all. 

Finally, may I say something about this House. In doing so, may I thank all the men and women who serve the Parliament, from the Clerk and the Sergeant and their staff, through to the library, the committee personnel, Hansard and broadcasting, the transport office and Comcar, the catering services, the attendants, the security officers and those who maintain the building, provide services, and clean our suites. 

While this should be a place where ideas are contested and policies and programs scrutinised, it must also be a place that pursues national unity. That quest starts with us all. In his Inaugural Address, an autographed copy of which I have had on the wall of my office for the past 30 years, John Fitzgerald Kennedy reminded us that ‘civility is not a sign of weakness and sincerity is always subject to proof.’ 

The blight of factionalism and identity politics – which inflicts many spheres of national and community life beyond politics – must be resisted. If there has ever been a time that the political virtue of toleration, as espoused by John Locke and others, needs revival, it is now.  If our political system is to thrive, it needs to find ways of traversing the new fault lines of the national polity, especially the growing chasm between the experiences and expectations of those who live in the inner suburbs of our capital cities - and those who live in the middle and outer metropolitan areas such as my electorate and regional and rural Australia where I was born and raised.

Robust debate should not detract from our essential task which I believe is the peace, the welfare, and the happiness of the people of Australia

Mr Speaker, to reference Shakespeare, my hour of ‘strutting and fretting’ upon this stage has come to an end. It remains for me to bid farewell.

In the Municipal Gallery Revisited, one of his last poems, William Butler Yeats recounts a visit to an art gallery were the portraits of many of his friends were displayed. ‘Around me the images of 30 years,’ he began. With a minor change, I adopt his final stanza:

‘You that would judge me, do not judge alone 

This book or that, come to this hallowed place 

Where my friends' portraits hang and look thereon; 

Australia’s history in their lineaments trace; 

Think where man's glory most begins and ends, 

And say my glory was I had such friends.’

May God continue to vouch safe the deliberations of this Parliament; and May God bless Australia.