Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Action, Environment and Heritage) Share this | Hansard source

I had the enormous pleasure of knowing Dame Elisabeth Murdoch. She lived just outside my own electorate. Very early on in my time in parliament, my then fiancee, Paula, and I were invited to Cruden Farm to meet with Dame Elisabeth—I think she was sort of kicking the tyres of the newest member in the area. We had a long discussion about life and about community, family and responsibility, and then she decided to take Paula and me on a drive through Cruden Farm gardens. She had been given a little four-wheel drive beach buggy by her family. She took off on this beach buggy, at what I think was then about age 93, and roared around her gardens at speeds which were probably illegal and certainly undesirable, and she was roaring with laughter the entire way. For me, it was an experience in speed at the fastest of levels, but for us there was a sense of a grandmotherly, by then great-grandmotherly, figure who loved life, had a great appreciation for community and family—we had spent the vast bulk of our time talking about the local community and its priorities—and was not afraid to live every day as if it mattered and to simply express the joy of her life. I think that was a fantastic thing.

On a later occasion—by then I had met Dame Elisabeth and spent quite a bit of time with her on different fronts—I arrived at a charity dinner for the Royal Children's Hospital, to discover that I was seated next to Dame Elisabeth for the evening. There were about 600 people there and I sat down and said, 'Hello, Dame Elisabeth.' She said, 'Hello,' and I said, 'I think I'm your date for the evening.' She looked at me and said, 'Could do worse; could do better.' She was a very relaxed soul throughout all her later years. Of course, I did not know the earlier incarnation, but I know many people who did know the earlier incarnation of Dame Elisabeth and they said, 'Take the 93-, the 95- or the 99-year-old and imagine what she was like in her 40s, 50s and 60s'—this phenomenal ball of goodwill and energy.

On the Mornington Peninsula and in the Frankston area, she was simply the most adored citizen we had. There is no question about it. She was always seen as open and accessible. As the patron of more than 100 charities, many of which were local, she was a great supporter. I dealt recently with Beyond Disability. Beyond Disability is a group set up by Richard Stubbs and supported by people such as Tom McGann for those who have significant disabilities which cause almost complete immobility. Beyond Disability provides computers and computing software and training so that people—maybe with their teeth, maybe with voice command or in other ways—can manipulate and work on the internet and engage in computing activity.

Dame Elisabeth was of course a very strong supporter of this local peninsular charity, Beyond Disability. They were amazed at their access and the way in which they could engage with somebody who was engaged with the great global issues but who was also intensely aware of the community in her backyard. I know many community groups that have held events at Cruden Farm, were personally hosted by Dame Elisabeth and were amazed at the way in which she would make time and engage with them—in the sense not of polite tolerance but of deep personal interest in what they had to say and what their needs were. I recognise that Dame Elisabeth came from the most famous of families, but this was somebody who ignored all of that and was completely engaged in the local community. She did not care what somebody's station was in life; she just cared whether they were sincere, whether they had a need and whether she could assist.

I am delighted to acknowledge the life that was Dame Elisabeth Murdoch. I am delighted to have had a really wonderful set of encounters with her as a great resident of the top of the Mornington Peninsula. I thank her for her life and I pass on my best to her family—but I know that, whilst there is lots of sadness, they celebrate one of the great Australian stories.

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