Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

Con Sciacca was a figure much larger than life and a great character of Australian politics. It is right and proper that this House pays its respects to him and regrets his untimely passing, which was far too early. Of course, Con's great achievement in this House was as Minister for Veterans' Affairs, and he was a very, very good one. It was a portfolio which he asked the then Prime Minister, Prime Minister Keating, for. I was here at that time, not as a member of parliament but around the building, and I remember Con arranging briefings about Australia Remembers, the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, which was very much his initiative, one which he carried out with great gusto, and was an outstanding success. He was also a very dedicated member of the House in terms of servicing his constituents and ensuring that their needs were met and that they had a strong voice in this House.

However, of course, while I was aware of Con and saw him and met him when he was a minister, it was only after he'd left parliament that I really came to know him and came to know him very well. He became a friend of mine, as he was to so many in the House, particularly on this side of the House. I want to say this about Con Sciacca: he was a generous man. I don't mean by way of money, I don't mean by way of resources, but I mean he was generous in terms of his support, his time and his care for members who were young and who were trying to find their way through this House—always quick with advice but never quick to interfere; when asked, always happy to oblige with advice and with support and to give every support possible. I came to know Con in that context, first in his support of myself, as he got to know me and was very willing and obliging to provide that advice and support, and then in his support of others, including the member for Oxley, who has just joined us, and other members, particularly in Queensland but not exclusively in Queensland, not only in Queensland. He was always there, always at the other end of the phone, always willing to take the call, always happy to oblige and always willing to accommodate. It's that generosity of spirit that I talk of today.

As I said, I came to know him well. I shared many jokes and laughs with him. Of course, he was a Member of the Order of Australia, but he was very honoured to hold Italian honours as well, as did my distinguished predecessor as member for Prospect, the Hon. Janice Crosio, who was a Cavaliere of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, but, as Con would point out to me with great glee, he held a higher honour, as I understand it: the equivalent of a knight, Grand Cross of the Italian Republic. He would correct my Italian pronunciation, which is very ordinary, of these particular honours, and we would have long talks about that and about many aspects of Australian politics.

I didn't want to detain the House today, but simply to add my condolences to those of other honourable members. Con Sciacca was a good man with a big heart and a huge personality. I miss him. It's common to say in these things, 'It's hard to believe he's gone,' but it is really hard to believe that Con Sciacca has gone. He was always there, and I think I speak for members in this House when I say he always will be there in our hearts and he will always be remembered. Although he is no longer there at the other end of the phone—his number's in my phone—I look at it wistfully, thinking, for the first time, he won't answer. But I know that he always wanted the Labor Party, which he loved so much, to prosper and to do well. And he would want that after he was gone—as he wanted his nation to do well.

Our condolences to his family, some of whom I have come to know, not all of them, through my friendship with Con, and I know they much loved him, as we all did, and they miss him even more than we do. But they can take pride in his great achievements as an Australian. Although there were times, I am sure, when they missed him, they could always be proud of him. And although they miss him now, they can always be proud of him into the future.

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