Craig Emerson (Rankin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The member for Denison is here. He would be able to inform the House that he did very well on behalf of the Labor Party. He is a very good local member. He is very effective in Tasmania. We had hoped to pick up the seat of Lyons and did not at that stage but subsequently we did. We lost one or two other seats. I think we picked up the seat of Kennedy. The long and the short of it is that Labor won the 1990 election and I got the money. Good on Rick for paying up. He was a man of great honour. I will never do that again—take three to one on four election results. Rick and I had lots of laughs about that subsequently.

When I heard of his aneurysm on Boxing Day it was tragic news for all of us. I had the opportunity of going to see Rick some weeks later. He was in pretty bad shape at that time. He did make something of a recovery but, as we know, that turned out to be short lived. It was an honour to be at Rick’s funeral. Linda, through all of that period, was an absolute tower of strength. She was totally committed to caring for Rick for a very long period. That was what her expectation was, that it would be a very long journey back but that she would be with him all the way. It was not to be. At the age of 53, it is a tragedy for Linda, for Rick’s children and for our nation that he left us at such an early age. He was, and is, a great Australian. He has made an enormous contribution to this continent. He leaves behind a great legacy and inspiration.

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