Warren Entsch (Leichhardt, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to contribute to this condolence motion for an outstanding Australian and a good mate, David Francis Jull—or, as many of us affectionately refer to him, Jully. I got to know David when I first came into the parliament in 1996. At that stage, he was somewhat of a legend, making a name for himself with that magnificent radio voice he had which helped him kick off as a young journo many years before. I looked up to him as a mentor. He came into this place as the member for Fadden and served from 1975 to 1983, and unfortunately for a short time he had a sabbatical from the parliament. But he did not waste any time in that period because he became the deputy general manager for the Queensland Tourist and Travel Corporation until 1984 when he came back into the parliament. So he was able to pursue another one of his passions: tourism. I have heard a number of references in this place to Jully and that passion. While listening to the member for Hinkler I was having my own chuckle. I had an uncle that was the deputy director of Ansett Airlines at the time and, in spite of that family connection, Jully gave them no quarter at all. He had a real bee in his bonnet about Ansett and, more particularly, about Sir Peter Abeles. Whenever the opportunity arose he would not hesitate to fire off—and much of what he said was not repeatable in this place. Nevertheless, that endured over all the years I knew him.

As has been said previously, his knowledge of aviation was quite profound. If you wanted to travel anywhere, it did not matter where you wanted to go, all you had to do was ask Jully. He carried the knowledge in his head and he had a little bible with him as well. If you wanted to travel anywhere in the world, he could tell you exactly the best routes and the most cost-effective way of getting there. You could go to anybody else and you would never get that level of advice. Not only that but he could also identify the registration of any aircraft, particularly all our domestic ones, and he knew the whole history of that aircraft. As my colleague from Hinkler said earlier, there was one aircraft that, according to Jully, under no circumstances were you ever to set foot in. I cannot recall the number of it, unfortunately, and hopefully it is out of service now but at the time it was still travelling across the country. That was one plane that you would never ever step on because of Jully's advice. I worked under another tourism legend, Frank Moore. These guys forgot more about aviation and tourism than most of us will ever learn in our lifetime.

When David was appointed in 1996 as the Minister for Administrative Services, I thought at the time it was an outstanding appointment. Jully took on the role with great vigour and he did do a very good job. I have always been seen as a rusted-on Howard supporter but I think what happened to David was absolutely appalling. It was disappointing. It was for actions totally outside David's control. He did not deserve to lose that portfolio, and I think we were much the poorer for it. I was very disappointed that for such a long period of the Howard government Jully spent his time on the backbench. He had an outstanding talent and an ability to do some pretty special things for us. Unfortunately, for reasons which remain unknown to me, that is what happened—sometimes these injustices happen in our lives. He continued on the backbench and he never complained about it. He certainly was not bitter and twisted over it but I suspect he would have been very disappointed. It was totally undeserved. However, he did take on the position of chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation from 1997 to 2002 and then of its successor the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. He presided over that committee, as was said earlier, at a very difficult and controversial time, when it was looking into the Australian intelligence services and Iraq's weapons of mass destruction from 2003 to 2004. I think he did an absolutely outstanding job. I first put a face to the voice when I came in in 1996. I enjoyed a meal at the Queensland Club with Jully and his ex-wife, Erica. We had a fabulous night there. That was the start of a very positive and good friendship. Later on his health started to deteriorate—I think it was 2005 when he lost a lung—and it certainly slowed him down. He had to rely to a great degree on a motorised wheelchair that was provided for him. Nevertheless, it did not slow down his enthusiasm for his work, his passion to provide advice to all of us looking to travel anywhere in the world and his gourmet delights. I had the pleasure of dining with him on a number of occasions at the Thai Orchid in south Brisbane.

In the latter years my office was next to Jully's office in the corridor. Often I would smell a delightful aroma coming out of his office. He had a wonderful staff member, whose name I do not recall, that used to come down here. I am sure the sole purpose was to prepare Jully a gourmet meal. You would drift into his office and see him sitting at his desk. He would be served a most magnificent meal. That became a regular feature. That is possibly why I have more of myself in front of me than I should have. I often joined him because there was often enough for another feed.

He was a very good friend. It is not easy in this place. While you build acquaintances, you do not often build close friendships. Jully was someone you could be close to and trust his advice. The wisdom of that man was something very special. Whenever I needed something, I knew I could go there and he would have good advice.

Both of us left in 2007. I decided to retire to spend time with my son. I knew that Jully was getting towards the end of his time in this place because it was getting a little difficult for him to get around. He made that decision. When he was asked what he was going to do in retirement, he said he was certainly not going to sit around vegetating and watching The Bold and the Beautiful. He certainly did not do that. Right up till the end he participated in lunches. The last one I had with him was only a few months ago. I went to Brisbane and joined him and many of his former colleagues at the Gambaro restaurant for an outstanding meal, a fair bit of reminiscing and a lot of the Jully wisdom that he had no hesitation in passing on.

I would like to pass on my condolences to his former wife, Erica; his sister, Gwen; his brother, Peter; Peter's sons, Stephen and Andrew; his stepsons, Mike and Jay Goldman; and his two grandchildren, whom I know he loved very dearly, Declan and Griffin. He was still very young when he passed away. I think it is going to be a sadder place for his loss. If the legacy of an individual passing from this world is the admiration of his colleagues and friends and the huge amount of respect then I would say Jully achieved outstandingly in that area. I will be attending his service on Friday. Goodbye, Jully. We loved you very much.

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